I Rejoice in My Sufferings

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Colossians 1:24-29 ESV)

All people suffer in one way or another, some more than others, for we all live in flesh bodies on a fallen earth. But then there is a different suffering that some Christians go through that not everyone else goes through. And this would be applied to those of us who are serious about our walks of faith in the Lord, who are walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, and who are no longer making sin our practice. We are also those who are publicly declaring the truth of the gospel, and we are also publicly refuting many of the lies of our enemy, Satan. And so we are persecuted.

And the Apostle Paul was one of these people, for he was out in the public sharing the truth of the gospel and refuting the lies of the enemy and calling people to genuine repentance, to changed hearts and lives, and to walks of obedience to the Lord in holy living. But he rejoiced in his sufferings for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the gospel of our salvation, and for the sake of those who listened and who responded to the call of God to repentance and to obedient walks of faith in Jesus Christ.  

For he was called of God to his service. He was called of the Lord to open the eyes of the spiritually blind and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 26:16-18). But all of us who believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-persuaded faith in Christ, our Lord, who have died with him to sin, and who are living to him and to his righteousness, are called to proclaim the excellencies of HIM who called us out of darkness (sin) into his wonderful light (righteousness) (1 Peter 2:9).

So we all should be sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world and with the ungodly, including with many who profess faith in Christ. For many people in America these days are teaching lies and not the truth. And so we need to be those who are sharing the truth so that the people hear the truth and so that they are genuinely saved. And the truth is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might live for him and no longer for self. And he shed his blood to buy us back for God out of slavery to sin so we now honor him with our lives. 

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

Now, under the Old Covenant, it was just the Jews (the Israelites) who were God’s chosen people. But the prophets of old prophesied that a day was coming when the Gentiles would be included. And so when Jesus Christ died on that cross, so that we could be delivered out of our slavery to sin, he did away with the Old Covenant and he brought in the New Covenant, which now includes all who believe in Jesus Christ in truth and in righteousness, whether they are Jew or Gentile by physical birth. Now we are God’s chosen nation, not by physical birth, but by belief in Jesus Christ.

See: [Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:4-8; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; 1 John 2:22; John 8:18-19,38-47; Jude 1:5; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16]

But faith in Jesus Christ is not just a prayer that we prayed after someone else or a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that we make once in our lives. For the faith required for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, and so it originated with God, and then it is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to his righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to forsake our sins to follow our Lord in obedience to his commands. And it is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man (humans).

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]

And faith in Jesus Christ = obedience. And disobedience = unbelief. And this faith is continuous, for we are saved (past), we are being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity. It is then that our salvation will be complete, but provided that we continue to walk in obedience to our Lord in holy living and that we not continue to walk in sin. For if sin is our practice, and not obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith in Jesus we have professed with our lips. So take this to heart!

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

The Lord Jesus lately has been using this secular song in my life as an encouragement by replacing “Sun” with “Son” (Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is also God). For those of us who are being persecuted for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of righteousness, and for the sake of the genuine salvation of human lives out of slavery to sin so that they can now walk in holiness and in obedience to God, we can be encouraged that God has all things under his control and that this is all going to work out for the salvation of lives and for their spiritual growth and maturity.

Here Comes the Sun

By George Harrison

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's alright

Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter

Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here

Little darlin', the smile's returning to their faces

Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been here

Little darlin', I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's alright

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKLV8GCrveQ

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