One of the troubling questions we ask as American Christians is this: "How can horrible things happen to people who belong to God?" That question takes many forms: "How can bad things happen to good people?" "Why does God refuse to protect His people from the physically undesirable?" "Do bad things occurring to godly people prove that God does not care?" "Does the evidence that God cares concern only preventing undesirable physical things happening to godly people?"
Begin by considering Peter's message in today's text. (1) The best way to prevent horrible experiences in physical existence is by doing good. (2) However, there are still people who resent good and cause people devoted to righteousness suffering. If that is your situation, (a) allow only Christ to rule you [be Lord], and make a firm decision that he alone controls you within. (b) When your adversaries cause you suffering, endure adversity in a way that causes them to question you about your sustaining hope. [In context, this statement is about the manner Christians endure suffering with hope, not about a directive for evangelistic knowledge. The focus is on how Christians suffer, not on what they know in evangelistic efforts.] Respond to inquires about your hope with gentleness and respect for the questioner. (3) As you endure your trial, keep a good conscience so your abusers will be shamed by their actions. (4) It is better [if God wills] to suffer for doing right instead of doing wrong. [Remember, God uses suffering to achieve His purposes, including the suffering of His Own son.] (5) Jesus Christ physically died in the understanding that physical existence is not all there is to life. (6) The patient God always has wanted to save people rather than punish them. (7) Baptism is a commitment. (8) The resurrected Jesus is with God, interceding for us.
The first obvious thing is: the suffering (in context) was the result of unrighteous people physically opposing God's people. The second: it served God's purposes for His people to suffer unjustly (it was a powerful evidence of the genuineness of faith in Jesus Christ in an evil society). The third: Christians must decide who controls their lives, and they must be consistent in their conviction through their behavior. The fourth: hope, not threats, leads people to the resurrected Jesus. The fifth: Christians are never alone--the patient God and the resurrected, interceding Jesus are with them.
This concept is a difficult one for most American Christians to grasp. Begin with common views. (1) Freedom [for many] means deliverance from suffering's inconvenience. In this society, evil cannot oppose good [in the majority of instances]. (2) In our society, money and power make suffering unnecessary. (3) The material 'good life' is incomplete if it does not include escape from suffering. (4) Suffering and a good life are mutually exclusive. (5) Often, the physical is the ultimate. We want to end suffering NOW. (6) Often we have a poor concept of the eternal as a reality.
Consider physical realities from God's perspective. (1) The war is between God and Satan, not God and humanity. God wants to save humans from Satan's influences, not destroy humans. Humans, not God, invited evil [the conflict between God and Satan] to be part of the physical reality and experience. (2) Evil is the expression of the conflict between God and Satan. Its source is Satan. Though Satan lost his war against God in Jesus' death and resurrection, he through evil seeks to hurt God (Whom he hates) the only way he can--by hurting the people God loves. (3) God's people demonstrate the genuineness of their confidence in God by refusing to allow the vindictiveness of unrighteous people to determine their behavior. (4) The force of the Christians' hope in God triumphs in physical existence by causing unrighteous opponents to marvel at Christians' attitude toward suffering. (5) Christians place supreme confidence in the patient God and the resurrected Jesus.
There will be a time when Satan, all advocates of evil, and all forms of evil will be banished. After that moment, Satan will never cause God's people harm again. The only reason God delays that moment is His desire to rescue people from Satan's deceitful control. It is not God's desire that any should perish.
Until that moment, evil will cause the righteous to endure suffering in all societies. To expect to avoid suffering by seeking devotion to God is to be deceived. God WILL help us endure the suffering, but God cannot eliminate suffering (a) without calling for the end and (b) without destroying people who have not yet escaped Satan. Again, God wishes to rescue those people, not destroy them.
People are so important to God that He did and does three unfathomable things. First, He endured incredible evil to make preparation to send His son. Second, He sacrificed the life of His son to rescue people. Third, He delays the end of His adversary to create maximum opportunity to rescue people.
Paul placed human suffering in perspective with this statement:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teaching Guide
Lesson 6