Sufferings and comfort of Christ
“For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:5)
Not many people don’t know about ‘to learn gratitude through trials.’ So, people say that the hard work of youth benefits themselves. People usually think positively about that, but no one is really willing to go through hardships. Christ’s sufferings and comfort are important subjects given to the person of faith in Jesus. However, it is not easy to carry those into practice with all one’s mind. The reason why a poor and empty life continues is because they haven’t experienced those enough yet. I wish that I may live in the midst of Christ’s comfort, by letting me know deep the grace of Christ’s sufferings.
March is the month when the spring energy is brisk in Korea. This month, the new school year begins, and it is time to enter a higher school. Today March 1st is the day of weekly worship, and also a meaningful day when the independence movement of Korean people took place in 1919. People of this land had an enormous hardship during the end of the Korean Empire and 36 years of Japanese colonial rule. It makes sense to say that the history process is caused by judging and disciplinary action because of past mistakes. And it is true that God did so, but that is just a narrow view of partiality. Paul the Apostle explained to the Corinthians about the comfort they would receive after the hardships. He prayed and praised for them to have grace and peace in God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Christ Jesus is the Lord who ultimately gives mercy and consolation. The judgment and punishment of God are not intended to plunge someone into fear. There is no father who does not discipline his child. That is because parents love their children. If a child is not disciplined by the parents, the child would be the same as an uninterested bastard. one of the dangerous in modern education and cultural thoughts is mostly related to the characteristics of human rights and autonomy. Human rights and autonomy, how precious tasks are those? It is certainly desirable for a person to be recognized as a person and to lead his or her own life.
Everything in life could be judged right and wrong, depending on the mind-based consciousness one has in the heart. The result the right and wrong will be completely different between these two parts; who understands human rights and self-control under the sense of God’s creation, and who argues it in atheistic thought. If holy God the Almighty, is not embedded in one’s soul, all the wisdom and knowledge they have will never shine. Unless the salvation of Christ the Son of God is in their life, everything will end up in vain. And the salvation of Christ is from the crucifixion. Paul the apostle had invested his whole life in the gospel, for he realized that truth.
“The hardships of Christ have overflowed upon me” is a prerequisite for Paul’s confession. That includes together the sufferings of Christ and my sufferings through Christ. Can you understand the sufferings of Christ? We just can’t understand it in a rational way. But through the inspiration by teaching of the Spirit, we can accept it spiritually. The sufferings of Christ are eternal and special grace for my life.
The result of Christ’s sufferings is eternal hope and comfort and strength. There are good consequences for the hardships of the world, but it can some day be taken away or destroyed, as an imperfect subject that is constrained by space and time. But the hope and the consolation of Christ’s sufferings remain always unchanged in this life and in the afterlife. If that is compared to an endless stream of spring water, it will be quite a good metaphor. No pain in the course of life could have taken away the true comfort, for it is so eternal and so complete. Paul the apostle confessed that Christ was full of comfort.
Is there any one of you who is suffering from a problem? Health, money, love affairs, studies, employment, promotion, and so on; you may be urgently looking for a solution to any problem. Pray to have a firm faith in Christ. If you want to save a sick and withered tree, you need to examine the root first above all. If you want to solve your problem of faith by using a stopgap something like a charm, in the state of not knowing what the hardships and comforts of Christ are, your life will never change for development.
(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Mar 1st 2020)