God puts the pain, right up front

“But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”-Acts 9:15-16

The most amazing miracle that can happen in a person’s life is that they place their faith in Christ. The most unfortunate thing that can happen in a person’s life is that they pray to receive Christ without being fully informed about what that means. Sometimes I worry that the message of the cross is being lost. I worry that we have promoted the cross of Christ as being the symbol for salvation, without mentioning that it is also a symbol of suffering.  I doubt that any of us would argue that the Apostle Paul is one of the most influential figures in the Christian faith and yet, by his own admission he faced a number of challenges serving Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, Paul mentions the multiple ways in which he suffered including being robbed, shipwrecked, beaten multiple times and left for dead. 

I believe that being armed with with this knowledge was a huge part of Paul’s success. None of this came as a surprise to Paul. God showed him how much he would suffer for His name’s sake. Paul went into following Christ with his eyes wide open. He understood that to fully follow Christ we have to embrace the suffering along with the salvation.

Paul would later write: “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,"-Philippians 3:10

It is impossible to separate suffering from salvation. Unfortunately we are seeing a generation of Christians being raised to believe that salvation delivers us from suffering rather than suffering accompanying it. Yet, from very early on, God has been trying to tell us that following Him isn’t going to be a walk in the park. When it comes to following God there is going to be suffering.

When God gave Moses the design of the tabernacle in Exodus 20:24, He gave him specific direction to build a bronze altar. It was to be placed just inside the doors of the outer court, so that it was the first thing that caught the people’s eye when they walked in. The first thing they encountered when they came to worship God was suffering. It was here that the sacrifices were made. The place where the blood of bulls and goats were shed. It was a place of suffering. You could hear the bleating of the sheep from afar off. God put the pain, right up front. You didn’t get to the bronze laver (Place of Cleansing), or the inner court, or the Holy of Holies (Presence of God) without passing through the suffering. 

Have you ever wondered why the cross is the most prominent symbol of our Christian faith? Why it is often the first thing you see when you walk into a church? Because, God puts the pain, right up front!  It’s a banner proclaiming that salvation doesn’t deliver us from suffering, suffering accompanies our salvation. This message of the cross, however, has been lost on so many. We no longer identify with hymns like The Old Rugged Cross: Hymns that right from the very first stanza proclaim: “On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame; and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.”

We have somehow received a mixed message: We believe that Christ’s suffering on the cross was for our salvation, yet beyond that we see no application for us personally. However, the message isn’t that Christ suffered so that I don’t have to. The message is that if I want to share in His resurrection, I need to be prepared to share in His suffering. 

Jesus taught this on several occasions. In Matthew 16:24-25 he taught that anyone who wants to be His disciple must take up their cross and follow Him. In addition, however, He went on to teach in Luke 14:27-33, that we shouldn’t begin without counting the cost. He emphasized that becoming His disciple will cost us everything. I think this is Jesus’ way to telling us not to buy into Christianity without knowing what it’s really going to cost us.

There is obviously a cost associated with following Jesus. There are going to be sacrifices that have to be made. Attitudes that are going to have to be modified. Sinful behaviors that will need forsaken. There are things that are going to have to be surrendered. Yes, He alone paid the price for our salvation, but it costs us everything to follow Him. Perhaps, no one ever told you that!  Perhaps that is why so many backslide or fall away from their faith. They came to Jesus thinking He was going to make their lives better, but following Christ has proved more difficult than they had calculated. The Apostle Paul made certain that every new believer was aware of the hardships that awaited them and often reminded them to this truth:

 “21 After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, 22 where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.-Acts 14: 21-22

Like Paul, we want you to come to Christ with your eyes wide open. We want you to see the pain right up front. Not just the pain He suffered for your salvation, but what it will cost you to truly follow Him. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church