Everyone on the earth is connected by God to each other by an invisible thread and each of our works, wherever it is done, affects in visible or invisible ways all others. It is just like a stone being thrown into a large pond and the waves touching every part of the pond. Sufferings and pain are a part of our lives in this fallen world and overcoming these in peace, without undue grumbling, is the sign of true living. Otherwise, we keep on dragging others also, willingly or otherwise, into this fire well of our pain.
Reasons for suffering in the world – After completion of the creation process, ‘God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good’ (Genesis 1:31). Adam was created by God to be His representative on earth and exercise control over everything. He was created in God’s image and likeness and God contains traits of both a man and a loving woman inside Himself. Man was also created with the same form of male and being together in one body, joined together. Man was thus created independent of everything else. However, God then realised one weak spot in His creation, the loneliness of man as compared to each animal and beast having a separate female partner. God corrected that and the female part was separated from Adam (Genesis 2:21). The task given to them was to ‘fill the earth and subdue it’ (Genesis 1:28). This task would include not to be dominated in any manner by anything other than God himself.
What was there on the earth that needed to be subdued or dominated by them? Lucifer was created perfect in every manner in heaven with wisdom and beauty (Ezekiel 28:12-13). After his sin, he was cast down into the darkness of the earth and whether the earth became ‘formless and void’ due to this or other reasons, one cannot say (Genesis 1:2). Along with him, one-third of the angels in heaven, who had rebelled, were also cast down. No angel is given dominion or rule over anything in heaven or elsewhere and Satan treated him as a rival from the time of his creation itself. Man is created ‘a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honour’ (Psalm 8:5). Though man is lower than the angels in certain aspects, God’s glory in him equipped him to face the devil and his forces.
But they were led to believe by the devil that their destiny is to be like God and not be only His image and in this manner be independent of Him. Man faltered, obeyed the devil and passed on this authority and dominion to the devil and brought himself totally under his control. Adam was told by God about the result of his sin, ‘cursed in the ground for your sake’ and with that, thorns and thistles also came to be (Genesis 3:17-18). Every human being since then is caught in this trap and is utterly unable to break the bonds of evil on man and all of creation in his own efforts. In this state, God could either punish and destroy the devil and retrieve the dominion back from him or, being just, take steps to break this bond by ensuring payment of the penalty for this sin of Adam and Eve. Since the sinful nature passed on from the parents to the next generation, nobody could claim the rights back from Satan.
We see the ways of the devil, accusing Job of being selfish in being obedient to God to receive all blessings (Job 1:9-11). Any arbitrary action of God would cause Satan to accuse Him of being unjust. God sent His Son, Lord Jesus Christ as Man to prove that a human being can live a sinless life, despite all the sufferings and temptations of the world and thus break the bonds of evil. Lord Jesus ‘is the image of the invisible God’, born to a woman and not created (Colossians 1:15). An image moves exactly the way the original acts, like we see our image doing in a mirror. Lord Jesus always gave glory to God the Father in heaven by doing exactly that, as He saw the Father do (John 5:19).
Satan tried everything to stop the work of the Saviour. King Herod was incited to kill Him while still being a child, taking him as a challenge, being ‘the king of the Jews’ (Matthew 2:13-16). The temptation of the Redeemer was permitted by the Father in heaven to prove the spiritual strength and faith of His Son (Matthew 4:1-11). We are taught by the Lord to revere God and seek, that His ‘will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). What He preached, He also lived that by submitting to the Father’s will to suffer even death and that also in the most painful way of crucifixion (Luke 22:42). His work of redemption was foretold more than seven hundred years before His coming (Isaiah 53:5). The hell-fires were our destiny due to our grave sins, but Lord Jesus took our sins into the same fire, so that we will not go there. The fire had no authority over Him and He alone could breach the gap to walk out of the hell-fire up to Abraham and others held captive (Luke 16:26). He preached to the evil spirits that had rebelled in heaven with the devil and were now held captive to do his bidding (1 Peter 3:19). The tearing of the curtain of the Temple dividing the Most Holy from the Holy (Luke 23:45); His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven proved His victory over sin, death and the devil.
By becoming Man, Lord Jesus brought Himself to be ‘lower than the angels’ or Satan, He triumphed over the devil to live a sin free life, facing all the attempts of the devil to make Him sin. With this victory the dominion of the devil over all those who accept this free gift of salvation of the Lord, was completely destroyed. The devil keeps trying to put fear in us by subjecting us to various trials and we falter. But we are assured that ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins’ (1 John 1:9). His presence and a sinless life brought the blessing of the Holy Spirit in us as a Representative Controller of the kingdom of heaven in us. But we are still surrounded by the forces of evil all-around us and these bring disease, death and other sufferings on us. These ‘thorns and thistles’ will continue to affect sinners and the redeemed alike, till Lord Jesus’ second coming to establish His kingdom on the earth.
Why do we suffer despite Satan having no control over us? God did not create suffering and pain but we brought these into our lives due to our sin. Apostle Paul has provided the answer to this dilemma by clarifying the nature of a believer. We have a carnal nature that leads us to do that we know to be wrong (Romans 7:14-21). We become captive to that and do what we do not want and restrain us from doing good and loving others, bringing various excuses. He finally admitted that one is thus acting in opposition to one’s will. The Ten Commandments were given by God, through Moses, as a way of life ordained by Him for all mankind (Exodus 20:1-17). But people grossly violated these even when God was still speaking to Moses, by worshipping a Golden Calf as their god.
Lord Jesus gave one consolidated command to live by, ‘you love one another as I have loved you’ (John 13:34). This was further confirmed by the Risen Lord by asking Apostle Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ (John 21:15-17). He sought confirmation of ‘agape’ love, a love seeking nothing in return but Apostle Peter could only confess ‘phileo’ love, a love between two friends. Finally, the Lord settled for this same love after asking him the third time. Each confession raised the level of responsibility to a higher plane from lambs or new believers’ care, to care of sheep and then ‘Feed My sheep’. All believers have the same task to go and make disciples of all peoples all over the world.
Is our life aligned with the will of God to do His command? A false teaching regarding the Old Testament not being applicable to believers is spread. The Ten Commandments are a way of life and which should we reject and still be counted worthy of the Lord- Exodus 20:4-6 The second commandment is the longest in text and with the details of prohibition of alternate worship, there is a warning also. God has warned about being ‘a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those WHO HATE ME’. The last words are generally never heard by most believers. A child, who refuses to follow the evil ways of his earthly father, breaks this curse. The second part is about the blessings, ‘but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments’. We need to analyse our life patterns and make amends.
False teachers and preachers who seek personal glory. The Saviour Lord has warned us to be ‘beware of false prophets, who come to you a sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves’ (Matthew 7:15). Apostle Paul taught the Jewish people in Berea and they were ‘fair-minded’. ‘They received the Word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so’ (Acts 17:11). Check and compare the teaching from anyone for its truth in relation to the Word of God.
Look ahead and break the shackles of the lies of the devil concerning your past. Abraham is accepted by the Jews as their father but even he also doubted God’s Word a few times and had a child with Hagar, Sarah’s maid. We may stumble and even lie like him but our sins are already forgiven. We receive grace for forgiveness but do not administer the same grace to ourselves when we sin later in life as a believer, and start losing faith.
Live as a true child of God, glorifying His name in all that we do. After their sin Adam and Eve tried to hide from God and to cover their sin and shame, with fig leaves. We are taught by Apostle Paul to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts’ (Romans 13:14). To escape the devil’s ways, we live like the Lord, walk in His ways of loving others and with self-control avoiding the temptations and overcoming those. Moses first listed out the blessings for those who live in obedience to God and then the warning, ‘If you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you’ (Deuteronomy 28:15).
Salvation through faith in the sacrifice of Lord Jesus does not mean that we are freed from the commands of the Lord in His Word. Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians has repeatedly warned against sinful living and to not give any ‘place to the devil’ (Ephesians 4:27). We let him hold a finger of the hand, by telling a lie and he will grab you from the neck and control you.
God also allows certain sufferings to refine us and prepare us for bigger roles in life. We must remain close to God and ‘in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Like Job, when we do this, we virtually laugh at the devil, declaring him a failure and our Father deploys His heavenly forces to protect us.
Way to live during sufferings to glorify God – Suffering is not new to the world and right from Genesis 3, after sin entered the world, suffering also came. But our attitude during that phase reveals our faith and commitment to God. Job did not sin even while suffering and facing criticism from his three friends. God blessed him with double of all that he had lost ‘when he had prayed for his friends’ (Job 42:10). We tend to blame someone for our sufferings, whether true or wrong. God desires us to forgive such people and give Him glory in this.
Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and comfort, who comforts us in all affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God’ (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). First, the source of all comfort is God and this is about encouraging, strengthening and helping to overcome pain. Second, the purpose of comfort is to make us the source of all comfort for others in similar situations. Third, the result of comfort is developing our character and behaviour towards others in empathy. Fourth, comfort is to be shared and not retained, for the more we reach out the more He pours in. Fifth, comfort is the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is our ‘Comforter, Helper and Advocate’ (John 14:26). Sixth, seek comfort by acting in humility and set aside pride to receive this from God and His messengers sent and be strengthened to face the ongoing battle.
The whole life of a believer is about perseverance in prayer, Word study, doing good and loving others, for these do not come naturally to us. God uses our sufferings for it ‘produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us’ (Romans 5:3-5). The Holy Spirit being of ‘strength, love and self-control’ helps us stay strong in His power in all situations (2 Timothy 1:7). We glorify God in our suffering by staying true to the Word like Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. When he was being stoned to death, ‘he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin’ (Acts 7:60).
David was anointed as king of Israel while still a teenager and suffered greatly from the jealousy of Saul. Yet, despite two clear chances to kill Saul, he refused to touch ‘the God’s anointed’ and continued to suffer. When even in our sufferings and pain we care to be a blessing for someone we glorify God. It helps us to find comfort as well as to comfort others.
Joy and suffering are a part of life on earth and just like day and night are not permanent, these situations of life keep changing. Living a life submitted to Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we are strengthened and also equipped to be of help to others, to lead them into joy and hope in the Lord. We partner with God as His children to expand His kingdom within us into the hearts of others and mend this broken world!
