Jesus Makes Our Suffering Glorious
By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI
1 Peter 5:6-11
Therefore humble yourselves under God’s powerful hand so that he may lift you up at the appointed time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8Have sound judgment. Be alert. Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him by being firm in the faith. You know that the same kinds of sufferings are being laid on your brotherhood all over the world.10After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you. 11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
“Cheer up! Things could be worse. So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse!” This anecdote often describes how we feel about life in general. We hope things are going to get better, but in some ways, we always have that fear that sooner or later, things are actually going to get worse.
But Peter tells us in our text today is that the best is yet to come. Yes, He says, there is suffering in this world. But it doesn’t last forever. It does get better, much better, eternally better, for those who trust in Jesus Christ. He says: 10After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you.
Why? Because Jesus came to undo the devil’s work.
All your present suffering, all your future troubles, all your questions, doubts and fears are the result of what satan accomplished millennia ago in the Graden of Eden. His deception of our first parents plunged this world into chaos and suffering. Adam and Eve’s sin and its consequences are passed down from generation to generation, parents to children. This is called original or inherited sin. It results in a sinful condition, like a blue color in clay. Any pot made from that lump of clay will have that blue color. And so we are sinful because we have been made from the clay of Adam and Eve.
But the blame isn’t just on Adam and Eve. The blame falls squarely on us too. Our sinful condition shows itself daily in our sinful actions. Our sinful flesh continues to deceive us into defying God with our choices. Adam and Eve loved God, and so do we. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and so do we.
Adam and Eve suffered the consequences of their disobedience and so do we. Adam and Eve believed in the promised Savior, yet they continued to sin and eventually died. And so do we.
Satan continues to do his dirty work. If there is one thing the devil hates, it is to see people believe the truth about Jesus. The devil is at work to destroy our faith with all the pain and sorrow that sin brings. He will do anything he can to destroy our hope and confidence in God. He will do it through persecution, through fear, misunderstanding, through temptations, disappointment, and suffering.
So be alert. Not like one who is half-asleep, but like one who is fully awake. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. A lion doesn’t seek out the strong and healthy in a herd. But the weak, the wounded and the young. Easier prey, right? And the devil is good at what he does. He knows just which buttons to push in us. He knows our
weaknesses, our wounds, our youthful impetuousnesses. Afterall, he put them there. He knows the things that are most likely to cause us to question God and His ways. And the devil will keep pushing. He will keep at us because trying to upset our faith and turn us away from God. Then he wins. If we think we have it bad in this world, scripture reminds us that all the pain of this life is nothing compared to the greater torment of hell.
But all is not lost! While there may be those times when we have trouble understanding why God allows all this trouble to happen, He does promise that He will be there to see us through it all.
Peter said: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” Peter knows that the suffering is there. But he also knows what God can and will do for those who trust in Him. So he says: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up at the appointed time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” When we find ourselves overwhelmed by the devil’s attacks, there is only one thing we can do, and that is to put our burdens on the Lord. He is the one who can help because Jesus came to undo the devil’s work.
I think Satan understood the prophecy of Genesis 3 that the seed of the woman would crush his head. That is why Satan has been so active through Old Testament history, in trying to destroy the line of the Messiah again, and again, and again. That’s why Satan endeavored to kill all the male children at the time of the birth of Christ that were two years and under, in order to slaughter the Messiah. But as crafty, as powerful, as ruthless as satan is, he is not too smart. He tried to overthrow God in heaven and that didn’t turn out
so well, did it? Then he tried again and again during Jesus’ lifetime. But God’s plan wouldn’t be thwarted.
Jesus came to destroy Satan's power. The word destroy means "to dissolve or loosen completely." In other words, when Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross in our place, and rose eternally to usher in the Kingdom of God, He smashed Satan's grip on us. The heel of the seed of the woman would be bruised. That’s an attack from the rear, but it’s a minor thing. Isaiah says, “He was bruised for our iniquities.” As you go to the cross remember Jesus confessed that “this is the hour of the power of darkness.” The cross was a bruise on His heel. But in that wound satan’s head, his power, was crushed. Jesus provided the atonement that paid in full the sin debt of all the people. He destroyed hatred with His love. He destroyed lawlessness with His righteousness. On the cross Jesus satisfied the justice of God. Then through his resurrection he conquered death opening the gates of paradise for all who believe.
So for those who trust in Jesus, satan is nothing more than a dog with a painful bite but which inflicts no lasting damage.
Stand firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by Christians throughout the world. Resist satan, like you would an opponent, standing firm in our faith toward God. Hold onto what has been planted in our hearts.
So why does suffering continue? It will in this fallen world. If Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, then why does Satan continue to operate freely? As long as people are willing to entertain and obey the lies of Satan, he will have a hold over them. But Satan has no claim on a believer unless that believer hands him the keys to their life. I think this story illustrates well what our approach is to be.
A while ago I read a story about a young teenager named Sally who made herself miserable over the smallest failures and setbacks of her life. Early one fall, while the leaves were still on the trees, there was an exceptionally heavy snowstorm. Sally’s grandfather took her for a drive and said, "Notice those elms, the branches are so badly broken that the trees may die. But just look at those pines and evergreens. They are completely undamaged by the storm. My child, there are two kinds of trees in the world. An elm holds its branches rigid. As it becomes weighted down, eventually its limbs break. But when an evergreen is loaded, it simply relaxes, lowers its branches, and lets the burden slip away. And so it remains unharmed. Be a pine tree, granddaughter."
Christians who give up all their cares to the Lord can face life's burdens much better than those who try to bear the weight themselves. We will bend under the heavy load of suffering, but we won’t break. Satan wants you to be rigid, to try to do it yourself. You will break. God wants you to bend, so that you learn that He will support you. But more than that, the Lord can, and does, see us beyond those troubles.
God has a purpose in suffering: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the appointed time he may lift you up…” God’s pathway to exaltation is through humiliation, through humbling ourselves before him. Jesus too was humbled by taking on the form of a servant, being obedient even to death on a cross. And then he was exalted to the right hand of the Father. So as suffering drives us toward God, He lifts us up, strengthens us and draws us even closer to him.
The ascended Lord is still in charge, and in His time, the Lord will act for the good of His people. The day is coming when the Lord is going to set things right. At the right time, He will bring an end to the suffering and troubles of our lives. He will bring us to the wonderful glory of His eternal home. Knowing that our suffering is limited in time makes it easier to bear. Since we know that it will come to an end we can put up with it for now.
Yes, the best is yet to come, for our friend and Savior has undone the work of the devil. He will bring an end to our suffering. He will give us greater blessings than we could ever imagine. And even now, as we stand firm in our faith, He gives us the help and strength we need to overcome the sufferings and problems of this world by looking for God’s blessing in them.
Friends, suffering will come but don’t give in. Remember that God is at work, and the best is yet to come. Amen.