Sabbath: Christ in the Crucible
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Luke 2:7, Luke 2:22-24; Matthew 2:1-18; John 8:58-59; Luke 22:41-44; Matthew 27:51-52; Romans 6:23; Titus 1:2.
Memory Text: “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Whenever we look at the issue of suffering, the question comes: How did sin and suffering first arise? Through divine revelation we have good answers: They arose because free beings abused the freedom God had given them. This leads to another question: Did God know beforehand that these beings would fall? Yes, but obviously He thought it was, as C. S. Lewis wrote, “worth the risk.”
Worth the risk? For whom? For us, while God sits in heaven on His throne? Not exactly. The freedom of all His intelligent creatures was so sacred that, rather than deny us freedom, God chose to bear in Himself the brunt of the suffering caused by our abuse of that freedom. And we see this suffering in the life and death of Jesus, who, through suffering in our flesh, has created bonds between heaven and earth that will last throughout eternity.
The Week at a Glance: What did Christ suffer in our behalf? What can we learn from His suffering?
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 24.
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It has occurred to me that we don't sufficiently consider how important personal freedom of choice is to God. Yes, we know intellectually, that God gives us freedom of choice. But we may not always consider what it cost Him. And, more than that, how does this importance of freedom of choice affect the way we treat others?
Does it figure into the way we treat our children? Do we give complete freedom of choice to babies? Why or why not? How do we teach our children to exercise their freedom of choice wisely?
Going on to consider our treatment of adults: Is it ever right to coerce people to do right - individually or as a church institution? What does this "forcing to do right" look like?
I've seen opinions online that giving people a choice between losing their jobs or doing something against their conscience is not "forcing" them. That not preventing people who do not give up their conscientious beliefs from shopping at certain stories is not "forcing" them. What do you think?
So you and I may not have the opportunity to give people the choice between violating their conscience or keeping their jobs. But are there situations in which we attempt to coerce people to make the "right" choices? Perhaps in our churches? Perhaps in regard to our adult children?
I believe a great deal of manipulation in all quarters is going on in the name of helping someone make the 'right' choice. The ends, in some minds, justify the means. I believe it is still dangerous to do that. The consequences are varied.
We want children to do what we told them to do... or else (reward or punishment). We become more subtle in later years when the choice may be to marry someone not of our faith ...or else. Perhaps we might say even some are manipulated into joining the church by skillful workers...or else. These consequences can be manipulated using rewards or punishments.
Today's EGW quote from the Desire of Ages, pgs. 758,759 includes this sentence: "Compelling power is found only in Satan's government."
We are not to deny anyone the power of choice, which is difficult when we know the possible consequences of their actions.
So true.
Yet there's an opposite ditch on the side of the road to heaven. How can we NOT do what we can to influence someone we love to make right choices?
I think there are no easy answers. Only the Holy Spirit can guide us aright. So the bottom line - as always - is to make sure we prioritize our time to spend time with Him.
Consider that, through sin, our first parents lost their freedom of choice. They became slaves of sin and Satan with no possibility of freeing themselves.
It was to restore humanity's freedom of choice that Christ took on human nature to live on this planet as one of us, to meet Satan's temptations and to overcome by lowering Himself to die a most despised death.
But He did not just experience the death we all must die, unless we live till Jesus comes. He experienced the death that we, as sinners, rightly deserve - the second death which is complete separation from the Father, the Originator and Sustainer if life. He did this voluntarily for you and for me, with the real risk of eternal loss. He did it for us so that we might voluntarily choose to serve Him as we see His character demonstrated in His death on the cross.
He died the death that we deserve so that we might have the life that He deserves.
It is this theme of our freedom purchased at great cost that is represented in the Bible as setting captives free, as paying a ransom for our souls, as redemption of humanity (you have to pay a price to "redeem" a slave or event something from the pawn shop) and as selling all to buy the field with the treasure.
This theme provides much food for thought.
How much do we value this freedom purchased at so great a cost for us and for those around us?
What is an appropriate response?
As today's lesson points out, this week's study will look into the question "What did Christ suffer in our behalf" - as well as what can we learn from such suffering.
I would invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to specifically guide your study this week into this question. Not only "what" did Christ suffer on our behalf, but also "how" did Christ suffer on our behalf. In what way was Jesus suffering "God's wrath" and "God's justice"? This is not merely an intellectual exercise - the 'answer' to these questions has profound practical significance to your daily life and living as you seek to know, conform to and share God's nature and character with others.
For those who are interested, this week's lesson references the Desire of Ages chapter Gethsemane as commentary to these questions. And David Asscherick has also taken time to explore this chapter in greater detail.
I also provide links to two further Ellen White quotations that are of central relevance to this 'topic'.
I am not suggesting what you should believe, I am leaving it to the Holy Spirit to guide your searching this week.
Looking forward to this week's lesson and answer my many questions, and how I will learn of Christ in my crucibles.
The words ‘in Christ Jesus’ have started to capture my attention. Rom.6:23 - ”For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. All that we 'are' with our new nature is present only in Christ Jesus. There is no other source which can provide the sustenace to maintaine it; it is spiritually based and we made this choice to be in Him.
For man, freedom of choice is essential for gaining his freedom from slavery to sin. Christ Jesus suffered the temptations to His faith; loving His Father unreservedly, with all his heart, even unto death, He was able to overcome the temptation inherent in the crucible of the life as a human.
Our freedom to chose is our design – our Maker made man this way deliberately! He gave us the capacity to think for our selves, to draw conclusions from what we observe and make a decision based on all that which is available to us. But what makes a ‘sound’ decision? I suggest to consider the difference to be entirely spiritually based. The difference rests in who's authority we follow – our own or the Spirit of God placed within our heart of the believer. We all research and gather information to help make a good decision, but ultimately it is the ‘desire of our heart’ that receives the green light.
There is no doubt in my mind, our struggle in the crucible of life is spiritual; it is not ‘against flesh and blood’. Eph.6:12 – ”For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Even our Lord and Savior struggled against these forces, turning to the Father in this struggle to ask for help to sustain Him. His heart’s desire was to remain faithful! The temptation to compromise, to give up the struggle for living according to God’s Righteousness requires a steadfast spirit and a faithful and humble heart.
Indeed we are living by flesh and blood but in our cruciable we must turn to Christ's cruciable, and for our soul to be saved must be to His command and that alone, and by His will only, must we live to be saved in His kingdom.
The matter of sin and God's foreknowledge of it is a perplexing question indeed. I believe all honest believers have pondered this question, which atheists twist to claim there is no God, or that He is so cruel as to allow suffering and death to happen to His innocent creatures. While it might have been good to see what CS Lewis thought about it, his quotable quote leaves many unanswered questions. Perhaps, as we go through this week's lesson, we could direct church members and non-believers alike to the first chapter of Ellen G. White's wonderful book, Patriarchs and Prophets, titled "Why was sin permitted?" Many in the world are going through suffering and bereavement. In such times, may the true and inspired Word of God give them true comfort. I'm thankful and blessed to see that God's Word is indeed echoed in EGW's thoughts in PP chapter 1. My testimony is that non-believers who have read this chapter usually see Christ in the gospel in a way that helps transform their lives and protects them from spiritualism. Even today, as the world mourns Queen Elizabeth who is being buried today, may we share the truth in PP Chapter 1 with them. God bless you.
I don’t’ think that we can ever understand what Jesus suffered for us. All the physical things he suffered, the ridicule, all of that, is nothing compared to the separation he felt from his Father. In Gethsemane he sweat great drops of blood over the agony he felt. The torture that followed was nothing to him because of his resolve to go through with the plan He and His Father had made. On the cross He cried out in agony, not from physical pain, but the mental anguish from not knowing if He would again be with His father. Even then He said, in Luke 23:46, Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. He was willing to do that for me. I will never have to suffer that separation from my Heavenly Father because He suffered that in my place.
I guess what I am saying is that I can thank Jesus that I will never be able to really answer that last question of today’s lesson.