Insufferable Things, Unforsaken People

Intro

There are things in this world that break people in half— things that feel too much, too cruel, too dark to explain.

What do you do when it doesn’t let up? When the diagnosis doesn’t change?

When the friend doesn’t apologize? When the abuse is unchanged, unnoticed, unheeded?

When what’s supposed to get better just… doesn’t?

Some suffer publicly. Others quietly—never speaking a word.

Peter isn’t writing into ease and comfort. He’s writing to the bruised and misunderstood, to people facing rejection, injustice, and even violence.

Some things aren’t just hard—they’re insufferable.

And in moments like that, theology either becomes real or it gets exposed.

Being insufferable means that something is so hard, so painful, and/or so overwhelming that it feels impossible to endure.

When we say something is insufferable, we don’t just mean it’s hard—we mean it feels like too much. ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ That’s the kind of weight Peter’s speaking into.

And what he says is not, ‘Suffering is no big deal’, or some other platitude ‘Just pray some more’, or ‘Look on the bright side’

No, Scripture is not interested in such shallow, unhelpful platitudes. Peter says, ‘You are not forsaken. Christ has gone into the depths—and He did not leave you behind.’

Peter doesn’t give us a formula. But he does give us a Savior.

A Savior who knows suffering, injustice, and fear—and walks through it with us.

This passage is full of mystery and challenge, but also deep hope.

This is a passage for those carrying insufferable things, and for those that will face insufferable things— it’s God’s word to remind you that you are still part of His unforsaken people.”

1 Peter 3 doesn’t offer cheap comfort. It offers the most costly comfort of all, a crucified, and mocked, yet risen Christ.

A Savior who entered the worst this world could give and came out of the grave declaring:

‘You are mine. You are unforsaken.’” So the greatest hope here is that when we go through insufferable things, we will find that we are unforsaken by the God of the universe, who is enthroned above all!

Not All Suffering is Equal (v.13-14)

Peter leads and is continuing the idea of submission, but how Peter speaks of stuff is important for us as well!

Peter is saying a proverb, if you do good things, 9/10 you will be fine and people won’t bother you!

However, notice, ‘if you should suffer’ is how Peter phrases this entire section

Why is that a big deal?

Well, first we have to remember who Peter is writing to

The churches Peter is writing to are not having a bad day, a bad week, they are having their lives at stake while Nero reigns!

Peter is not seeking to give a nice tidy answer to suffering, he is writing to Christians being slandered, marginalized, imprisoned, and even killed

Second, it sets up the reality of suffering, some suffering is evil, not simply unfortunate

Things like sexual assault, war crimes, abuse, etc

Things that don’t simply traumatize your body, but leave you asking, “Where was God?, it shakes your identity

These things are violations of God’s justice and dignity of yourself in the most profound sense

So let us clarify what Peter is promising people here

If you suffer for righteousness, you are blessed

That does not make suffering good, it means that God will never abandon you to it!

Peter is washing away our suffering, no, he is not saying ‘suffering is good’, he is saying that even in suffering, Christ is near, and that is a major distinction of importance!

Here is the beauty and reality here,

There are types of suffering that tear apart our world

Story about Cam, and how I felt all that I’d built up had been stripped away and I was 15 again

What is insisted by Peter is that even in the deepest, darkest, and most dreaded suffering, Jesus is there

Not to explain it away, but to carry us through it

Raw Hope: Gritty, Unpolished, Honest and Clinging to Jesus (v.15-17)

That moves us to the second point, of our hope

The hope we have is not a nice pristine hope that doesn’t get dirty, that just stays nice and perfect in the display case of our minds

No it is a raw hope, it is a hope that is gritty, unpolished, fully honest, and most importantly, one that clings to Jesus

I really love the way MercyMe says it in their song Even If:

I know You're able and I know You can Save through the fire with Your mighty hand But even if You don't My hope is You alone I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt Would all go away if You'd just say the word But even if You don't My hope is You alone

Hope is not nice and neat and easy, it is gritty, it is hard, yet it keeps you going

Peter says here, ‘in your hearts regard Christ as your holy Lord’

The quality of your hope is found out when you go and you squeeze it because you know that it is the only thing that is keeping you going

There was a time when I was at Moody that I was struggling

Porn had made my brain so upside down and inside out that I didn’t even know what to do, my heart was hard

At the worse of it, for maybe 2 weeks, suicide was a very real thing in my brain, figured I didn’t want to be another poster child of moral failure in ministry, and I’d rather die that do that

I even had it planned out, you don’t survive jumps off of 19 story dormitories, but God’s Spirit helped me

I thought that putting Christ as holy, and honoring him, in my deepest pit of deadening sin was suicide, yet that was Satan, that was hopelessness

It was only by clinging to Christ as my hope, that I was able to drag myself through that hellscape

The thing is, it didn’t really get ‘easier’ afterwards, it just got less suicidal inducing, it was a good 6 months of clinging to Jesus, saying to him, God I know all this stuff, and I need it to be true,

I need you to be true, if you are not, I have nothing! I don’t feel close to you, all I feel is my shame and condemnation for my sin, so I told God I would cling to him until my beliefs changed to the reality of the truth I was learning

It took time, it took every fiber of my being, and it also took God graciously dealing with my sin and blessing me with being unable to hide that sin anymore

What it showed me is that Jesus is trustworthy to cling to with all my might, he did not crumble, did not break, did not sway, under the weight of my burdens and my needs

So when we think of this next verse, it says be ready at any time to give a reason fro the hope that is in you

This is more than a verse about apologetics, that is the defending and answering objections to the faith

Those things are very helpful, but let’s consider what Peter is saying with that

Peter is speaking to you all, that is the plurality of anyone who would read this letter

The more learned elders, the new Christians, the children, the wives, the slaves, the nobles, Jews, Gentiles, etc, he meant any and every person in the church!

So this is not so much a fancy apologetic argument about why God is the best answer for making sense of the world as it is, but rather showing off the power of how God has transformed you

Perhaps put it this way, why would you chose to burn instead of simply recanting your faith!

Why would you choose Jesus over watching your spouse be torn apart by lions?

Why would you suffer, when you could be let go, all you have to do is offer some incense to Caesar, and you are good to go!

Not only that, but the call is not to do this with spite and wickedness, seeking to cut them down for the evil they are doing, but with gentleness and reference and a clear conscience

Then people start to see that these persecutions are unjust, and the persecutor is the crazy one, not the Christians

The weight of our sufferings is not a light thing to carry, but for those who survive horrific suffering, it is the lifeline that allows them to take another breath

Hope is not about being ‘upbeat’ in pain, but it is clinging to the truth that Jesus sees us, knows and will judge rightly for the evil done unto us

That gentle response we give to others is not just about them, but it reminds us that God is gentle to us too

God does not demand forced cheerfulness in the face of trauma

That is the biggest thing we get in our experiences running up against the darkness

In our sufferings, we come and we meet Jesus, we find that we are not alone, there is one who is closer than a brother than never leaves, nor forsakes us

If someone is coming and asking about the hope you possess, what that means is that your hope is so radical, so robust, so strong, that they see your anchor through the pain of your suffering

It doesn’t mean that you are not in pain, what it means is that you are inadvertantly showing off the power and presence of the God who is walking with you through such pain

Jesus Knows (v.18)

The lynchpin of this section is verse 18, a one-line gospel

Christ suffered for sins once for all

The righteous Lamb of God, suffering for the unrighteous wayward sheep

That he would bring us to God

Jesus was not distant from suffering, or unfamiliar with it, he lived it

He entered into humanity, experienced everything from the slander of being called a bastard son (John 8:41), to a death undeserved in the most painful way, accompanied with a beating that killed many before they even got to the cross

In fact, there were likely things done to Jesus, that the gospels don’t speak of, like what happens when soldiers free game to do with a prisoner as they wish? Nothing good, and so likely sexual assault was on the table as well

Our hope is not theoretical, He bled, wept, and overcame, and walks with us through whatever hellscape might come

Jesus doesn’t just sympathize with the wounded, he was wounded

All so that our salvation might be had, Christ saves us by doing this insane God thing, he redeems things for our good, things that are nothing but pure, pitch black evil, in a way that God only can

There is nothing good about the act that is happening, but there is an all powerful, good God that can make it well

When evil writes a sentence, God rewrites the story

I don’t fully get this yet, and my life is still quite full of wonderful blessings from God

However, I noticed this in play, at least in part, already since Cam’s death

Two of my friends, Chris and Dan twin brothers, are excellent men

They have this incredible rare gift of just knowing how to give the gift of presence

After we found out Cam had died at Snow Camp, I would sit down, be doing something, or praying, or trying to think, and I would look up and Dan or Chris would just be sitting there

They didn’t say anything, they were simply showing by their actions, I’m here, you are not alone

Then on March 11, a mere 24 days after Cam died, Dan and Chris suddenly lost their Dad to a heart attack at the age of 67

Now, Cam dying in that crash is an act of sin, it would have happened if sin were not in the world, nor would Chris lose his dad just 6 months before he gets married, or Dan lose his dad just 2 months before he graduates from Moody

Yet, somehow, in someway, I find myself being a blessing to them, well hopefully

Hoping to repay the ministry of presence they gave to me, and now understanding grief and loss and suffering far more than I ever have in my life prior to the death of my brother

I don’t think that is a rare thing to experience, that we are better able to weep with people as they weep, and mourn with those who mourn, when we are better acquainted with those things ourselves

Jesus understands that all the more, he is the man of sorrows in Isaiah 53!

He bore unjust suffering and evil all to bring us to him, to make us righteous, to brings us the healing for the trauma of suffering and evil: a restored relationship with God

Christ restores our brokenness, by his own brokenness, by his wounds, we are healed

Not a Puzzle, But a Promise (v.19-21)

We know suffering is hard, and we know not all suffering is equal

When suffering is really difficult, the hope needs to be robust enough to outlast those dark days

Thankfully we have a Savior who knows those dark days intimately, and offers a hope stronger than any storm to get through them

It might seem to you that Peter is suddenly changing topics with these verses, and to be honest, these are some of the most puzzling verses in all of Scripture to interpret

So, let’s not get lost in the weeds here, I’m sure Dennis or Jen won’t mind doing that in Sunday School or Friday Group lol

So really let’s look at the big ideas running through these verses, and see if they can apply to what we are talking about

All in all, these verses are puzzling, but the message should be clear: Jesus has total and complete victory over every single thing in creation

Jesus wins over the spiritual forces that he preaches to in prison

The story of Noah is mentioned to show that even in a world of total corruption, God is still powerful to preserve a remnant

In reality, when we consider the flood, we might get caught up in the wrong things

God flooding the earth is not primarily because of anger over sin, it is mainly over grief of sin ruining creation

In the 3 verses in Genesis 6:5-8, God says regret or grieved 3 times in the verses, which is why he saves Noah

Evil is evil, but evil never gets the last word as we said earlier

So whatever those spirits represent, rebels from Noah’s time, fallen angels, even perhaps already deceased souls, Jesus goes there for one thing, a victory proclamation!

Baptism shows that Christ is victorious, and a hope for us, just as the Ark was the hope for Noah

Baptism is the symbol of the hope, is it not the ritual that saves, just as the Ark did not save Noah, it was the faith that built the ark that saved Noah

Noah was not saved from the flood, and we are not saved from this difficult world we live in, we are saved through it

It has nothing to do about our strength, it has to do with how strong God is!

Baptism to us is a public pledge of trust in God, that he is worthy to be trusted with our whole lives, and able to be our steadfast hope, regardless what storms might come our way

It’s our way of saying, you didn’t leave Jesus in the grave, you won’t leave me in my pain

It marks us as people that will walk through insufferable things, but will never forsaken

Baptism is declaring to all, whatever cross I may have to bear, no matter what suffering may bring, or hellscape I must walk through, I am united with Jesus

He is the one who rose victorious over death, through all suffering, and I am his, I will forever be unforsaken

So I need to ask, why have you not been baptized

It doesn’t save you, but it’s really important none the less!

Baptism such a milestone in your life, it is a time you can look back, and hold on to God’s hope in your life, when suffering overwhelms you and life is difficult

The Hope of Justice (v.22)

The final verse here in chapter 3 is the culmination of everything we’ve said

Suffering varies, and sometimes it is straight up evil, but Christ is always with us

Jesus is the one who can bear the weight of our suffering, because he knows it, experienced it

Not only did Jesus experienced it, he overcame it, and so he helps us overcome

Peter wants us to remember that Jesus is in heaven, at the right hand of God, and all things are subject to him

Angels- That is the good angels like Gabriel, Micheal,

Angels are divine messengers that do God’s will, and that means they will often help God’s people

Authorities- This is the governmental powers, like Nero, God is still in control

Powers- The demons that fight against God, they still are subject to Jesus

So what does that mean for us in our suffering, in the depths of difficulty?

To those that feel forgotten, unheard, silenced, or simply drowning in a fight for survival, Jesus doesn’t simply comfort you and I

He reigns for us

Every single power, authority, spiritual being is under his feet

This is not and empty excusal of your suffering and a ‘look at silver lining of Jesus!’, but an assurance

It is an assurance that no injustice will escape judgement, none will be overlooked, every evil done to cause suffering, injustice, and evil will be answered and accounted for by Jesus himself

Every power that seems to crush us, is under his feet, in submission

It does not means that it erases the pain and wounds from our suffering, but it does mean that they cannot have the last word!

In reality, it means that Christ reigns in ultimate power and authority, with the scars in his hands and hole in his side, even in his glorified state in heaven

So of course Jesus would not minimize your scars and wounds, He carries you by the power his wounds accomplished on the cross

Application

As we close, here are 3 things for us to contemplate together

When you suffer, you are not forgotten

Even when your suffering feels unbearable—insufferable—God is not absent.

Jesus suffered too, not to escape pain, but to enter into it with us. Y

Our pain does not mean you’re abandoned—it means you’re sharing in Christ’s path.

It means your suffering, our suffering, is not a tool. You are not a sermon illustration.

If your suffering has no name, or too many to speak of, Jesus sees you, and will never minimize or discount your pain as small, your fear as weak, He calls you His!

You are seen by Jesus, unfathomably loved by him, and he will not leave you unheard, or unhealed. Sometimes that just takes heaven to be fully realized

So this is the action item: Name your suffering honestly this week. Pray through it not with shame or fake smiles, but with raw honesty—knowing God doesn’t forsake the hurting, we are unforsaken

Is your hope gritty or glittery?

We don’t need shallow optimism. We need a real, rugged, resurrection hope—the kind that clings to Jesus in the storm, not just the sunshine.

Don’t put on that fake Christian smile, that everything is rainbows and unicorns because ‘Jesus’

No, sometimes life is nightmares and monsters, and it is because Jesus that you survive! That is the hope we need, and that is a place that glittery hope cannot survive

Action item: Encourage someone this week who’s in the thick of it. Share the truth that Jesus doesn’t promise a life free from suffering—but He does promise we’ll never suffer alone, do they know the one who leaves us unforsaken in the unsufferable?

Baptism is not just a past moment, but your present identity

Baptism is tied to Jesus’ great victory and ascension to being over all!

In our baptism, we are bound to Jesus in his death, and raised with him in the power of his resurrection

It means our struggles and suffering, do not mean the end of our story, it marks us as unforsaken

Action: Think upon that reality of your baptism! If you’ve not been baptized, why not! Be marked by one who belongs to the King of the Universe!

Insufferable things will come and assail us, but we are an unforsaken people

Jesus reminded us, in the last words he said in Matthew’s Gospel

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely, you are unforsaken—for I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Benediction

2 Corinthians 4:8–11

“8 We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.”

2 Corinthians 4:16–17

“16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.”