“We Are One In Christ”

            1 Peter 4:12–14 ¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

            I was listening to the news the other day as they were reporting the terrible fires that were engulfing all of the houses nearby.  The News person was interviewing a lady who was looking at the burnt rubble that used to be her family’s home that they spent many years building and paying for.  It was what the lady said that struck me because I have heard it so many times before.  She said, “You see things like this happen to others but you never think it would happen to you.”

            It is like we view life through our TV and feel it is contained within that 40 to 60 inch box.  What we don’t experience ourselves doesn’t seem to be a true reality to us as if our TV separates us from the reality that it can happen to us too. 

            After the disaster of 9/11, one viewer who was in the area and saw firsthand one of the planes crash into the first tower said, “It seemed like I was watching a movie, it just didn’t seem real.”  Our big screens and tragic movies have desensitized us from reality that tragedy can happen anywhere.  We just saw this in California where a young man sought revenge.  People die every day and some through tragedy, people get sick and contract very destructible diseases and each time we seem surprised that it happened to us or to our loved ones.   

            Maybe it is more like we think others might deserve things to happen to them but we ourselves do not deserve things to happen to us.  Yet the test of fire comes, and we must endure the suffering it causes.  And sometimes this suffering is because of the consequences of sin, and sometimes it is because we suffer for the sake of God’s will like our Lord Jesus Christ did.  Did you realize that Christ died suffering the consequences of all sin, and this was the will of God the Father?

            1 Peter 4:19 ¹⁹Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. 

            We do suffer, and when we suffer regardless of the reason we always have our Lord Jesus Christ to go to, knowing He suffered greatly for all the people of God.  Remember we all belong to God whether we believe or not.  We cannot say that those tragedies we might face should be taken with a grain of salt.  However we can say that we can have faith in our God that He will get us through all of our suffering whether we caused it, or it was caused by others, or it is a fiery test that God feels we need as a means to build our faith.  It is all about seeking the grace of God in everything.  Remember when we seek Him first He grants us all that we need through His promises. (Matthew 6:33)

            1 Peter 5:6–9 ⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  ⁸Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

            We have a God that does care for us even when at times we wonder if He is watching what we are going through, or it seems like He is doing nothing to help us.  We look at the big picture on the big movie screen, but we fail to look at the big picture that is God’s final will for all who believe, and have faith God wants all to believe.

            We will all certainly suffer and it will seem like some of us will suffer more than others, even when we feel we have been good stewards to God’s word.  Though we suffer in this part of our life, we will not suffer in our transformed life paid for us by the very blood and life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            1 Peter 5:10–11 ¹⁰And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

            This is great we get to come together each week and worship our God who does care for us.  We even get to come together as small groups outside of worship and learn about our God who’s very will is to strengthen our faith, establish our adoption as His children, and confirm our salvation and eternal relationship with Him. 

            John 17:1–11 ⁹I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

            Did you know that you belong to God the Father?  Did you know that the Father loves His only begotten Son?  Did you know that the Father loves you, and gives you to His Son because He loves Him and you?  And, did you know that when we become one in the body of Christ we become one with each other, and one with our Father in heaven.   Let us all realize we are one in Christ and grow together in the Body of Christ.  Amen.