The Fellowship of His Sufferings

Although I've hinted on elements of this topic in previous posts (see Deep Calls to Deep, The God of All Comfort, The Trial of Faith - Part 1 and The Trial of Faith - Part 2), I've been waiting to share in more detail. Having written two days ago on the subject of joy (which I'm still discovering more on, both scripturally and practically in my life), I'd like to build on this foundation by exploring a deeper understanding of the nature of suffering.

Now the purpose of this blog is not to become an "ivory tower" speculation engine or theological pedestal - what I'm interested in sharing is what matters personally to me, and thus hopefully also what matters personally to you. But guess what! When you actually face suffering, suffering is no longer a merely theological or philosophical topic. It moves from having an apologetic quality to having a raw, experiential quality. So for this reason, I want to share on this topic now.

But before I share personally, I do want to provide first some theological foundations, and this means taking a step back and looking at the philosophical and theological implications of suffering - in other words, the answers to the oft-asked "why" questions related to suffering - "Why is there suffering in the world?", or more pointedly, "Why does God allow suffering in the world?" or more personally, "Why does God allow me to be suffering right now?"

I wrote a lesson on this for the Online Bible College, which I encourage you to download and read:

"Why Is There Evil in the World?"

I would like to quote from one paragraph in this lesson, a statement which is the foundation for understanding the biblical approach to the question of suffering in life:

"People tend to approach the issue of suffering as if God is a cosmic bystander, looking on impassionately at the throes of human pain from the safe distance of his throne. But this could not be farther from the truth. No one has suffered more than God. Every time a human being suffers, God suffers with him. Every time someone agonizes through the terminal stages of cancer, every time a child is raped, every time a person despairs of life itself, God is there. God sees. God feels. Yet that suffering is compounded billions of times around the world. No one – absolutely no one – comprehends suffering like God does."

As I re-read this lesson, and this paragraph in particular, I realised that when I wrote the words, "Every time someone agonizes through the terminal stages of cancer," I did not know at the time that I, in the future, would taste of this experience myself. So this is where lessons such as these become very real for people. Far from being a theological exercise in seeking to answer the philosophical questions of life, it becomes a personal exercise in experiencing God's answer to life itself.

The foundation for a proper understanding of human suffering is understanding God's suffering. Without this, we will have a skewed perspective and won't understand the provision of the Gospel, which takes human suffering fully into account. So let's take a look at the issue of suffering in the Bible - not from a remote standpoint, but from a personal perspective.

First of all, let's start with the fact that suffering is so important an issue to God that he has willing chosen to participate in our suffering. Not only does God experience suffering far more than anyone else on the face of the earth (due to him empathising with every human being's suffering), he also actively entered into suffering on a personal level. Speaking of Jesus, Isaiah 53:3-5 says:

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

What a price God paid for my forgiveness and my healing! God himself become personally immersed in the suffering of humanity. Notice that Jesus is described as "a man of sorrows" and "familiar with suffering" - in other words, someone who experienced suffering as an insider, not an outsider. As The Message puts it, Jesus was "a man...who knew pain firsthand."

The suffering endured by Jesus moved beyond being merely identification with humanity and became redemptive. In other words, Jesus wasn't "stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted" for himself; he was stricken, smitten and afflicted for us! He wasn't merely pierced; he was "pierced for our transgressions." He wasn't simply crushed; he was "crushed for our iniquities." He wasn't just punished; his punishment "brought us peace." And he wasn't merely wounded; it is "by his wounds we are healed."

In taking on board my suffering, Jesus opened the door for a unique relationship between me and God - a relationship that Psalm 42:7 describes as: "Deep calls to deep..." In my post "Deep Calls to Deep", I explained the nature of this "deep calls to deep" experience:

Have you ever met a "shallow" person - someone with no "depth"? When you are going through a hard time, the last thing you want is a shallow person to put his arm around you and try to cheer you up, because you know there is no depth to his experience. His words are just words. But it is a different matter when someone who has actually suffered pain and loss (even if it is not the same kind of pain and loss that you are now experiencing) comforts you and speaks words of hope. Because behind those words there is the depth of experience. Their comfort becomes a "deep calls to deep" experience.

God wants to have a deep and meaningful fellowship with you. But because God has unfathomable depth to him, there is no way he can have genuine fellowship with you if you are "shallow." Only through the depth of experience can we begin to plumb the depths of God. Have you noticed that it is when you are facing hardship or suffering that you discover something about God that you had never seen before? This is because at that point the depth God is working in your life is sufficient to plumb a new level of depth in God.

The Holy Spirit has been given to help nurture this process of discovery, as described in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11:

"...but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."

What Paul is saying here is that the Holy Spirit has been given to reveal the "deep things" of God to us. Take a look at the nuances brought out of 1 Corinthians 2:10 by The Amplified Bible:

"Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny]."

Once we understand the enduring value of suffering in our relationship with God, this puts our trials in a whole new light. Even though the suffering is difficult, I'm willing to face it because through times of hardship I discover new depths in the Lord.

As I've been reading through the Bible, following the frequent theme of suffering, I've noticed that two words often go hand in hand:

• Suffering
• Glory

Just take a look at these verses:

• Romans 8:17 - "Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

• Romans 8:18 - "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

• Ephesians 3:13 - "I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory."

• 1 Peter 4:13 - "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

• 1 Peter 5:1 - "To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed..."

• 1 Peter 5:10 - "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

This link between suffering and glory is important, because it means that suffering is the context in which Christian growth often takes place. This is beautfully described in The Message's paraphrase of 1 Peter 4:13:

"Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner."

The end result of this "spiritual refining process" is described in 2 Corinthians 3:18:

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

God is building a capacity within us to both experience and reflect greater depths of his glory, and this capacity is, I believe, deepened through times of suffering in which we respond with faith to God. That means, for me, in times of suffering I have an opportunity to embrace my destiny in a way not normally available when everything is running smoothly. In fact, in suffering, I have the opportunity to follow the example set by the Lord Jesus himself. 1 Peter 2:21 says:

"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."

But as I've read Scripture on this subject, I've noticed that there are two dimensions of suffering, which are important to differentiate between:

1. My suffering, which God participates in through Jesus
2. The sufferings of Christ, which I am called to participate in through the Holy Spirit

Much of what I've been sharing about suffering so far falls under the first category. This is the sufferings which I personally go through, but which through faith are transformed into an agent for my spiritual growth. A good example of this first category of suffering is 1 Peter 4:1, which encourages us to follow Christ's example when we face our own suffering:

"Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin."

But the second category of suffering - the sufferings of Christ himself - is also mentioned time and time again throughout the New Testament. For example, Philippians 1:29 says:

"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him."

In other words, part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not just believing on him, but also suffering for him. This suffering, rather than being something that is thrust upon us, is something that we willingly embrace as a follower of Jesus.

1 Peter 4:13 also speaks of this second type of suffering:

"But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."

Notice that the Bible is no longer talking about my sufferings, but about the sufferings of Christ. As I pointed out earlier in the blog, Christ embraced humanity and identified with my suffering, but now I am called to do the same in repriciprocation. I am called to embrace God as the top priority in our lives and to participate in his sufferings.

The Bible reveals that the sufferings of Christ were not just expressed redemptively at the Cross, but are also an ongoing experience for Jesus. Everytime the Church is persecuted, Jesus is persecuted (note Acts 9:4-5). And each time, according to Jesus, "one of the least of these" suffers, so does Jesus himself (Matthew 25:34-40). As Christians, we are now given the opportunity to repriciprocate Jesus' identification with us - by embracing persecution for his names' sake (Matthew 5:11), we willingly embrace the ongoing sufferings of Christ. By reaching out to others who are suffering, we also participate in his sufferings.

Paul made this depth of experience one of his highest goals. In Philippians 3:10, he wrote:

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death..."

To Timothy, Paul wrote in Timothy 1:8:

"So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God."

Again, in Hebrews 13:11-13, the writer encourages his readers to actively participate in the sufferings of Jesus by willingly facing persecution and disgrace for Jesus' sake. He wrote:

"And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore."

And it is this second dimension of suffering which Peter refers to in 1 Peter 4:12-13:

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."

There is a fellowship in suffering (Revelation 1:9). People who go through a common experience of suffering - an economic depression, a devastating natural disaster, the horror of war - usually have a special bond which transcends every other social barrier.

The same is true with us and the Lord. By willingly leaving our comfort zone, and entering into the suffering zone for the Lord's sake and for the sake of others, I enter into a new dimension of fellowship with him. This is why Paul calls it "the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings."

The last two days have been not easy for me, pain-wise. Nothing major, but definitely discomforting. At times like this, it is all too easy to become self-focused (pain has a tendency to do that). But I was challenged by the Lord to keep my eyes on him, and also to look outwardly - in other words, to reach out to others around me. I did this yesterday by choosing to visit someone else who is ALSO undergoing suffering - suffering of a different kind, but suffering all the same. I prayed with them, and ministered the comfort and encouragement of the Lord to their lives. I had the joy of joining with the Lord in his care and concern for their lives.

Likewise, as I was talking with the Lord yesterday, he began to challenge me to reach out and witness more - in other words, to actively take that step of participating with the Lord in his sufferings and in his purpose. After all, if all I get out of my suffering is a reinforcement of my self-centre, then I've missed the whole point of the exercise!

The nature of my covenantal bond with God through Jesus Christ is such that in Jesus God has linked my suffering and his suffering together. The two can now no longer be separated. In summary, this two-way link is:

1. By choice, God has participated in my suffering
2. By choice, I can participate in his suffering

Where are you right now? What about others around you? For some, the suffering they are going through is so intense that they need others to surround them, support them and participate in their sufferings with them. But for many, the challenge of the Lord comes, like it does to me, to shift your eyes from themselves to the Lord and begin to reach out to those around you. When you do this, you are accepting the Lord's invitation to join him in his own sufferings, an invitation to move beyond your own small sphere of interest and participate in the concerns of the Lord himself.

This is what I believe Jesus was meaning in Luke 9:23 when he said, "Take up your cross and follow me..." I've heard so many people refer to their own involuntary suffering when they say, "Oh, this is the cross I must bear." But this was not what Jesus meant! He was speaking of a voluntary taking up of our cross - a willingness to suffer and die - for his sake! According to Luke 9:23, this involves three voluntary actions:

• Deny yourself
• Take up your cross daily
• Follow me

Without a deliberate act of self-denial, we may experience suffering, but we are not willingly taking up our cross. And without actually following Jesus, this cannot be called taking up our cross either! So let's rise to the challenge!

In closing, let me share with you the beautiful promise of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."