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 8:17
If you are like me, you got to about halfway through this verse and read a clause that, at the least was a bit perplexing, and at the worst you’d like to delete from the text. Without it, the verse reads very nicely. We are children, we are heirs, we are co-heirs, we share in glory. This would do very nicely for my life’s trajectory. There will be no need for suffering. There is certainly no need for suffering as a precondition of future glory.
And yet, that is exactly how the logic flows. As heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, our share in his glory is subject to our share in his sufferings. Suffering is the path to glory, but it is not any sort of suffering. Somehow (and we will try to explore this today), it is by sharing in his sufferings that we may share in his glory. We cannot walk the same path as Jesus, and there is no need to achieve again what He completed in His life, death and resurrection, but there is a particular quality to His sufferings that we need to share.
Suffering is a part of life. Everyone experiences it to some extent, but not everyone will share in Christ’s glory. I suggest that there are at least three types of suffering that only Christ, and those who are in Christ, will endure: persecution, hypersensitivity to sin, and discipline.
Persecution: the world’s response to Christ
Enduring hardship in all kinds of forms because the world rejects Christ in you, is a form of suffering that Jesus warned would follow his disciples. More of than not, when “suffering” is mentioned in the New Testament, this is the form to which it refers. The first Christians experienced rejection by their family and communities, state-sanctioned violence and imprisonment, the loss of rights and slander. This has taken many different forms over the millennia and continues today in many parts of the world. In our context, forms of persecution are arguably milder, but may be intensifying. As governments and society becomes increasingly hostile towards Christ and His truths, we need not fear or become dismayed. As we identify with Christ, we should also embody His character and take care that we are not being offensive as we speak and live the truths of the Gospel. In persecution, we identify with Christ’s rejection.
Sensitivity to sin: our response to the world
When faced with the death and suffering wreaked by sin, Jesus was not only moved to compassion, but also to anger. He wept and cried out in anger at the tomb of Lazarus, even though He knew the resurrection was coming. Why? He saw the pain of Mary and Martha. He saw the destructive power of sin to end life. It grieved Him. As we become more like Christ, we grow more sensitive to sin. We hate sin more and more. Our more compassionate hearts cry out at the pain and suffering caused by sin. We battle against sin and its structures. We grieve more deeply. We identify with Christ’s holiness.
Discipline: our response to God
Hebrews tells us that Jesus learned obedience through his suffering, and that He was tempted in every way, just as we are and yet was without sin. Jesus was formed through all that He suffered. As children of God, we understand that our Father is sovereign and that He will work all things together for our good. There is no part of evil of suffering that has slipped beyond His control; and any part that He allows into our lives will be worked together for our ultimate good. In His hands, every circumstance of our lives is for our formation and perfection. This can be a confronting truth to face. Suffering often causes us to question the goodness or the love or the power of God. But a mark of God’s heirs is that they will allow their sufferings to be used by their Father in their sanctification. We identify with Christ’s submissive obedience.
We should expect to suffer, it is a part of all human experience. But being children of God changes our understanding of and response to suffering. Suffering does not extinguish hope. Suffering is not to be avoided at all costs. Suffering can be for our good and prepare us for the glory we will share with Christ.
Prayer focus:
- Praise God that we will share in the sufferings and glory of Christ because He has made us co-heirs with Christ
- Pray for the persecuted church. Pray that we would also be courageous and loving in the face of opposition.
- Pray that we would learn to trust God even when we don’t understand the suffering that He allows. Pray that we would be sanctified in our personal suffering. Pray that we would deepen our compassion for the suffering in the world.
