Sermon Tone Analysis

The Question of Suffering

“How can an all-powerful God allow suffering?

Since he does allow suffering, how can he be good and faithful and why should I trust and obey him?”

Have you ever considered any of these questions?

Many people have.

In fact, the existence of suffering for many disproves the existence of a loving God since it is assumed that a loving God would never allow suffering in his world.

These are difficult questions.

Is there a good answer to them?

I’m certain there is, and we will find them in the content of our passage today in 1 Peter 4:12-19.

It is my prayer today not that all your questions will be answered, but that you will realize the incredible glory of God.

Origin of Suffering

To begin, I think it would be best to consider the origin of suffering…to look back at a time when suffering did not exist.

To do that, we need to look back to the creation of the world itself.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

(Genesis 1:1).

God created all planets and stars and plants animals and every form of life.

When God made Adam and Eve, he made them and all humanity special by creating us in his image and breathing his spirit into us, thereby setting us apart from all other life.

When God finished creating, he looked at everything and declared it “Very good.”

(Gen.1.31)

Because of the unique way God formed humans, he gave Adam and Eve the responsibility of having dominion over all creation, to rule over it and to subdue it.

But something else he gave Adam and Eve as the pure representatives of all humanity, was the freedom to choose; he gave them their own will.

That they might express and use this great gift, God gave them a choice: choose him by carrying out their mandate and walking with him, or choose death by eating of the forbidden tree.

By choosing God there would be eternal life and joy and peace in all creation.

By choosing death, the world and all in it would be corrupted by death and separated from God.

Adam and Eve, as the perfect representatives of humanity, chose death.

Because of their choice which is also your choice and my choice, suffering and death entered into the world.

God is not the reason why suffering exists.

People are the reason why suffering exists.

Specifically, YOU are the reason suffering exists…I am the reason why suffering exists…we are ALL the reason why suffering exists.

It is our own rebellion against God that created a rift between God and man and opened the door to death.

When looking for someone to blame for all the suffering in this world, we must look no further than ourselves for within the greatest saint is enough evil to fill the world.

God’s intervention

So, because of you and I, suffering exists.

What then is there to be done?

Why does God not fix everything and set everything right?

The simple answer is: He is!

Salvation through Jesus

Without intervention from God, all people would be lost and separated from God for all eternity and the purpose of existence would be suffering.

But God did intervene by promising to send One who would set everything right.

For generations, that hope gave people life and a reason to live and serve God.

And one day 2000 years ago, that hope became the person of Jesus, God in the flesh who suffered and died in our place so that we might be forgiven and inherit eternal life instead of death.

The promise is if “you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved (Acts 16:31).”

Through faith in Jesus, one is justified or saved from eternal punishment by being “legally” declared right with God.

And once someone has been justified, the Holy Spirit of God comes upon them as a guarantee of their eternal salvation.

Judgement on earth

But sometime else happens when the Holy Spirit indwells a follower of Jesus…judgement.

I imagine that’s not what you were expecting but it’s the word Peter uses in the text.

Life for the one who becomes saved does not turn to daffodils and sunshine.

No, once saved, believers begin to pass through judgement from God with the purpose of purifying them from sin.

This is necessary because even though one is forgiven and saved from eternal death, the sinful nature and tendency of the person persists.

That sinful nature must be dealt with completely before one can hope to dwell in the presence of God.

The ridding of one’s sinful nature to create something pure Peter calls judgement in verse 17.

If you’ve been in the church for a while, you likely relate judgement with the end times when everyone is standing before God receiving what they deserve.

And you would be right, but what most don’t realize is that for the follower of Jesus, that judgement begins now.

This present judgement is not one of condemnation for you are already secure in your eternal life through faith in Jesus, but rather one of purification.

God uses trials and suffering caused by sin to test and purify the faithful in Christ so that we might be transformed and prepared for eternity with him.

Consider this with me.

When experiencing hardships and difficulties and suffering, one is essentially forced to realize that something is lacking.

That something, whatever it is, finds its existence in this present time and place.

No matter how hard we try, we simply cannot avoid experiencing some form of trouble for inevitable trouble will come to us, maybe through sickness or some freak accident like a housefire or death.

God uses these difficulties and times of suffering in life to help the Christian separate from the world of sin.

The more trials and pain we endure now, the more separated from this sinful life we will become when we grasp onto Jesus for help and hold fast to our hope of eternal life with him.

Through this process the depths of our sinfulness are revealed so that God can work with us to remove that sin and purify us to become more like Jesus.

But God in his infinite wisdom knows that we cannot rid ourselves from sin and so in his infinite grace he promises to remain with us and help us though these trials he allows to come our way.

We even have the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will not let us be tested beyond our ability for he will always provide a way of escape that we may be able to endure.

And endure we will.

By the time genuine followers of Jesus stand before the great white throne of God at the end of time, we will be pure in every way because of God’s work in us.

There will be no need to fear the judgement of God because God will have completed the good work he began in us (Philippians 1:6).

However, the same will not be said of the ungodly who will be denied eternal life and punished for their sin with eternal suffering.

Here's another promise we can take to heart found at the end of 1 Peter in chapter 5:10, Peter wrote this: “10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

With promise upon promise, we can be confident, for between now and when Jesus returns, God himself will remove every trace of sin from you, restore you, strengthen you, and make you pure.

When God completes his work in us and cleanses us from all traces of sin forever, and when he transforms the earth from his footstool to his throne and dwells with us on the new earth forever (Revelation 21), we who are in Christ will finally experience the revealed glory of God which is the infinite beauty and greatness of His perfection.

For this promised future, Peter says in verse 13 that all followers of Jesus can rejoice (be happy) and be glad (Lit.

jump for joy) especially when suffering!

The answer to the question

Because of all this, all the promises of God to redeem our mistakes and use suffering for our good, “Therefore,” says Peter, “let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while continually doing good.”

(1 Peter 4:19)

So, if God created everything and yet allows suffering, how can he be considered faithful, why should I trust him, and why should I obey him?

Because God has intervened on our behalf to save us from the consequences of our own rebellion against him and to cleanse us from the effects of sin so that we may experience the fullness of his glory forever.