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.
Lesson Themes: This week’s lesson highlights two major themes.
1. Jesus Christ’s suffering does not represent merely the suffering of another being. Rather, His suffering is the essence of God’s love and salvation for us. Jesus Christ suffered for us and in our place to rescue us from the power of sin, suffering, and death forever.
2. What Jesus suffered in Gethsemane and what it means for us.
Thought question: What did Christ suffer in our behalf? What can we learn from His suffering?
Christ in the crucible (Qtr 3 - Week 13: 24 September) Part1
Christ in the crucible (Qtr 3 - Week 13: 24 September) Part2
Audio recordings are available 5-10 minutes after the show has aired.