Last post, we looked at some of the temporal purposes God has revealed for suffering. These temporal purposes however can be seen as subservient to the ultimate purposes God has in ordaining suffering including the suffering we endure in calamity.
We’ve already seen that the notion of God not being in control of the events which bring suffering is not biblical even if it seems like the right answer. God controls the waves and the winds (Matthew 8:27). He controls people’s hearts and actions (Prov 21:1; Lam 3:37). He governs the outcome of things which appear to be chance (Prov 16:33). He ordains the actions of evil spirits (1Sam 16:14-16; 1Kings 22:19-23; Mark 1:27). In summary God is sovereign, or as He puts it in Isaiah 46:9-10, “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose”.
We also know that God is good. Deuteronomy 32:4 says “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Psalm 100:5 says “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” So we know that His purposes are good.
Ultimately, the entire universe and even the smallest events that take place in our lives are ordained for God’s glory. Suffering serves to magnify His glory too.
Redemptive History
This world, with all its suffering, exists to enable the necessary conditions for God’s redemptive plan as a theatre for the display of His character and His infinite worth through His undeserved grace towards sinners. 2 Timothy 1:9 shows us that God’s purpose in redemptive history was established “before the ages began”. The names of those people who are not the undeserving recipients of His grace have “not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb” according to Revelation 13:8. Redemptive history is an opportunity for us the see the character of God revealed in His mercy, grace, justice, holiness and love. Without it we could not know Him as fully as we can.
Highlighting Sin
In our fallen nature, our view of sin grossly undermines its seriousness. Our sin is outrageous in view of the infinite worth of God to receive our love, attention and worship, and the suffering which exists in the groaning created order (Romans 8:22) is a physical manifestation which serves as a reminder of sin and how horrendous it is. Many examples in the gospels show that we are carnal by nature – unable to see beyond the physical. Suffering is the physical way that God screams at us about sin. C. S. Lewis said God whispers to us in our pleasure and shouts at us in our pain. The evil of the physical world is all pointing to the evil of the moral world.
Displaying Christ
A suffering world exists to confound people when they see that the followers of Christ are satisfied in the midst of suffering. As Paul shows in Phil 1:21 everything in life is about Christ and death only brings us closer to our treasure. Matthew 5:11-16 illustrates this well. The back-drop to our “saltiness” is suffering, and in this way suffering provides the contrast against which our joy and peace, which come from the Spirit of Christ, can be on display.
The Cross
Without a world where there is suffering and persecution, Jesus would not have suffered and been persecuted. The cross - the place where the greatest sin in history was committed - is the apex of God’s glory. It is the centre of the universe and of all history. Acts 4:27 make it clear that the crucifixion of Christ was planned by the Father. As it says in Isaiah 53:10, “it was the will of the Lord to crush him”.
God’s power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12), and without the cross and the reconciliation the cross made possible, God’s power could not be displayed in our weakness. In heaven, the cross will forever be at the centre of our worship as we sing of how “worthy is the lamb” (Rev 5:12).
Thinking about these things stretches our minds well beyond our capacity to understand. We should be humbled that God chose to reveal these things to us, that we might get even these glimpses of His unfathomable glory.
He is our God, and by His grace we are His children. When He appears we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is.
We are undone!
