It strikes us as strange that along with all the wonderful benefits of being heirs of our Father’s estate, we are also given suffering. Is that the price we have to pay for the good stuff? Is that what we have to endure to qualify for the blessings of his presence and provision? Why is suffering a part of the wonderful life Jesus has given us? Why didn’t God eliminate the painful part and just leave us with all that brings pleasure?

     Many who stand opposed to the tenants of Christian theology do so because they can’t understand how a good God can permit such pain in his world. They conclude he is either powerless to change things or unconcerned. So they stand in adamant protest against a God they see as less compassionate than themselves. If they were in charge, they think, they would eliminate injustice and suffering. Do we, as Christians, stand helplessly by with no answers to such claims?

     The offended heart is not satisfied with an answer. It only wants to accuse. Those who are mad at God for not running things their way can’t be convinced of God’s goodness by any argument. They have been diagnosed by the scripture:

....So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Romans 1:20-21 (ESV)

     When they choose not to recognize God as sovereign, they start down a road that leads to no satisfying answers.

     We who embrace the scriptures know where suffering came from. We are acquainted with the story of the temptation and fall of mankind. But why did God wait so long to fix the problem? Why didn’t he just start over or make a fiat declaration to eliminate the effects of sin?

     The Biblical story unfolds his plan to work through humanity to restore the creation to its original state. Adam was the son who was defeated by Satan’s deception. There would be another son who would win the battle on the same battlefield on which it was lost. The process would be an unfolding of the very nature of God and the majesty that would never have been exposed without the problem of sin. Through each phase of history, God would be speaking of a reality no one would understand without his explanation.

     For instance, the whole episode with Noah reveals that the nature of evil is not primarily external. It can’t be eradicated by destruction of external structures. The problem is deeper than infected human and natural structures. The flood pointed to another time in history when a substitute would be judged rather than the created order.

     One of the many revelations we gain from Abraham’s saga, is that it takes time to prepare a people of faith. In the covenant God made with Abraham was the promise that his descendents would spend 400 years in Egypt in preparation for their deliverance and destiny. They would need to see the mighty hand of their covenant God working for them before they would trust him to lead them to their place and position of representing him in the world.

     Moses’ story reveals that correct laws will not produce lawful people. The problem with Israel was not a need for better laws. Their own lawless hearts would have to be changed before they could live in covenant with God.

     David’s kingdom reveals that political purity cannot be sustained in a world of self-obsessed human beings. The kingdom under David was the best possible political structure. The land was enjoying peace, but after David’s son, Solomon, things fell apart. The goal is not just getting the right amount of land under control and having the right people in place to govern. The goal is for the ultimate son of David to sit on the throne of God, ruling people whose hearts have been changed to align with the law of God.

     The exile of Israel reveals that the old covenant will never work. There must be a new covenant to deal with the root issue. God will have to play the part of both parties in the covenant. He will have to qualify as a man who keeps the requirements and then, as God, bless the man who qualifies.

     John the Baptist reveals that God will save the instrument before he saves the world. He was sent to gather the remnant of Israel who would be the first wave of new creation people. Israel would not fail in their mission. They would need a Savior however to accomplish it. Jesus came as the corporate Israelite to do for Israel what they could not do for themselves. It was regenerated Israelites who made up the first generation of new covenant believers.

     History is a revelation of God’s nature showing us One who can, without violating the dignity of man’s choice, bring mankind to a place where the original purpose will be fulfilled. Every stage of history was important to the plan. God has been in no hurry and owes no one the right to live without suffering. His plan for restoration is the only hope there will ever be anything but trouble on the earth. He won’t be hurried and will not respond to the foolish chiding of those who think we have the right to demand pleasure. The earth belongs to him. We are his creations. He has already proven his love to be genuine by sending his Son as a substitute for us. Whatever he is doing in preparation to restore all creation, is an act of love.

     As we begin to see this overall plan of God, we begin to understand why Jesus is the only way to salvation. God would win the battle against Satan by using a man, just like the one who lost it in the Garden. The incarnation was not just a novel idea. It was essential that a man face the same temptations and come out on top. But not just any man. It would be a son of God who could introduce the orphans of the world to the Father. Only a son can show us the Father. He would also have to be the perfect substitute. He could not be an acceptable sacrifice if he were imperfect himself. The problem of the world required a man who is a son and perfect in obedience the – Jesus.

     But, if Jesus did what was necessary to counteract the consequences of sin, why don’t we live in a world without sin and its pain? The answer is that he is not done with the process. We are joint heirs with Jesus and part of the inheritance is to reflect the nature of the Father in a world that still needs to see him. The original purpose of creation was not to ensure a comfortable place for people. It was to have sons and daughters who would accurately reflect the nature of God to the world. That was also the purpose of Israel’s existence. As a nation, it was to reflect the true nature of God to the other nations so they, too, would want to get back into the Garden with the Father. Now, we are called to enjoy son-ship with the Father, but we are to be his representatives to those still confused about his nature.

     The whole universe is intrigued as it watches this play out. All the angels and principalities of the heavens are waiting to see how God works through mankind to win mankind back to a son-ship relationship with God.

...so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord...

Ephesians 3:10-11 (ESV)

     The devil and his charges have been gloating for centuries about their victory over the son of God. They rejoice in the havoc they have initiated through the selfishness of mankind. They brag about the suffering and pain at work throughout a world created for God’s people. But when Jesus died on the cross at the hands of blinded Jews and Romans, the battle was decided. The “man” had won. Now God is allowing time to reveal the implications of that victory.

    God believes that love is the strongest power in the universe. He has all power, but has chosen to express it in love. That means that it takes time and opportunities to show the difference in man’s power of oppression and God’s power of love. In the meantime there are still the manifestations of fallenness. The outcome is sure. All creation will be restored. Everything that was affected in the fall of mankind will be restored.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free form its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Romans 8:18-21 (ESV)

     Creation groans as it waits for the full culmination of the battle Jesus won at the cross and grave. We as a part of creation also groan. Our bodies are not yet redeemed. That full restoration is as sure as the resurrection, but it is in our future. In the meantime we are privileged to display the difference in sons and orphans to this world. We are supposed to have enemies. It is not our objective to be so relevant to the world that we lose our distinctions.  Jesus said it will be the persecuted who embrace the kingdom of God.

     We hope! We already have the down payment. The presence of the Holy Spirit is our guarantee that full restoration is ours. Our hope is a light in a world that has no hope beyond its ability to observe and compete. We reflect the superiority of our life when death does not eradicate our joy, when sickness does not take away our hope. We face the same trials as the rest but, our response is different. We are partners with God in demonstrating the difference in eternal life and just regular life.

     We pray! The greatest leverage we have is our partnership. We are down here with all the problems, but we have connections in the heavenlies where all power exists. We can call in the resources needed to do the will of the Father as the need arises. And even when we don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will intercede for us. He knows the will of God in every situation. It is very enlightening to note the prayers the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament saints to pray. They center on opening eyes to see what God has done in Jesus and what that means to us. New Testament praying looks a lot different than the Old Testament praying.

     There are two covenants. Those who prayed the will of God in the old covenant knew that if they were disobeying the agreement, they would be judged and would pay the penalty as prescribed in the covenant. They knew that God had promised if they would repent they could prevent or be delivered from the punishments. Much of their prayers were based on that covenant (compare Daniel 9:1ff). In the new covenant the punishments have already been carried out on Jesus and we have been made the sons of God on earth. We need our eyes opened to see the privileges we have. The apostle Paul’s prayers reveal his understanding of the covenant he lived in and how important prayer is to accomplishing the mission we are given. Read them and compare to your own prayers (Ephesians 1:15ff, 3:14ff).

     It is vital that we know where we live in the timeline of history. We are not yet in the culmination phase of history, but we are not in the preparation phase either. We live after the battle has been won and we are privileged to enforce it in on earth waiting for the full revelation of the sons of God and the final restoration of all things.