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Why Does God
Permit Calamities?
Chapter 3
A Suffering Savior
and Suffering
Christians
Even if humankind learns the
lesson of the dire consequences of sin in this lifetime, how do
we know God’s Kingdom will succeed? What assurance is there that
at least the majority will crystallize the God-likeness that
will enable them to live in eternal peace, harmony and
happiness?
Jesus is our assurance. He is
the “surety of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22), the New
Covenant that will bless all mankind in God’s Kingdom. As King,
Priest and Judge in that Kingdom, his name will be called
“Wonderful” (Revelation 20:6; John 5:22; Isaiah 9:6). Yes, Jesus
will be a “Wonderful” success.
Why Jesus Suffered
Not only did Jesus die to
provide the payment, a perfect human life that will eventually
release the human race from death; but during his lifetime he
suffered at the hands of his fellow man so that he could fully
sympathize with their every need.
The Prophet Isaiah anticipated
the suffering of Jesus. “He is despised and rejected of men; a
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.... Surely he has
borne our grief, and carried our sorrows.... He was wounded for
our transgressions…and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah
53:3-5). Therefore, Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus is a
sympathetic high priest, who can be touched with a feeling of
our infirmities. Jesus continually permitted himself to be
afflicted through contact with sinful man.
Every time Jesus healed, it
was at the expense of his own strength. We read that “virtue
[strength] went out from him” as he healed the blind, the lame,
the deaf and the lepers (Mark 5:30). He was expending his own
strength so that he might be touched with a feeling of our
infirmities. Further, Jesus was mocked; he experienced
brutality, violence and murder at the hands of his fellow men.
As a Jew, he tasted the racial scorn of the Romans. He
identified himself with poverty, drudgery and obscurity. Full of
compassion, his heart was moved for the mentally ill, the
physically sick, the lame, the deaf and the blind. Why? So that
in God’s Kingdom, Christ will know just what lessons mankind
will need. “Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them
that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed
with infirmity” (Hebrews 5:2). Jesus assumed upon his shoulders
the ills of this world. Indeed, he can have compassion on the
ignorant and them that are out of the way. Those whom he
ransomed, he will know how to restore.
Your High Calling
Jesus died over 2,000 years
ago. The question naturally arises, Why the long delay before
setting up his Kingdom for the blessing of all mankind? One
thing is clear throughout the Bible: God has not been attempting
to convert the world since Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The Scriptures speak of God dealing with only a few for a
specific purpose. Christ’s followers are spoken of as a “little
flock.” “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good
pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). God is only
calling a few. A representative of every type of the human race
is being called into the church of Christ. The Greek word
translated “church” in the New Testament means “called out
ones.”
What is this special calling
or selection of the church? Christians are called to the
multiple profession of judges, priests and kings of mankind in
Christ’s Kingdom. What an honor! At first our faith staggers.
But the Scriptures are explicit on this point. First Corinthians
6:2 states that “the saints shall judge the world.” First Peter
2:9 shows Christians are called to be a “royal [kingly]
priesthood.” Similarly, Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 state we are
called of God to be “kings and priests,” and “we shall reign on
the earth.” Revelation 20:6 states that Christians “shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a
thousand years.”
Judges, priests, kings! What a
profession to which Christians have been! But what a rigorous
training course the Christian must pursue in order to attain
this profession.
Not Many Wise
For you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise;…and the base
things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things
that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence (1
Corinthians 1:26-29).
For the most part, God is
bypassing the world’s standards of greatness and calling the
ordinary of the human race to compose the “little flock.” How
will this “bring to naught things that are?” Down through
history, man’s wisdom has tried every conceivable philosophy and
political and/or economic ideology, but man has failed to solve
humanity’s problems. Each page of history is a record of man’s
inhumanity to man. The flaw is not so much the ideology but
man’s selfish heart. History confirms the Biblical teaching that
man is born in sin and “shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5).
The 20th century started with
great expectations. Through science and technology, utopia would
be attained! Alas, the century closed in disillusionment.
Communism failed. Capitalism is bordering on the verge of
bankruptcy. Unprecedented teen suicide, vice, drugs and
immorality have become the symptoms of a self-destructing
civilization. In the meantime, the earth is becoming a wasteland
of pollution. With over six billion people thinking of self
first, could it be otherwise?
Thus the Lord has “brought to
naught things that are.” Human history has proven the futility
of man’s efforts. No flesh can glory in God’s presence. No
president, prime minister or statesman, or anyone else, can
boast that he has the solution for all man’s individual or
collective ills.
An Understanding Heart
But there are a few who have
learned early not to trust in the arm of flesh for solutions.
Through faith in God’s Word, they realize that only God’s
Kingdom will completely solve man’s ills. They have accepted
Jesus as their savior and made a full consecration to do God’s
will. Their calling is to be judges, priests and kings with
Christ in God’s Kingdom.
These Christians are not
relieved of their share of the tragedies common to man (1
Corinthians 10:13). Although many of mankind become bitter or
hardened by the tragedies of this life, consecrated Christians
have the peace of God which passeth all understanding
(Philippians 4:7). Their faith realizes that tragedy provides
the Lord an opportunity to develop in them a tender and
understanding heart.
The loss of a loved one,
husband, wife, parent, or child can mentally scar. Physical
tragedy such as being crippled, blind or deaf can leave one a
forgotten member of the human family. Drug addicts, alcoholics
and the mentally ill have found that few can understand. There
are the scars of mental or physical abuse by a stranger or even
a loved one. To those in economic poverty, nothing could be
worse. Then there is loneliness. Some have experienced a
darkness of loneliness that no human hand could reach. To
consecrated Christians, these various experiences provide a
unique opportunity to patiently endure, while the Spirit of God
transforms them day by day into the likeness of Christ (1 Peter
1:7; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
Foremost is the struggle of
subduing sinful flesh and its interests. These are the
“fightings within” (2 Corinthians 7:5; 10:4-6; Hebrews 12:4).
The Christian’s struggle against his own fallen flesh gives him
compassion and understanding concerning the sin ingrained in the
hearts of men. A priest is one: “Who can have compassion on the
ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he
himself also is compassed with infirmity” (Hebrews 5:2).
This can be illustrated by the
noble work of Alcoholics Anonymous. An essential step of A.A.
therapy is to assign a former alcoholic to each alcoholic that
comes for help. The victim being driven by alcohol will not
readily accept help or advice from just anyone. How could anyone
know his agony, his depression, his desperation if he has not
shared the same experience? But the alcoholic will accept help
from a former alcoholic because he knows that this person can
understand his agony. And this former alcoholic stands ready at
any time to come to his side to plead with him, encourage him
and make good suggestions for overcoming. It requires a former
alcoholic to rehabilitate an alcoholic. Psalm 51:13 beautifully
portrays this principle. Because the followers of Jesus were
once sinners and transgressors, they will be able to say of
their work in the Kingdom—
Then will I teach transgressors
Thy ways;
and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Finally, the church will be
united with Christ during his return and share the glory of his
Kingdom. Like him, (1 John 3:2) they shall be compassionate
priests, understanding judges, and benevolent kings (Revelation
20:6; 1 Corinthians 6:2). As a composite body, they will fully
understand the sin sick, mentally warped, emotionally scarred
and physically marred world of mankind.
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