“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners
against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have
not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the
exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons;
for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without
chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and
not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid
them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of
spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to
them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no
chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless,
afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been
trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:3-11 NKJV)
Okay. Jesus Christ suffered much. However, that’s not the
end of the story. He suffered not without any reason. Through the suffering He
was perfected in His ministry as the High Priest. By His own death, Christ paid
the full price for the redemption of humanity because without death with blood
there is no forgiveness. The wages of sin is death, says the scripture. No one
can argue the fact that man dies once. Jesus suffered not for Himself but for
us the fallen race. The Father in heaven imposed all the transgressions and
sins of the race upon the Son of Man Jesus Christ. In that way, Christ became
the ransom sacrifice to pay off the price of falling.
That is the only way to have the life, to find the way, and
to possess the truth. Jesus says His disciples, “If anyone desires to come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for
My sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24 NKJV) To be Christ’s disciples, we must follow what
He did, obedience to the Father even death on the cross. The grand redemption
plan was made even before the creation of the world that the Son of Man must
die as the Lamb of God. His suffering and death with bloodshed was pronounced
by the hand of Prophet Isaiah and many other prophets.
Christ knew that He was destined to die in shame, guilt, and
despair after much sufferings, agony, pain, humiliation, mockery, and slandering.
Paul described what our Lord Jesus Christ did in obedience to the Father and
what God did when the Son obeyed. “Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance
as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even
the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him
the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11 NKJV)
Christ denied Himself and took up the cross, shedding His
blood on the alter in heaven and completely quenching the fiery wrath of God
against the fallen humanity. Now, what else could God do other than exalting
the Son of God above all? God raised Him the third day according to the Scriptures.
Our life is one suffering after another, but not without any
reason and purpose. God is love eternally and in Him there is no variation, nor
the shadow of turning. God chastens all His children in order to give better
and spiritual blessings—perseverance, adequacy, and righteousness. Challenges and
hurdles whether tiny, small, or big in our lives are designed for us to
demonstrate the presence of Christ Jesus in the midst. We have been made
partakers of Christ Jesus, the eternal indwelling place of the Triune God. Through
the sufferings and heartaches, we are gradually learning and understanding the
secret of life, the Person Christ Jesus. By the hand of the master builder, we are
in the process of being molded and shaped to fit and worthy of the high
calling.
Do not forget the wonderful promise of God, saying “No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is
faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to
bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV)
Our loving and faithful God is behind all things happening in
the midst. Do not forget that as is the promise, so also is the warning. “Beware,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,”
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have
become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden
your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:12-15 NKJV)
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