Hope in God / Esperanza en Dios
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
It is always a nerve wracking experience to visit someone who has experienced terrible loss:
Loss of job
Loss of a spouse
Loss of a business
Loss of a home
…but it is even more difficult to visit someone who has lost a loved one - whether it be a parent, a spouse, or a child.
In these circumstances, our words simply fail us. We simply cannot find the right words that could possibly comfort a hurting soul.
I know how you feel...
Cheer up…you will get through this...
Look on the bright side...
…these words seem empty. Most of the time it seems that the best approach is to simply minister to them with our presence, to sit by them, to weep with them, to let them know that we will be with them when they are ready.
In the Bible we meet a man who went through the most horrific experience in a a matter of a few days:
One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Y aconteció que un día en que los hijos y las hijas de Job estaban comiendo y bebiendo en la casa del hermano mayor,
vino un mensajero a Job y le dijo: «Los bueyes estaban arando y las asnas paciendo junto a ellos,
y los sabeos atacaron y se los llevaron. También mataron a los criados a filo de espada. Solo yo escapé para contárselo a usted».
Mientras estaba este hablando, vino otro y dijo: «Fuego de Dios cayó del cielo y quemó las ovejas y a los criados y los consumió; solo yo escapé para contárselo a usted».
Mientras este estaba hablando, vino otro y dijo: «Los caldeos formaron tres cuadrillas, se lanzaron sobre los camellos y se los llevaron, y mataron a los criados a filo de espada. Solo yo escapé para contárselo a usted».
Mientras este estaba hablando, vino otro y dijo: «Sus hijos y sus hijas estaban comiendo y bebiendo vino en la casa del hermano mayor,
y entonces vino un gran viento del otro lado del desierto y azotó las cuatro esquinas de la casa, y esta cayó sobre los jóvenes y murieron; solo yo escapé para contárselo a usted».
Loss of his livelihood through the theft of his oxen, the death of his servants, and the destruction of his sheep herd.
Loss of his family through the mighty wind that caused the home to collapse and took the lives of his 10 children.
However, his suffering did not end here. A short time later we read:
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
Entonces Satanás salió de la presencia del Señor, e hirió a Job con llagas malignas desde la planta del pie hasta la coronilla.
Y Job tomó un pedazo de teja para rascarse mientras estaba sentado entre las cenizas.
We see that Job became afflicted with a terrible skin disease.
Job was in such a miserable state that he would take shards of pottery and scrape himself to sooth the pain.
Job had open wounds all over his body.
Job has lost it all.
Job has lost his fortune, his entire family, and now his health.
Job could not sink any lower. The only worse thing was death itself.
Few of us have known such suffering.
Very few of us have been afflicted with so many losses at one time.
But Job went through all this suffering in a matter of a few days.
We see a scene similar to what we’ve experienced when visiting someone who is suffering - we see Job’s friends visit him. It is truly a sad scene to behold.
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Cuando tres amigos de Job, Elifaz, el temanita, Bildad, el suhita y Zofar, el naamatita, oyeron de todo este mal que había venido sobre él, vinieron cada uno de su lugar, pues se habían puesto de acuerdo para ir juntos a condolerse de él y a consolarlo.
Y cuando alzaron los ojos desde lejos y no lo reconocieron, levantaron sus voces y lloraron. Cada uno de ellos rasgó su manto y esparcieron polvo hacia el cielo sobre sus cabezas.
Entonces se sentaron en el suelo con él por siete días y siete noches sin que nadie le dijera una palabra, porque veían que su dolor era muy grande.
They simply could not believe what they were seeing.
Their friend Job, who previously had been the wealthiest man in the region, is snow sitting alone, after having lost everything he had, all they can see is a sad spectacle of a man, with oozing open wounds, waiting for death to finally take him.
It is through Job’s affliction that the Lord wants to teach us:
There is suffering in the world
There is suffering without hope
Though we may suffer, we have hope in God!
I. There is suffering in the world
I. There is suffering in the world
Through Job’s experience we understand that we live in a world where it’s possible to:
Loose one’s livelihood/business/economic security. One wrong decision can leave us penniless tomorrow.
Loose one’s earthly possessions. A storm, an earthquake, or even a fire can take away all we’ve worked so hard for. We can loose everything in a matter of seconds.
Loose those we love. It is possible to loose our loved ones through illness or an unfortunate accident.
Loose our health. Our body is such an incredible God-designed organism. Nevertheless, it is susceptible to disease, to aging, to cancers, to bacteria, viruses, etc. It is possible to loose our health such that we deteriorate and become a shadow of what we once were.
Why is there suffering in the world?
The answer to this question is very simple - sin.
Sin, rebellion against God, the breaking of God’s law, the disobedience to God’s commandments, introduced suffering in to this world.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
Por tanto, tal como el pecado entró en el mundo por medio de un hombre, y por medio del pecado la muerte, así también la muerte se extendió a todos los hombres, porque todos pecaron.
We suffer in this world because all creation has been tainted by sin.
We suffer because our first parents Adam and Eve rebelled against God.
…and we continue to suffer because we turn our backs against God.
Therefore, the question is “will we suffer”…but rather “…how/when will we suffer”.
Human sin, human rebellion against God’s law, is the answer for cancer wards, funeral homes, intensive care units, airplane accidents, …and even the loss of a pet.
Though this may sound so silly, crying at the death of a pet…we realize: Something is not right in this world!
Something is terribly wrong in this world.
Intuitively we know that something is wrong when we see tears in people’s faces because they are suffering.
We know that something is wrong when we witness abuse in this world.
We know something is wrong when we loose a loved one.
We know something is wrong when we receive a terrible prognosis from our doctor.
…something is not right in this world.
…however, it is a fact that we will suffer. Jesus was truthful about suffering in this world as he spoke with his disciples:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
»Estas cosas les he hablado para que en Mí tengan paz. En el mundo tienen tribulación; pero confíen, Yo he vencido al mundo».
II. There is suffering without hope and suffering with hope.
II. There is suffering without hope and suffering with hope.
Believers and unbelievers alike will suffer.
Neither believers nor unbelievers are exempt from facing loss in this world.
We are all sinful children of Adam and will suffer.
…however, there is a remarkable difference between suffering without hope and suffering knowing there is hope.
Uzziah was one of the great kings of Judah.
We had been used by God to prosper the nation of Judah.
However, one day, we took it upon himself to offer incense in the temple of the Lord.
Offering incense was a function assigned by God to the priests of Israel.
Nevertheless, Uzziah goes in to the temple of God and offers incense in defiance of God’s word and the priests of Israel.
This showed Uzziah’s true heart.
He had nothing but contempt for God’s word and his commandments.
He had no true faith in the God of Israel.
Since he had no true faith in God, he also had no hope in God.
It is impossible to have hope in God if you do not have faith in him.
Faith in the true God is not only belief in God but complete and absolute surrender to God.
The Bible tells us that God struck Uzziah with leprosy.
Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.
King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
Pero Uzías, con un incensario en su mano para quemar incienso, se llenó de ira; y mientras estaba enojado contra los sacerdotes, la lepra le brotó en la frente, delante de los sacerdotes en la casa del Señor, junto al altar del incienso.
Y el sumo sacerdote Azarías y todos los sacerdotes lo miraron, y él tenía lepra en la frente; y lo hicieron salir de allí a toda prisa, y también él mismo se apresuró a salir, porque el Señor lo había herido.
El rey Uzías quedó leproso hasta el día de su muerte, y habitó en una casa separada, ya que era leproso, porque fue excluido de la casa del Señor. Y su hijo Jotam estaba al frente de la casa del rey gobernando al pueblo de la tierra.
From that day forward, Uzziah would be a leper, alone, isolated from his family, from his friends, from his people, from the house of the Lord.
He would live in complete isolation from any other human being.
…interestingly, we are never told that he repented or asked God for forgiveness.
Sometimes suffering hardens our hearts, whereas in other occasions it softens our hearts to the things of God.
…in Uzziah’s case, it seems he became even more hardened.
He died alone in utter isolation.
Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried near them in a cemetery that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
Uzías durmió con sus padres, y lo sepultaron con sus padres en el campo del cementerio que pertenecía a los reyes, porque dijeron: «Es leproso». Y su hijo Jotam reinó en su lugar.
He suffered but had no hope.
He suffered but became hardened.
He suffered alone...
However, in Job, we find a man who suffered much more than Uzziah.
Job lost all that one could humanly loose - finances, family, and even his health.
Job was at the end of his rope.
…surely Job would be the most bitter man upon the face of the earth after experiencing all that suffering.
However, we see Job saying the following words:
I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
»Yo sé que mi Redentor vive,
Y al final se levantará sobre el polvo.
»Y después de deshecha mi piel,
Aun en mi carne veré a Dios;
Al cual yo mismo contemplaré,
Y a quien mis ojos verán y no los de otro.
¡Desfallece mi corazón dentro de mí!
Job is sure of two things:
He has a redeemer and that redeemer lives.
Even though he may die, somehow he will be raised and with his own eyes, he will see God.
…this intense desire / hope saturates his inmost being.
People of God, if you are suffering:
Look to God, he is your deliverer.
Hope in God, he is with you to the end of the age.
Cry out to God, for he will not leave you nor forsake you.
He will surely strengthen you.
How can we have this same hope in the midst of our suffering?
We must call out to God and claim him as our redeemer.
This requires that we confess our sin to him, give our lives over to God, ask that he receives us as his children.
It is only through being adopted as sons and daughter’s of God, that he will have hope in the midst of our suffering.
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Media
See moreRelated Sermons
See more
Christian Delacruz • 26 views
Daniel Escalante • 47 views
