Why Did God Choose Suffering?

Hebrews 2:10  For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

     The sufferings of Jesus were an intentional part of the Father's plan, but why? Why did God choose to use suffering to bring about the completion of salvation? Why did God choose suffering as something we must endure to become more like Jesus? Why did God not just eliminate suffering with the initial arrival of Jesus? These are all vital questions that I believe every Christian should know how to respond to in a godly manner. Granted, I believe that a complete answer to this question is impossible to give because we are not God; I do believe we still can know enough about these questions to be confident and assured that God is not a malevolent God who desires for people to suffer and perish. 

     John Owen acknowledges in his commentary on this verse that sufferings of Jesus were one of the biggest stumbling blocks not just for the Jews, but also for the disciples. The Gospels reiterate time and time again that the disciples were slow to believe that Jesus must suffer and ultimately die for our sins (Matthew 16:21-22, 17:22-23, Luke 24:25-26). On the surface, it appears ludicrous and self-defeating to worship a crucified savior. The Jews were in many ways simply expecting an earthly deliverance from Jesus, and today a lot of people in the church are expecting the same thing from Jesus. But when Jesus first appeared on earth His mission was not to eliminate suffering, but his mission was to participate in it for our salvation. Why is this? It seems so strange.

      If God is omnipotent, all-powerful, as the Bible says He is then why would He not eliminate suffering at the first chance He got? What we have to understand as Christians is that God is infinite and His ways are not our ways, but it is still so difficult to attempt to grasp these concepts and to ask these questions. Because God not just leave suffering on this earth, He used suffering to complete the task of salvation and He continues to use suffering to perfect and consecrate believers to this day. Could God have done it any other way? I do not want to limit God, and say no. But I do want to point out that this is an irrelevant question because regardless whether or not if God could have dealt with suffering in a different way He did not. God was intentional in saying that it was fitting for Jesus to suffer, and if it is fitting for Jesus to suffer and if we are called to live like Jesus we can deduce from Scripture that we are also called to suffer. The writer of Hebrews does not just leave us to have to rely upon our own logic either; he eventually tells us that we need to go outside the gate to join with Jesus' sufferings (13:11-13).

    But like I said earlier there are some clues we get through Scripture to help us begin to unravel in our own minds at least part of why God has chosen suffering to have a vital role in our salvation and sanctification. 

1. God is perfectly just. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7b  God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you  and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.
2. Since God is perfectly just, He cannot tolerate any sin. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin (sin is intentionally left as a singular noun) is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
3. Since God is just, He demands a payment for sin. Romans 3: 21-26
1. This is made painfully clear throughout the entire Old Testament, and it is why God had to send His own Son to the earth to die in our place. 
2. It would not be just of God to simply forgive our sins. Payment had to be made, so He had to send His only Son because Jesus was the only sinless and wholly righteous candidate.
4. Since God demanded a payment for sin, Jesus had to suffer and ultimately die to complete our salvation. Hebrews 2:10 (stated at the top).
1.  It is is important to understand that the word "perfect" in this text is referring to completion and consecration. The word does not imply that Jesus was not perfect before he died for our sins, but that in so doing for our sins Jesus was set apart as the true founder of our salvation.

      If we can begin to track with these four Biblical truths, we can begin to understand to an extent why for the present time God has chosen for us to endure suffering. The questions can also get more circular and go nowhere if we try and trace it back to the root by asking questions such as, "Why did God allow sin in the first place? Does this make God less holy, perfect, or just?" These are good and valid questions, but not all of these questions can be completely answered from Scripture, and we must never assume things about the nature of God that are not explicitly stated in Scripture otherwise we are prone to impute our characteristics and belief system onto God instead of allowing God to mold our belief system.

     God has chosen suffering because sin had to be dealt with, and sin could only be dealt with by a just punishment. The death of a perfectly righteous man was the only just way to forgive us of our trespasses, to credit us with Christ's righteousness, and also to turn God's wrath from us and His great mercy and love toward us. Like I said earlier, if we as Christians are called to be imitators of Christ, then it logically flows that we must also suffer as Christ suffered. This is why Jesus told us we had to pick up our cross and follow him. Jesus knew where his life was headed. Jesus knew very well what lay ahead of him in Jerusalem, but he still set his face towards that goal because he was looking ahead to the eternal joy like the writers of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12. 

    Jesus suffered to bring us to glory, and as Christians we can take comfort in the fact that we can always know that God will finally eliminate suffering when His Son comes back again. We can take comfort in the fact that suffering for Christians is always intended to make us more like Christ. Even if we do not understand why God chose for us to endure a particular trial or tragedy, we can rest assured in the truth that "all things work out for the good of those who love Him." God has a good sovereign plan for His people, and suffering plays a role in it. 

     I am not saying that I like suffering, or that I would have chosen it to be this way because that is not what matters. What matters is that suffering is a real part of every Christians life just like it was a very real part of Jesus' life. I believe very strongly that God is omnipotent, and if we believe that then we should also believe that God's omnipotence means He could prevent us from all of the suffering we encounter throughout our lives. I do not believe God is surprised or taken aback when we encounter any of our tragedies and trials. And this is why the questions "Why has God allowed this happen to me? Why has God chosen for me to suffer in this way? become so important. Because as Christians we should believe that God could have prevented the suffering, but for whatever reason God has not prevented it and Has required us to live through it in order that we might become more like His Son. 

     Again, I am not trying to limit God and say this is the only reason we suffer as Christians, but it is a reason we can take comfort in. God wants to bring us to glory, and to do so He must make us more like Christ by making us go through things similar to what Christ went through on earth. None of us can imagine the agony the sinless savior of the world went through in Gethsemane as he cried out to His Father, and none of us can imagine the agony of bearing the sins of the world on our shoulders on the cross. Our sufferings are trivial in comparison to the sufferings of Christ, but this does not negate the emotional and physical pain that our sufferings cause us on earth. Our pain and hurt is real and valid, but it is meant to draw us closer to God and to rely on Him and to trust His plan more just as Jesus did. 

    I am not claiming this easy because in reality it is not just hard it is impossible without the Spirit of God within us. We are called to react to suffering with joy as James tells us at the very beginning of his epistle. It does not take long to look out how the world says to deal with suffering to realize that this kind of reaction we are called to is not just strange, but in a lot of ways crazy and nonsensical. Because without Jesus and trust in a sovereign loving God, reacting to suffering with joy is crazy and nonsensical. But as Christians we are not the crazy ones because we trust in a higher power and authority that comes from God the Father. 

     Dealing with suffering in a lot of ways just plain sucks. I know it is not formal or really all that appropriate to put it that way, but we all know it to be true. Suffering is hard and it hurts. It is confusing and frustrating. It can be discouraging and disheartening, but the more we read James we see that it is meant to make us perfect and complete lacking in nothing. Suffering is meant to help us become like Christ. In the end, suffering is good for us. This concept is so foreign and impossible to understand without God, but is part of the truth God tells us about why we suffer as Christians. This does not mean for me personally that I desire suffering because I do not desire suffering any more then the next person, but what it does mean is that we have to reclaim what it means to Biblically react to and live through suffering in our lives. Are we making our suffering about us, or are we making our suffering about glorifying God and His name above all things? This is the question about suffering that we really need to be asking.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.