A Devotional
We all, at one time or another, have questioned God’s love for us. This usually comes at a time of prolonged illness, financial difficulty, or fatigue; sometimes for some persecution or other that seems never ending. I have often heard it asked (and have asked it myself), “Doesn’t God know what I am going through? Doesn’t He care?”
In wide application, Revelation 13:8b speaks of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before God commenced creating, He provided a sin atonement for those who would come to Him for salvation. This was to be the sacrifice of God the Son for the satisfaction of God’s judgment against sin. We read that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). God the Son condescended to taking upon Himself human flesh so that He could die, but before he condescended, He not only existed in the presence of God, but was in fact God (John 1:1-2). “1In the beginning (the beginning of God’s creative acts) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God” God Himself, therefore, because of His great love for man, took upon Himself human flesh so that he could suffer death for those who would come to Him. He suffered the death of the cross for the salvation of man. This, I believe, is readily accepted by all who are truly born again Christians, but what of God’s love for the person who is suffering now in the present?
We should remember there is a consequence of sin that reaches beyond restoration to eternal life, the physical aging and death of our bodies. God had warned Adam and Eve that in the day they were disobedient to His command, they would suffer immediate spiritual death and eventual physical death. Physical death, unless caused by a circumstance out of the norm (accident, murder, etc.), is a process and is subject to a breakdown of the molecular system. Also, other maladies affect our physical bodies — the common cold, infections, diseases and so on. Now our question is, “Is God unsympathetic to these things?” In answer, God’s love is not abstract. God’s love has as its object, the good of man.
Jesus suffered many of the things we suffer. He was hungry at times, was cold, many times had no place to lay His head, aged as we age, had emotions as do we, and in the end, felt separation from God the Father in a way that is unimaginable. In total separation from God the Father, He cried out from the cross, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?”
He, after all, in one sense became man in order that He would experience what His creation (man) experiences so that he could identify with man. He became our great high priest, touched with our infirmities, both spiritual and physical. Hebrews chapter 5 goes into detail of His priesthood and explains that it was and is superior in all ways to those of the Aaronic (the Levitical) priesthood. Granted, Hebrews 5 is speaking of man’s spiritual infirmities — not physical — but still the thought of identification is strongly asserted.
We can rest assured therefore that God is ever aware of our circumstances at all times and is involved in our lives. Paul, for instance, was inspired to write: 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
Paul could say this from first-hand experience because of what He himself had endured, consider 2nd Corinthians 11.24-28 and then 12.9:
4Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 12.9 And he (Jesus) said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Paul’s physical sufferings led to spiritual battles, yet in his first letter he wrote with confidence: “9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1st Corinthians 2:9). And so it is with us.
Hopefully The Holy Spirit will bring us all to this same confidence.
stevelampman@comcast.net stevelampman.com