By Tyson Thorne

February 10, 2015
 
 

SufferRejoice large

Though the believer will point to God when speaking the Word and serving others, unbelievers will prefer to be distracted by the human vessel of God’s grace. For this reason, believers who love and serve as they should will undergo persecution. A literal translation of verses 12 through 19 follows.

Beloved, do not be astonished by the fiery ordeal taking place around you to test you, as though something foreign were happening to you. But in so far as you are able to share Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory is revealed you may be able to rejoice and rejoice exceedingly. If insults are heaped on you for Christ’s name, you are blessed, for God’s Spirit rests on you. May none of you suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or revolutionist, but as a Christian. May you not be ashamed to glorify God by bearing his name! For the season of judgment is about to begin with the house of God; if it starts with us, what will the end be for those who disobey God’s good news? And if it is not easy to save the righteous, what will the godless and sinners appear like? So then, let those suffering in God’s will entrust the faithful Creator while the continually do good.

From these verses emerge an important truth for the Christian: Suffering is endured with rejoicing. A man wins a million dollars from the lotto; he and his friends and family rejoice! A woman discovers she and her husband are about to have the baby they’ve been trying for; they too rejoice. A Christian is arrested for his faith in a hostile land; he too will rejoice. It sounds foreign, doesn’t it? Yet Peter warns that this is not to be so. True believers are no stranger to suffering, in fact it is expected. They rejoice because instead of focusing on the social injustice of it all, their eyes are fixed on the One who suffered to the point of death for their salvation. This intention of the heart, this attitude of the inner spirit, only exists in the man on whom God’s Spirit rests. Such a man is not a murderer, liar or cheat; he is a holy priest, dedicated to God’s service alone. He is never afraid to discuss his faith, regardless of the painful consequences for doing so. He bears the marks of the cross for all to see.

The judgments of men are nowhere as meaningful as the judgment of God on the human condition. For this reason the Christian has no fear of mortality or man’s injustices. Instead, he rests in the knowledge of God and strives on to the completion of his faith. During this earthy sojourn the Household of God is continually judged, purged and cleansed. The deceivers fall away, the false prophets are rooted out, the antichrists are swept away, while true believers stand firm. And if such judgment is difficult to withstand, even for those who trust Christ with their very life, then it is impossible for those without God to stand. The world shall perish into eternity. So it is that we who suffer according to God’s will shall continue to do good works which testify to the one good God, in a last fervent attempt to save those around us.

Our salvation by the Suffering Servant results in a common destiny of suffrage while we serve the world and each other through our every word and deed. This is only possible if we love one another deeply and have the Spirit of our Creator resting on our hearts. Through it all, because our acts are always other-centered (either we do it for God or for another struggling human, but never for ourselves), we can endure suffering with hearts that rejoice. In this way, we become hated and vulnerable.

 
 
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