One of the conversations that I have found myself having on occasion with counselees regards the issue of the punishment of God. A person will be suffering for one reason or another, and they will assume that their suffering is the punishment of God on their lives for something they did in their past.
Often I will try to help the person to recognize that, if they are in Christ, all the penalty for all of their sin has already been fully punished in Christ on the cross. Yet it is still hard for them to see that God is not adding some extra punishment to them.
Of course I understand that God chastens his children. He disciplines all he loves. But he disciplines us for our good and his glory. God never gives a Christian the penalty for his or her sin. That penalty was paid in Christ as our substitute.
I was happy, then, to come across the following in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology regarding this very issue:
Throughout our Christian lives we know that we never have to pay any penalty for sin, for that has all been taken by Christ (Rom. 8:1). Therefore, when we do experience pain and suffering in this life, we should never think it is because God is punishing us (for our harm). Sometimes suffering is simply a result of living in a sinful, fallen world, and sometimes it is because God is disciplining us (for our good), but in all cases we are assured by Romans 8:28 that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (nasb).
The positive purpose for God’s discipline is clear in Hebrews 12, where we read:
The Lord disciplines him whom he loves….He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Heb. 12:6, 10–11)
Not all discipline is in order to correct us from sins that we have committed; it can also be allowed by God to strengthen us in order that we may gain greater ability to trust God and resist sin in the challenging path of obedience. We see this clearly in the life of Jesus, who, though he was without sin, yet “learned obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). He was made perfect “through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). Therefore we should see all the hardship and suffering that comes to us in life as something that God brings to us to do us good strengthening our trust in him and our obedience, and ultimately increasing our ability to glorify him.
Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology : An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 811.
Calvin on Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
John Calvin on Isaiah 9:6 –
Now, to apply this for our own instruction, whenever any distrust arises, and all means of escape are taken away from us, whenever, in short, it appears to us that everything is in a ruinous condition, let us recall to our remembrance that Christ is called Wonderful, because he has inconceivable methods of assisting us, and because his power is far beyond what we are able to conceive. When we need counsel, let us remember that he is the Counsellor. When we need strength, let us remember that he is Mighty and Strong. When new terrors spring up suddenly every instant, and when many deaths threaten us from various quarters, let us rely on that eternity of which he is with good reason called the Father, and by the same comfort let us learn to soothe all temporal distresses. When we are inwardly tossed by various tempests, and when Satan attempts to disturb our consciences, let us remember that Christ is The Prince of Peace, and that it is easy for him quickly to allay all our uneasy feelings. Thus will these titles confirm us more and more in the faith of Christ, and fortify us against Satan and against hell itself.
God’s Glory in Christ’s Death (John 13:31-33)
John 13:31-33
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’
Once Judas left the Passover room with the intent of handing Jesus over to the authorities, Jesus turned to his remaining 11 disciples and began to teach them. From verse 31 of chapter 13 all the way through the end of chapter 17, we will see Jesus prepare his disciples for the events to come. He has already started getting them ready through the foot washing at the beginning of chapter 13, but it will become more intense as time passes.
And Jesus begins this preparing of his disciples by telling them that now he, the Son of Man, is glorified. Now? Now that Judas has left to betray Jesus, now that the pieces are set in motion, now Jesus is truly glorified.
Keep going. God the Father is glorified in Jesus because Jesus is glorified in the way he is glorified. If God is glorified, which we know he is, then God the Father will in turn glorify Jesus. So, whatever is going on here, it is causing a reflection of glory to be shared between God the Father and God the Son. What is happening right now, right in the midst of a dark and sad room, is somehow serving to magnify the glory of God both in Christ and in his Father.
And, in case you think of the glory of Jesus as some future event that is to come upon his return, notice that Jesus says that the Father will glorify the Son at once. Right away will the Lord Jesus be glorified. Right now, the glory is happening. Right now, God is glorified in Jesus and Jesus is glorified in his Father. Right now.
How? How is Jesus being glorified? Look at what he says in verse 33. Jesus tells his disciples that he is going away from them. He tells them that, just like he told the Jews earlier in chapters 7 and 8, where he is going they cannot follow. Though they look for him, they will not be able to find him.
Now, tie this together with me to see what God wants us to learn here. Jesus is glorified. What does it mean to be glorified? To be glorified has in its meaning the concept of being seen as big, heavy, or weighty. So, when Jesus is glorified, he is saying that what is happening shows his importance, his value, his gravity, his weight, his worth. The glory and importance of Jesus is made known, made clear, by what is going on. And that glory is shared between Jesus and the rest of the holy trinity. God the Father is glorified in Jesus and God the Father glorifies Jesus. Whatever is happening, it is happening for the purpose of showing the world the great value and importance, the overall supremacy and bigness of the Lord Jesus and God the Father.
What is happening to glorify Jesus? Well, he says in verse 32 that it is happening right away. In verse 33, he tells his disciples that he is going somewhere they cannot. There is no doubt; Jesus is talking about the cross. In less than 24 hours, Jesus will be nailed to a Roman cross. In less than 24 hours, the perfect and sinless Son of God will suffer, bleed, and die. He will do this, not because he did wrong. Instead, he will suffer and die in order to pay for the sins of those whom God will save. It is the event of the sacrifice of the Son of God, the vilest act in all of human history, which is also the moment of the display of the glory of God for all to see.
Think of it in the words of an old and wonderful hymn.
Hallelujah What A Savior
Man of Sorrows! What a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When you think about the cross, do you think about glory? Do you see that the cross, besides being the instrument of your salvation, is also the tool by which God shows you how big, how awesome, how loving, and how glorious is he? Do you see in the wounds of the Lord Jesus only sorrow; or do you see in his stripes the markings of rank, of honor, of glory?
Christians, may we never be ashamed of the cross. May we never look at the sacrifice of Jesus as a small thing. May we never lose our understanding that the Lord’s death was a way for him to show us his glory. Remember the cross, and see the glory of the Lord Jesus.
How to Serve Humbly (John 13:3-5)
John 13:3-5
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Jesus served. Strange to think, isn’t it? The Lord over all creation, the one through whom all things were made, he served. God in flesh knelt down and washed the feet of his disciples. How could he do this? How could he humble himself so greatly?
Notice in verses 3-4, that Jesus knew something quite well. As Jesus got up from the table and took off his outer garment, he knew it. As Jesus played the role of a servant, he was completely aware of it. Jesus knew who he was. That knowledge allowed him to serve with no problem.
Think about times in your life when you have been unwilling to humble yourself. Isn’t it true that your lack of humility usually stems from wanting another to understand your worth? You think to yourself, “If I lower myself before this jerk, he will think I’m worthless. I’ll show him.” We insist on proving, in our own way, our own value. In doing so, we refuse to allow another to see us as beneath them.
But Jesus, who knew exactly who he was, had no problem putting himself beneath his often silly and childish disciples. Why? Jesus knew that his rank could not be compromised by serving. Jesus knew that his identity could lose none of its splendor. Jesus is God in flesh. His deity is not changed by his kindness. His place on the throne of the universe is not risked by his clothing himself in humility.
Christians, if we will remember who we are, we will serve much better. No, we are not kings and queens of the universe, at least not yet in our lives. We are sinners saved by grace. We could never lower ourselves to the lowly state that we should actually occupy because of our sin. At the same time, we are children of God, princes and princesses of the universe. God has adopted us into his family and made us part of his household. We can lose none of that identity by serving. So, at one and the same time, we cannot lower ourselves to a lowly enough state and we cannot lose our glorious and lofty rank.
So, the next time that you want to put yourself forward, remember Jesus. You do not have to show off your rank. God has already seated you with Christ in the heavenly places. That seat cannot be lost by your humility on earth. But, if you will humble yourself and serve graciously, you shine a light of glory on your Master, your Lord, your Savior himself. Jesus served, and if you will remember who you were, who you are, and whose you are, you will be able to serve humbly and joyfully too.
Celebrate to Show Your Thankfulness (2 Chronicles 7:8-9)
2 Chronicles 7:8-9
8 At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days.
The dedication of the temple connected with a time of feasting in Israel and amounted to a fifteen-day celebration. It lasted from the eighth to the twenty-second day of the month. In this celebration, the dedication of the temple, the Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Booths all took place.
This time would have been an amazing time to be present. The people likely would have been fed by the meat from the sacrifices. The fat of the animals would have been burned, but there would have been remaining meat that the people could eat together. In sharing in that meat, the people may have felt honored as the guests of a king would have felt honored to share in his banquet.
One thing that we in our own culture do have figured out is that we often eat together to celebrate. This has been a practice since the earliest days of mankind, and it continues. There is something special about gathering together with people around a common purpose, a common joy, and a common table. There is something special in sitting down together to share in a meal of celebration and to do so while giving thanks to God for what he has done.
As the people dedicated the temple, they feasted and celebrated together for15 days. For a full half month, the people set aside their outside concerns and got together with the purpose of enjoying the kindness of the Lord. This is something we could do well to learn to model. While we will not plan any major 15 day celebrations anytime soon, we do have a day, today, in which we will celebrate. Let us learn to celebrate and to celebrate well. Let us eat together and remember how God has blessed us. Let us share what God has given us with others so as to spread around the blessing. When you share your Thanksgiving meal this year, be sure that it really is a meal of giving thanks to the Lord for how he has shared his bounty with you. Even if you are going through hard times, God still has blessed you far beyond anything you could ever imagine.
Express Genuine Worship as Part of Thanksgiving (2 Chronicles 7:3)
2 Chronicles 7:3
When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
At the Temple’s dedication, the people did exactly what they should have done in their setting. When they saw the glory of God, when they saw the fire fall from the sky, they all hit the deck. They bowed down with their faces to the ground. They worshipped god. They declared that God is good and that God’s love endures forever. They remembered who God is, and they lowered themselves in his presence to display that he is higher and greater than them.
True worship involves us performing reverential acts. True worship involves us showing that God is our King and that we are submitted to him. True worship involves us bowing down and showing that he is greater than us. True worship involves us declaring God’s character for others to hear. True worship involves us doing what God has called us to do in his word in order to show that he is our king and we are his followers. True worship is what the people did in this passage, and it is what we need to do if we are going to be rightly thankful to God.
As this Thanksgiving approaches, do not neglect worship. It is easy to get caught up in the preparation of all the food and getting ready for the Christmas shopping. But make sure that you take time to worship your God. Seek his glory. When God reveals his glory to you either in his word, in nature, in your memory, in a sermon, or wherever, right there, bow your heart before God and declare him to be worthy. Honor him. Focus on him. Declare his praise. Worship God. Express genuine worship as part of thanksgiving.
Antichrist (1 John 4:2-3)
1 John 4:2-3
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
We live in a world in which religious tolerance is at a premium. Why can’t we all just get along? Why can’t we see that we all worship the same God? The answer to that last question is easy: We don’t worship the same God. We can’t get along because, fundamentally, people of differing world religions disagree about the central point of who God is.
John, in writing 1 John, did not have a problem spelling out the reason for the trouble and conflict between different religions. It came down to one simple question. Do those who believe a certain religion acknowledge Jesus? This, of course, is more than saying that a man named Jesus lived years ago. The question was a question of the nature of Jesus. Do you recognize Jesus as fully God and fully man? If you deny both the deity and humanity of Jesus, you cannot be Christian.
IN fact, look at John’s words. When speaking of those who deny the fundamental nature of Jesus, John speaks pretty harshly. Those who deny that Jesus has come in the flesh are antichrist. To miss the identity of Jesus is to miss God. To lower Jesus to mere humanity is to blaspheme God. To miss the fact that Jesus did become human is to deny key elements of the atoning work of Jesus. Simply put, if you want your religion to be the religion of God, you had better get the person of Christ right
There are lots of ways in which people in the world ought to be tolerant. We should be kind to those who see the world differently than we do. However, if someone denies the identity of Jesus, we cannot call them in any way people of God. God’s word says that to deny Jesus is antichrist, and that is a very serious thing.
Faith, Action, Reward (John 11:39-40)
John 11:39-40
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
When Jesus gives the command to remove the stone from the entrance of the tomb, Martha is aghast. Thinking that Jesus just wants a look at her brother’s body, Martha moves to stop Jesus from opening the tomb. She knows it has been four days. She believes that Lazarus’ body will be in a state of decay. Simply put, she warns Jesus not to open the tomb, because the rotting body will stink.
But Jesus turns to Martha and asks her if she remembers what he has taught her. If she will believe in him, having genuine faith in him, she will see the glory of God. He does not tell her how she will see it. He does not tell her what he is up to. But he does ask her to display genuine, true faith in him in order to see something marvelous.
What will happen if Martha believes in Jesus? Two things will occur. First, if Martha believes in Jesus, she will take action. She will not simply hear Jesus’ words to have the stone removed, she will go along with that command and order those around her to do what Jesus said. This teaches us something: true faith in Jesus always requires action.
Second, if Martha will truly believe in Jesus, she will see the glory of God. If she believes, she will experience the highest of possible human joys. Simply put, true faith in Jesus always reaps a reward.
The same faith that Jesus commands Martha to have is the faith he commands you to have. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you have the kind of faith in Jesus that God commands you to have? If you do, two things will be true. If you really have faith in Jesus, you will take action in your life. You will live differently because of your faith in Jesus. You will desire to know God more. You will study God’s word. You will attend church regularly, joining in worship with joy. You will learn to love others. You will share your faith. You will give of your resources to the ministry of God’s kingdom. You will turn away from sinful activities and thoughts and you will turn to right living and right thinking. If you have genuine faith in Jesus, you will take action based on that faith.
Also, if you have genuine faith in Jesus, you will reap a reward. You, like Martha, will see the glory of God. If you have the kind of faith in Jesus that changes your life and saves your soul, you will experience the highest of possible joys. You will live for the joy of experiencing the glory of God. You will joyfully find that your life exists for God’s glory. You will live to get more and more of the joy of glorifying God. And, when you go to the grave, you will find ultimate fulfillment, eternal life in Jesus Christ.
True faith in Jesus requires action and reaps a reward. Have such faith, and you will live differently and find true joy for your heart.
How Could This Be God’s Plan? (John 11:11-13)
John 11:11-13
11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
This, I have to say, is one of my favorite verses in this section simply because I find it so funny. Jesus tells the disciples that Lazarus is asleep, and Jesus is about to go and wake him up. The problem is that Jesus is using a figure of speech, and the disciples don’t get it. Jesus was using a euphemism for saying that Lazarus is dead, but the disciples just don’t follow.
One of the factors as to why the disciples may not have followed Jesus’ meaning could be that they simply do not see how this is possibly God’s plan. How could Jesus be going to Lazarus if he’s dead? That makes no sense. So, it must be that Jesus is talking about sleep. But it’s dangerous to go to Judea, and Lazarus is clearly resting. We shouldn’t go.
People often do not understand what is going on when God works mysteriously through hardship and tragedy. And when you go through a tough time in life, do not find it at all surprising when your friends and loved ones say things to you that show you that they have no actual clue as to the reality of the situation. They may say something that seems to minimize your sorrow. They may say something that shows that they really do not grasp that God is in control. My counsel to you is this: Expect it. Know that people around you will not necessarily understand or trust what God is doing. But you will know. You may not know all the reasons why, but you can know that God is in control, that he will be glorified, and that his glory is your source of joy.
Life as a Canvas (John 9:1-3)
John 9:1-3
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
Do you believe that, if a person sees true art in the form of a remarkable painting, they are likely to comment on the canvas itself? If a person is looking at an original Picasso or Van Gogh, do you think it likely for them to look at someone nearby and say, “Boy, that’s really an amazing piece of canvas behind all that paint”? Of course they wouldn’t. While the canvas might be a very nice canvas indeed, it is crazy to think that the canvas should be the focus of the person who sees the beautiful art painted on it.
Of course, we all think together, none of us would be silly enough to elevate the value of the canvas over the art itself. But, we often do; not necessarily in a museum, but in our lives. When left to ourselves, we tend to focus on background issues and make them out to be of primary importance. In doing so, we take the things that should be of first importance, and push them aside.
Look with me at verse 3 above. Jesus gives us the answer to the disciples’ question as to why a man was born blind—was it his fault or his parents’—and it is not either of the two options they gave to him. Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Neither the man nor his parents are directly to blame for his blindness. Instead, something much more grand is behind this man’s suffering. As strange as it may seem for us to believe, the reason that this man was born blind was in order that the works of God might be displayed in his life.
The man’s suffering was for the purpose of glorifying God. Is that offensive? Yes, if you believe that human happiness is the highest good. However, if you believe that God is our Creator and has the right to do with us as he pleases, and if you believe that the glory of God is the ultimate good, then you have to conclude that it is OK and even good that the Lord would allow this to happen.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
God is our Creator. He created all things. Therefore all things that exist do so at God’s whim, for his pleasure.
Isaiah 43:6-7
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
And God created us for his glory. It’s there, plain as day in the scriptures. And, if it is true that God created us and has the right of ownership over us, and it is also true that he created us for the purpose of displaying his glory, then there is nothing wrong whatsoever with God allowing even our suffering if that suffering will display his glory.
All of our lives are for the glory of God. Your strengths and your weaknesses exist for God’s glory. Your happy moments and your greatest tragedies exist for the glory of God. Your greatest joys and your greatest sufferings are all testimonies in one way or another to the glory of God.
You know what this teaching makes you? It makes you a canvas. You are a canvas that God has created in order to display the beautiful art of his glory. Sometimes the colors that he uses to create that art are dark and painful. Sometimes the colors that he uses are bright and lovely. In either case, they are painted onto your life in order that you will, when all is said and done, truly display for the world to see the glory of God, the divine artist.
What we must do, after thinking about the words of Jesus in verse 3, is change how we think. We must think of ourselves as the canvas onto which God paints. We exist for his purposes and for his glory. We must not ever allow ourselves to think that we are of the utmost importance. God is of the utmost importance. His glory is of the utmost importance. Our purpose for existence is to display that glory of God for all to see. If you cannot stomach that, then you are at odds with God and his purposes. Let me urge you to fight to change that way of thinking, because you will never defeat God. Recognize that your life is a canvas for the displaying of the glory of God.
Pastor Travis Peterson 