Suffering With Christ

Introduction

Good afternoon! Today, we will look at what it means to “suffer with Christ.” Paul talks about this in several of his letters to the churches. Our primary scripture will be in Romans 8:16-18.

Romans 8:16–18 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

I am aware that this will be a rather heavy topic. So let us consider the famous Psalm from David:

Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

When we think of suffering and as we talk about it today, it would seem we are walking through that valley that David describes. But, we should not fear because God will be with us! We will see His comfort in the midst of our discussion today.

Suffering Because of Our Sin

One thing to understand when Paul talks about suffering with Christ is that the suffering here is different than other kinds of suffering.

A kind of suffering that Paul is not talking about here is when the suffering we endure is because of our sin. It should be obvious that this kind of suffering is different than suffering with Christ, as Jesus did not sin!

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Yet, we can suffer because of our own sin.

James 1:13–15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

As we grow and mature as followers of Jesus, this kind of suffering should become a minor part of our lives because, even though we will always sin on this side of heaven, we should be sinning less.

Suffering Because of the Sin In the World

Second, we can go through suffering because of the sin that is in the world. This started at the fall of man: Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:17–19 “And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.””

The effects we suffer from the fall can be from natural disasters, disease, and the sin of other people in our lives.

Jesus would have gone through this kind of suffering like us as he was physically present in the world from his birth until his death. In the same kind of suffering, we rely on Jesus to help us through it.

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

We have an advantage over the unbeliever in this. They can try various ways to relieve their suffering. And sometimes it can work, but only for a short time. Usually, the manner of relief itself is just another kind of sin: drugs, alcohol, or other unhelpful things.

For us, rather than rely on those things, we rely on Christ. We put our faith, hope, and love in Him!

A Special Kind of Suffering

But, as believers, there is a special kind of suffering that we will go through that is not like the kinds I have just mentioned. This is the “suffering with Christ” that Paul is talking about.

Before I go further, I need to say what this suffering with Christ is not. It is not the suffering that Christ did on the cross. This suffering was done only by Him for our sakes. It was the suffering that was necessary for our salvation, that is, for our Justification to be made right with God. We cannot suffer like that at all!

In Romans, we see how we suffer with Christ in that we have the burden for the lost. We want to see all come to Christ and especially those who are closest to us: our friends and family. Paul says:

Romans 9:1–3 “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

We see Jesus’ burden for the lost throughout the Gospels. We can see his compassion and suffering of Spirit in Matthew 23.

Matthew 23:37 ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Thus, we should ask ourselves: do we have the same burden? Are we in anguish over our lost loved ones. Do we pray continually for them to come to salvation in Jesus? If not, pray for the burden! This God’s will, and He will provide you that burden and the means to work it out in your lives.

We also suffer with Christ because we are to be people who are different than what the world wants us to be. We are true counter-cultural people. And because of this, we will suffer at the hands of the world. And we will suffer rejection because of it.

John 15:18–19 ““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Again, we put our faith, hope, and love in Jesus to aid in this suffering.

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

Paul not only talks about this suffering in his letter to the Romans, but also in his letter to Philippi:

Philippians 3:8–10 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”

The word used in Philippians, “share”, is the same word for “fellowship.” Most of you have probably heard this word: koinonia. This is the kind of fellowship that is deep and intimate. Thus, we become more acquainted with Jesus when we have fellowship with his sufferings!

What Paul is saying, and he says throughout his letters is that to be follower of Jesus Christ is to suffer. But, as Christians, we have the power of God in us! Paul ties “sharing in Jesus’ sufferings” with “knowing the power of His resurrection.” R. Kent Hughes says it well:

The power of Christ’s resurrection first provides the strength and motivation for suffering. No man or woman can embrace the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings who does not first know the power of Christ’s resurrection.

If you have come to Christ and know the power of his resurrection, if you’ve been raised from the dead, if you are experiencing the ongoing resurrection of new life in Christ, you can do it! — R. Kent Hughes

We suffer in order to be conformed to image of God’s Son. It is a necessary part of our sanctification.

1 Thessalonians 3:2–4 “and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.”

If we are not suffering, we are not growing. And so, God, who appoints us to suffering, will also appoint us to comfort:

2 Corinthians 1:3–7 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.”

Faith, Hope, and Love

Finally, brothers and sisters, in the midst of suffering with Christ, we have these graces that God has given us through His Spirit who works in us and through us: faith, hope, and love.

1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We continue in our faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ that He will bring us to glory as He was glorified. So, too, we will be glorified in the final day. That is the hope we have and the hope must always maintain, be steadfast in, in our suffering. And none of this is possible without love. We love those around us, the unbeliever and our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have God’s Love manifested in us through the Holy Spirit and His power.

God will fill us with joy and peace always with hope He gives us!

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”