21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him,” – Colossians 1:21-22
Our salvation does not thrive despite suffering, rather it flourishes because of it. The death of our Lord, followed by the death of our preference, ego, and status, is the engine that makes our salvation kinetic. We base the entirety of our faith upon one brutal act of history – the death of Jesus. It was unfair, unjust, and undeserved, yet it is what God used to forever change our collective destiny. If we are to believe in the power of His resurrection, we must also plainly and without blinking, look at His death. If we are to believe in it’s ability to demolish sin (and that is a big “if”), then we have to understand the role of suffering in our own lives.
“When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord’s choicest wines” – Samuel Rutherford
We wish there was a better way to go about sanctification, but there is not. Suffering is illogical, but effective. It purifies our soul and humbles our all too proud spirit. But suffering on it’s own is incomplete. As Christ followers, we now have been purchased, through the suffering of our Lord, a joy that is immovable. This is not circumstantial like the joy of the world, but something with more grit. Our hope is tried and tested. That feeling of helplessness that accompanies affliction now calls our gaze elsewhere to where our Savior is. In order to find hope one must first experience true hopelessness.
The affliction that comes with every day is a uniter. This daily angst screams of the groans for complete salvation. It unites us with the suffering of Christ and by a miraculous moment of grace, unites us to His resurrection. Once and for all.
Be patient with your grief
(one day it will cease)
He suffers with you
His broken body is now your victory
Matt simon blog 