Suffering and Thanksgiving
(2Co 8:1-15)
God is the Lord of grace.
From Him comes grace and
He infinitely pours out to those who know His grace.
Faith is knowing this and giving thanks, and
The life of this faith is giving even more thanks in the midst of trials.
Grace refers to the freely given gift.
While everyone loves gifts,
It is those who do not have any that welcome gifts and
Not those who already have them.
Starving allows one to be grateful for food, sickness for health,
Bondage for freedom, disaster for rescue and sentence to death for life.
As such, when people have things, they are not grateful but
Only when they lose they realize what they had was not theirs, thus,
They have gratitude.
Since the ancestor of mankind, Adam, lived in the Garden
He did not lack any and, thus, did not give thanks (Ge 2:15-16).
Deceived by the devil, he sinned (Ge 3:5-6) and
He was banished out of the Garden, losing everything -
The beginning of all men's suffering (Ge 3:23-24).
The Israelites were a people chosen by God since Abraham (Ge 17:7-8) and
God began to be concerned about them
When they cried out of their pains in slavery in Egypt (Ex 2:23-25).
When they finally escaped Egypt and were saved from the Sea,
They greatly rejoiced (Ex 14:31-15:18).
Their joy and gratitude, however, was for a moment
Since the only thing they could see before them was the endless wilderness (Ex 16:22-23).
All those who complained and resented
Fell in the desert and died (Nu 14:26-30),
While the few who gave thanks even in the midst of the suffering
Entered the Promised Land.
Even so, however, because of the Law, which was impossible for them to keep, (Rm 8:20)
Their misery and fear became worse by the day (Rm 8:15).
They gave thanks to the Lord (Ps100).
In the sanctuary where the Testimony was.
When the time had fully come,
The Son of God came in the flesh (Jn 1:14; Gal 4:5) and
He said, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days (Jn 2:19), because
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body,
He would give the perfect thanksgiving and
Become the reason for all men's thanksgiving for
He came to bear their sins, as well as their sickness, worries, sorrow, poverty etc. (Is 53:4-6).
As He died, Jesus said, "It is finished (Jn 19:30), declaring that He:
1. Gave His body as a thanksgiving offering to the Father, in the midst of the greatest suffering (Ps100; Jnh 2:7-9);
2. Condemned the ungrateful archangel (Eze 28:13-17); and
3. With His blood redeemed the sins of all men and revealed the riches of God's grace (Eph 1:7; 1Pe 2:24).
He rose and entered the gates of heaven with thanksgiving and
Sat on the throne in heaven (Ps 100:4-5).
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace, lets
God's children know what He has freely given them (1Co 2:12) and
Lets them give all the more thanks in the midst of trials (2Co 8:1-2) for:
1. He gives trials they can bear (1Co 10:13);
2. He also provides a way out so that they can endure it.
The Christian, therefore,
When he is in the midst of a trial
Remembers the thanks in the past and truly gives thanks, and
Gives even greater thanks for providing a way out, that is, prayer (Rev 6:3-4), as
He longs to enter the gates of heaven with thanksgiving.
O Lord,
Let us never resent You with our lips.
Rather, let us well up with thanksgiving in our hearts, especially in hard times and
Break down the walls that surround us, and
Finally enter through the gates of heaven in the last day!
Amen.
