Grace in suffering and death
As I write these lines, I'm preparing to go to my uncle's funeral. He was feeling pretty bad for a while. Popularly, Benjamin Franklin's well-known phrase: "Only two things in this world are safe for us: death and the tax." I have already lost many important people in my life; including my dad. I remember seeing him at the hospital. He was in great pain and I could hardly bear to see him in such suffering. It was the last time I saw him alive. Even today, I'm saddened that I have no father left to call on Father's Day and spend time with. Nevertheless, I thank God for the grace we receive from him through death. Out of it God's kindness and compassion becomes accessible to all men and beings. When Adam and Eve sinned, God prevented them from eating from the tree of life. He wanted her to die, but why? The answer is this: If they had continued to eat from the tree of life, even though they have sinned, then they would live forever a life of sin and disease. If they had liver cirrhosis like my father, they would live forever in pain and illness. If they had cancer, they would suffer forever, with no hope, because the cancer would not kill them. God has given us death by grace, so that we can one day escape the earthly pains. Death was not a punishment for sin, but a gift that leads to true life.
«But God is so merciful and loved us so much that he gave us who were dead through our sins new life with Christ when he raised him from the dead. It was only by the grace of God that you were saved! For he raised us from the dead together with Christ and we now belong with Jesus to his heavenly kingdom »(Ephesians 2,4-6 New Life Bible).
Jesus came to earth as a man to free people from the prison of death. As he descended into the grave, he joined all the people who ever lived and died and would ever die. However, it was his plan that he would rise from the grave with all the people. Paul describes it this way: “If you have therefore been raised with Christ, seek things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3,1).
The antidote to sin
We are told that when we sin, the world's suffering gets worse. God shortens the lifespan of people, it says in Genesis: “Then said the Lord: My spirit should not rule in people forever, because people are also flesh. I want to give him a hundred and twenty years as a lifetime ”(1. Mose 6,3). The Psalms record Moses years later lamenting the condition of mankind: “Your wrath is heavy on our life, it is as fleeting as a sigh. We may live to seventy years, we may even live to eighty - but even the best years are toil and burden! How quickly everything is over and we are no more” (Psalm 90,9:120f; GN). Sin has increased and the life span of men has been reduced from years as recorded in Genesis to a lower age. Sin is like cancer. The only effective way to deal with her is to destroy her. Death is the consequence of sin. Therefore, in death, Jesus took our sins upon himself. He annihilated our sins on that cross. Through his death we experience the antidote to sin, his love as the grace of life. The sting of death is gone because Jesus died and rose again.
Because of the death and resurrection of Christ, we look forward to the resurrection of his followers with confidence. "For as in Adam they all die, so in Christ they will all be made alive" (1. Corinthians 15,22). This coming to life has wonderful effects: «And God will wipe away all tears from your eyes, and death will be no more, neither will there be sorrow, nor outcry, nor pain; for the first has passed »(Revelation 21,4). After the resurrection, there will be no more death! Because of this hope Paul writes to the Thessalonians that they should not mourn like people who have no hope: “But we do not want you, dear brothers, to leave you in the dark about those who have fallen asleep, so that you are not sad like the others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, God will also bring those who have fallen asleep with him through Jesus. For this is what we say to you in a word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep »(1. Thes 4,13-15).
The release of pain
While we mourn the loss of beloved family members and friends because we miss them, we have the hope that we will see them again in heaven. It's like saying goodbye to a friend who goes abroad for a long time. Death is not the end. He is the grace that frees us from pain. When Jesus returns, there is neither death nor pain nor sadness. We may thank God for the grace of death when a loved one dies. But what about the people who have to suffer for a very long time before being recalled to the eternal home? Why have not they been allowed to experience the mercy of death? Has God left her? Of course not! He will never leave or give up. Suffering is also a grace of God. Jesus, who is God, suffered the pain of being human for thirty years - with all his limitations and temptations. The worst suffering he suffered was his death on the cross.
Share in the life of Jesus
Many Christians do not know that suffering is a blessing. Pain and suffering are grace, because through them we share in the painful life of Jesus: «Now I am happy in the sufferings that I suffer for you, and in my flesh I repay for his body what is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ , that is the church »(Colossians 1,24).
Peter understood the role that suffering plays in the life of Christians: “Now that Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind; for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased sin "(1. Petrus 4,1). Paul's view of suffering was similar to Peter's. Paul sees suffering for what it is: a grace to rejoice over. «Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy and God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our tribulations, so that we can also comfort those in all tribulations with the comfort with which we ourselves comforted are from God. For as the sufferings of Christ come abundantly upon us, so we are also abundantly comforted by Christ. But if we have tribulation, it is for your consolation and salvation. If we have consolation, it is for your consolation, which is effective when you endure with patience the same sufferings that we also suffer "(2. Corinthians 1,3-6).
It is important to see all suffering as Peter describes it. He reminds us that we share in the suffering of Jesus when we experience unjustified pain and suffering «For that is grace when someone endures evil and suffers injustice before God for the sake of conscience. For what kind of fame is it when you are beaten for bad deeds and endure patiently? But if you suffer and endure for good deeds, that is grace with God. For this is what you are called to do, since Christ also suffered for you and you have left an example that you should follow his footsteps »(1. Petrus 2,19-21).
In pain, suffering and death we rejoice in the grace of God. Like Job, when we see humanly, we experience unjustifiably sickness and suffering, God has not abandoned us, but stands by us and rejoices in us.
If, in your suffering, you ask God to take it from you, then God wants you to be certain of his consolation: "Let my grace suffice for you" (2. Corinthians 12,9). May you be a comforter to other people through the comfort they have experienced for themselves.
by Takalani Musekwa