Why is there so much suffering in the world? Why did Jesus have to suffer? Great questions that I think religion does a poor job of answering.
10 For it became Him, because of Whom all is, and through Whom all is, in leading many sons into glory, to perfect the Inaugurator of their salvation through sufferings. – Hebrews 2:10
Jesus Christ was perfected through sufferings in order to lead many sons into glory! So clearly suffering, though extremely unpleasant, serves a great purpose in God’s grand plan.
Oftentimes in life, people that share difficult experiences together form a close, unique relationship that otherwise would not have been developed without this difficult circumstance. Suffering makes us look beyond ourselves and ultimately bring us closer to our Creator.
Christ Jesus, the Son of the Almighty God, was made inferior to mere messengers because of the suffering of death (Hebrews 2:9). This was done so that He should be tasting death for the sake of everyone (Hebrews 2:9).
So, Christ had to suffer in order to enter death for all mankind. Of course, death brings suffering and it is impossible to taste death without suffering. However, this suffering of Jesus was used to perfect the Savior for the salvation of all mankind. So Jesus shared in our suffering in order that we may share in His glory of resurrection and immortality. Better said: We share in the suffering of Christ so that we share in His glory.
Let us remember that we are saved by the faith of Christ. Without suffering and death, what faith would Christ have needed? Death is what we inheritied from Adam, so Christ needed to enter it for us. The suffering leading to Christ’s death on the cross required a faith in God to follow through with resurrection. Jesus was going into death and death, according to scripture, is the absence of life. The absence of conscious existence.
So, when our Lord committed His Spirit to God, He had FAITH that God would make Him alive. This suffering, this death, and this faith was needed in order for Christ to be vivified and perfected as the Firstborn of a new creation, as the glorified Son of God. That is why Christ was perfected through suffering. The suffering leads to glorification and Christ suffered for all mankind so that all mankind will one day be glorified, each in their own order of course.
17 Yet if children, enjoyers also of an allotment, enjoyers, indeed, of an allotment from God, yet joint enjoyers of Christ’s allotment, if so be that we are suffering together, that we should be glorified together also. -Romans 8:17
In Romans chapter 8, the apostle Paul says that creation is subjected to vanity by God. This vanity brings suffering to us and it is not of our own doing as most religious people would tell you. No, it is God that subjects us to this suffering.
Why would God do this?
God subjects us to vanity and the suffering it brings in order to SET US FREE FROM IT!
20 For to vanity was the creation subjected, not voluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation 21 that the creation itself, also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God. -Romans 8:20-21
God knows how to teach us and give us the greatest possible joy. He knows that in order for us to experience the deepest understanding and joy this freedom brings, we need to understand and have an experience of the bondage of suffering. Then, onced freed, we will revel in being children of God all the more.
We have an expectation of sonship and the deliverance of our bodies of sin, death, and suffering. Paul says that these sufferings do not deserve the glory about to be revealed for us. In essence, he is saying that these sufferings are just a necessary prelude to a future glory that is beyond our comprehension…but the joy of this future glory is dependent on the experience and knowledge of suffering.
18 For I am reckoning that the sufferings of the current era do not deserve the glory about to be revealed for us. -Romans 8:18
Suffering ties us together with Christ and as a result, ties us together with His glory. Through suffering, we form a deep connection with Christ that makes us indistiguishable from His suffering and glory. This, I believe, is why Paul can say that he rejoices in his sufferings (Colossians 1:24).
As far as Christ goes, He did not suffer because of His doing but because of ours. He is the spotless Lamb and the One through Whom we are justified. Christ suffers for our sins so that God can work those sins into good to fulfill His purpose and enhance His glory.
For an example of this, we can look no furthur than the greatest sin ever committed. The torture and murder of God’s Son. The people that killed Jesus sinned in horrible ways. However, through Christ’s suffering and death, God turnd the greatest sin of all time into the means of saving all creation. This is how God dealt with and justified all sin…through the suffering and death of Christ. Our sins, however great they are, will be turned into righteous acts that fulfill God’s purpose. This is how we are justified.
So, in suffering, we are acquainted with Christ’s suffering and the glory to come. This is why Peter, when talking about suffering, seems to always connect it with coming glory.
11 searching into what or what manner of era the spirit of Christ in them made evident, when testifying beforehand to the sufferings pertaining to Christ and the glories after these. -1 Peter 1:11
13 but, according as you are participating in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that you may be rejoicing, exulting in the unveiling of His glory also. -1 Peter 4:13
In fact, Peter says that God adjusting, establishing, firming, and founding you is based on suffering. But, the suffering is only for a brief time. This is in agreement with Paul when he says our momentary suffering cannot be compared to the future glory that it produces. This is the common thread of suffering.
10 Now the God of all grace, Who calls you into His eonian glory in Christ, while briefly suffering, He will be adjusting, establishing, firming, founding you. -1 Peter 5:10
In conclusion, its all about God’s sovereignty and constrast. Suffering is the set-up for glory, and Christ’s glory and ours is dependent upon it. Yes, some people suffer more than others and in ways that is too much for us to comprehend. However know this, our suffering is calculated by God in order to produce an eternal weight of joy and glory far beyond what we can possibly imagine.
Grace and peace to you all.
Saved ignoble 
Leave a comment