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Perfect Suffering
eva Official Writer
1244Hebrews 2:10
God has made everything. He has acted in exactly the right way. He is bringing his many sons and daughters to share in his glory. To do so, he has made the One who saved them perfect because of his sufferings
Bible Reading for A Year:[bible]Psalm21[/bible];[bible]Matth21[/bible];[bible]Genes41-42[/bible]
Prosperity preachers don’t last long in countries where there is persecution. They usually just leave.” That quote by Ajith Fernando from his book The Call to Joy and Pain captures two realities of the Christian faith: (1) Jesus suffered; (2) those who believe in Him will suffer too.
Unlike “health and wealth” false teachers, Jesus taught that suffering was something God uses for our good. In Hebrews 2:10 the writer states that Jesus became “through His suffering, a perfect leader.” This doesn’t mean that Jesus wasn’t already perfect, for He is God the Son. It does point out, however, that death allowed Him to intimately know the final stage of human experience giving Him an even more perfect ability to identify with our struggles ([bible]Hebre5:8[/bible]).
The apostle Paul experienced the perfecting process of pain. He prayed three times for God to remove something that was tormenting him. But God allowed it to persist, saying, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” ([bible]iiCor12:9[/bible]). Paul’s response? “That’s why I take pleasure in . . . [suffering] for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (v.10).
Jesus is able to identify with us and help us because of the hardships He endured. “Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested” (Hebrews 2:18). He “understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same tests we do” (4:15).
