The Suffering And Glorification Of Christ Is Parallel To The Experiences Of His Faithful Children
Why There is Suffering
The transgression of our first parents in the Garden of Eden opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. As years went by, the tide of evil was coming fiercely upon the world! Suffering and misery as a result of sin were dire, the case appeared hopeless. But we must quickly mention here that had God not interposed through the sacrifice of His only Son, (John 3:16; Romans 5:6–8) the fate of the world would indeed have been hopeless and abandoned to final destruction.
Before sin, God had placed them in a school. “The Garden of Eden was the schoolroom, nature was the lesson book, the Creator Himself was the instructor, and the parents of the human family were the students.” –Education, p. 20. At that time they were learning the easier way for they did not have the knowledge of evil that was, in love, withheld. However, by transgression, they had forfeited the easier way of learning. The hard way, a life of toil and care, was now appointed them. In toil the earth was to yield her increase.
“It was a discipline rendered needful by his sin, to place a check upon the indulgence of appetite and passion, to develop habits of self-control. It was a part of God’s great plan of man’s recovery from the ruin and degradation of sin.” –Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 60
Those That Suffered For Jesus’ Sake
Even though the whole world is suffering, Satan, since the fall, has bent all his efforts in concentrating this suffering upon God’s people with the aim to discourage and thus wrench away their faith in God. God’s people, therefore, are afflicted with poverty, oppression, pain, persecution, and, at times, put to death.
Take, for example, Joseph, the servant of God, suffering at the hand of his brothers, sold as a slave, and essentially left to destruction! Satan uses numerous methods. If deception and seduction do not work, he resorts to torture to intimidate the chosen of God. Day after day Satan urged an unchaste woman to bring Joseph down to the abyss by tempting him to venture upon the transgression of the seventh commandment (Genesis 39:10). When he resisted this severest of temptations that can ever come to man, his faithfulness ignited the wrath of the devil, and he was cast in prison.
Job suffered for his faithfulness. Satan thought that by poverty and torture, he would wrench away Job’s hold on God. Job declared: “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:25–26. Satan had failed.
Of the disciples of Jesus inspiration tells us that they all suffered and died for Christ’s sake. Christ foretold of a great time of tribulation to befall His people. It occurred during the dark ages between 538 A.D. to the year 1798 A.D. (Matthew 24:21–22.) It is estimated that more than 50,000,000 faithful souls lost their lives. Paul, who also was a partaker in the sufferings of Christ, writes that: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12. In his letter to the Hebrews he writes of people severely persecuted for clinging to the truth:
“And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Hebrews 11:35–38
“Why is it, then, that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber? The only reason is that the church has conformed to the world’s standard and therefore awakens no opposition. The religion which is current in our day is not of the pure and holy character that marked the Christian faith in the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only because of the spirit of compromise with sin, because the great truths of the word of God are so indifferently regarded, because there is so little vital godliness in the church, that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world. Let there be a revival of the faith and power of the early church, and the spirit of persecution will be revived, and the fires of persecution will be rekindled.” –The Great Controversy, p. 48
Jesus—the Greatest Sufferer
As we find ourselves in strait places, suffering in diverse ways, and destitute due to stinging poverty, let us remember that our Lord Jesus was the greatest sufferer. No one has ever endured the pain He went through. He was tempted just as we are. He condescended and took our poverty so that we may be rich. With His stripes we are healed! There is nothing of our condition that He does not know. (You may wish to meditate on Isaiah 53, and Hebrews 2:18; 4:15–16)
“The Son of God has opened a way of escape for the ruined race by taking the transgressions of man and their just penalty upon Himself. He laid aside His robes of royalty, clothed His divinity with humanity, and came into our world. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He suffered insult and reproach and mockery, and yet He was the Majesty of heaven” –Manuscript Releases, vol. 9, p. 233
“As soon as Jesus was nailed to the cross, it was lifted by strong men, and with great violence thrust into the place prepared for it. This caused the most intense agony to the Son of God.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 745
“The followers of Christ must tread the same path of humiliation, reproach, and suffering which their Master trod. The enmity that burst forth against the world’s Redeemer would be manifested against all who should believe on His name.” –The Great Controversy, p. 39
“And of all the gifts that Heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honored than John the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. ‘Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.’ Philippians 1:29.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 224
The Glorified Lord Is a Symbol of the Glorification of His Children
Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, “the author and finisher of our faith,” was faithful in every point and He overcame. And “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2
The apostle John of Patmos was privileged to see Jesus in His glorified state. He gives an impressive narration:
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” Revelation 1:10–19
Richly favored was this beloved disciple. He had seen his Master in Gethsemane, His face marked with the blood drops of agony, His ‘visage . . . marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.’ Isaiah 52:14. He had seen Him in the hands of the Roman soldiers, clothed with an old purple robe and crowned with thorns. He had seen Him hanging on the cross of Calvary, the object of cruel mockery and abuse. Now John is once more permitted to behold his Lord. But how changed is His appearance! He is no longer a Man of Sorrows, despised and humiliated by men. He is clothed in a garment of heavenly brightness. ‘His head and His hairs’ are ‘white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes . . . as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.’ Revelation 1:14, 15, 17. His voice is like the music of many waters. His countenance shines as the sun. In His hand are seven stars, and out of His mouth issues a sharp two-edged sword, an emblem of the power of His word. Patmos is made resplendent with the glory of the risen Lord. . . .
“John was strengthened to live in the presence of his glorified Lord. Then before his wondering vision were opened the glory of heaven. He was permitted to see the throne of God and, looking beyond the conflicts of earth, to behold the white-robed throng of the redeemed. He heard the music of the heavenly angels and the triumphant songs of those who had overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. In the revelation given to him there was unfolded scene after scene of thrilling interest in the experience of the people of God, and the history of the church foretold to the very close of time.” –The Acts of the Apostles, p. 582
“We all entered the cloud together, and were seven days ascending to the sea of glass, when Jesus brought the crowns and with His own right hand placed them on our heads. He gave us harps of gold and palms of victory. Here on the sea of glass the 144,000 stood in a perfect square. . . . Then we began to look at the glorious things outside of the city. There I saw most glorious houses, that had the appearance of silver, supported by four pillars set with pearls most glorious to behold. These were to be inhabited by the saints. In each was a golden shelf. I saw many of the saints go into the houses, take off their glittering crowns and lay them on the shelf, then go out into the field by the houses to do something with the earth; not as we have to do with the earth here; no, no. A glorious light shone all about their heads, and they were continually shouting and offering praises to God.” –Early Writings, p. 16–17
Fellow traveler, these promises are true. We have no choice. We cannot give up the battle, for the price of doing so is too great. The final victory is just around the corner! Amen.
Joel Msiska