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Sometimes it's hard to find the right words when someone you care about is suffering. Still, there are plenty of ways you can be supportive in painful circumstances. After my son died in a skiing accident seventeen years ago at the age of sixteen, people cared for our family in a multitude of ways that enabled us to survive—and eventually thrive. When you don’t know what to say or do to help people who are hurting, try the following:
1. Pray for them.
The power of prayer is real. I still run into people who tell me that they have continued to pray for my family since my son’s death. I consider myself a walking miracle, and I'm extremely thankful to God for every one of those petitions people made on my family’s behalf.
2. Hug them.
Hugs are a wonderful way to show you care. Another plus with giving someone a hug is that you don’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing. When people hugged me, I felt like it was okay to not say anything when I didn’t feel like talking. The hug said it all.
3. Stay with them.
Hurting people can be filled with fear. A husband and wife whom my family have known for many years stayed with us for about three weeks after our son died. They lived around five hundred miles away, and the man took off work to do this. My husband and I were actually afraid to stay alone at night for some time, so this was a tremendous help. It's difficult to describe the anxiety a parent feels after a child dies. Try to make sure grieving people are not left alone in those early, dark days.
4. Bring a meal and leave it at the door.
Grieving people don’t always feel like keeping up a conversation. When people are hurting, they may not want to talk when someone stops by with a meal. Sometimes it's best to leave a yummy, homemade meal at the door. Doing this will meet people's physical needs and make them feel loved, while giving them any needed personal space.
5. Send them a text.
A brief text can make a huge difference to a person who is suffering. One of my friends sends me a text on my son’s birthday and the anniversary of his death every year. It has one endearing emoji on it. It’s hard to describe how much that text means to me. Each time I receive her texts, I feel like there are a thousand words of love in that one emoji.
6. Call them.
Take a moment and give them a call. People who are hurting may not answer the phone, but it’s nice to know someone is checking in on them. One day I didn’t know if I could make it another moment. I had almost completely lost my will to live. The phone rang. It was one of the moms from my daughter’s soccer team. This woman’s phone call got me through that overwhelming moment and helped me to keep going.
7. Just sit next to them.
I remember crying on the shoulders of my female friends. They acted like mothers to me (my own mom had died many years ago). One evening a Christian friend of mine brought over a meal. Another friend of a different faith had stopped by and was trying to encourage me by telling me about reincarnation, and my Christian friend and I sat on the sofa next to each other as this dear woman shared. We both appreciated her efforts to comfort me, even though we didn’t hold the same beliefs as she did. I felt loved and cared for by both women, even though they were showing their concern in different ways. This is a precious memory for me.
8. Include them in your activities.
They may not come, but that’s okay. It’s nice to feel included in everyday activities and special events, especially when hurting people are trying to find the “new normal.”
9. Help them resume their activities.
Go with your friend to the grocery store or shopping mall. It’s difficult to take on everyday errands in the early weeks and months after a traumatic life experience. Sometimes you don’t want to run into anyone you know. I felt very self-conscious going out in public for a long time because I knew people felt so badly for me. One of my friends would come over and help me do my grocery shopping at a different place farther away from my neighborhood store. I felt protected by her presence. This is also a special memory for me.
10. Don’t tell them that they need to move on; help them to move forward.
Don’t expect a full recovery. Major hurts such as the death of a loved one, abandonment, illness, divorce, being the victim of sexual abuse or other serious crimes, and extreme poverty are not things people get over. This world hurts, very badly a lot of the time. If your child were a prisoner of war, would you miss him or her less after five years than you did after one month? Of course not. The pain would be even greater after five years because it would be that much longer since you had been with each other. People can heal from major life traumas, but a scar is likely to remain.
You might be wondering why all these problems exist in a world made by a good and loving God. The truth is that all of the world’s problems stem from one incident: mankind’s rebellion against God back in the garden of Eden. Still, we can take courage because sin and death won’t have the final word. God sent his Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves: live the perfect life on our behalf and be the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins. Through faith in Christ alone for our salvation, we will triumph over all the tragedies of this world and live forever with God in glory:
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutThe Advance of the GospelPhp 1:12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;Php 1:13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;Php 1:14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.Php 1:15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:Php 1:16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:Php 1:17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
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Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutThe Advance of the GospelPhp 1:12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;Php 1:13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;Php 1:14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.Php 1:15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:Php 1:16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:Php 1:17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
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“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way”Psalm 37:23
I had planned to run errands in the morning but there were so many urgent things to do, I didn’t leave until mid-afternoon. There were several entrances to this parking lot and I chose to come in the back way. I didn’t realize that God was directing me until later.
Picking up my dry-cleaning from the back of the car, I quickly walked toward the cleaners. As I looked up, I saw a young woman standing on the sidewalk in front of the store. I could see she was crying so I walked up to her and gently touched her arm and asked her, “What is wrong? Can I help you?”
Then she really began sobbing and told me her mother was in the hospital and just had a stroke. She had no money for a bus ticket to go see her. My heart went out to her and I told her I would help her. I gave her enough money for the bus ticket and some extra for food.
I asked her if she had faith in God. He would sustain her and help her. She said, “Yes, she did.” Then she surprised me by asking me if I had faith in God. I, too, said, “Yes.” We talked a little longer and then we parted. After my errands I walked back to the car. I looked for her, but she was not there.
One of God’s children was in need. God knew all about her needs that day and directed my steps so I would drive into the rear parking lot…in the afternoon…at exactly the time when she would be there…so I could help her.
Coincidence? No. God cares for His children so much. He is such an organizer that it is nothing for Him to arrange our lives in such a way so we are available to help people in need.
Let me encourage you to start taking notice of the unexpected ways God directs you.
Father, thank You that You love and care for your children. I am amazed at how You direct our steps yet so often we are unaware of it. You are awesome! Amen.
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:7-10
We were on a walk along the edge of the ocean. The trail was rough but my grandson enjoyed the challenge of climbing over rocks, up steep banks, and over trees. The trail went up along the edge of a cliff. At one point, I looked back, just for a moment, and saw my grandson hanging by a root over the ocean and the rocks below. I’m sure my heart skipped a beat! He didn’t say a word. I grabbed his wrists and lifted him back on the trail. He simply said, “Thanks Papa.” And off he went along the trail.
That moment played over and over in my thoughts for days. I had been with him every step along the way, many times saying, “Let me help you.” To which he replied, “Me do it, Papa.” When it came to a need, he seemed confident I was there. He did not understand the danger but his “Thanks Papa” communicated his appreciation of unrequested help.
God promises to be with us always. In fact, we cannot escape his presence. God’s commitment is to journey with us each step along the path we are on. He seeks to provide for us and protect us. We can resist. Apart from his grace, the consequences could be grave and life altering.
Each day we have a choice. We can walk under the guidance of his direction or independent of it. How will you respond to his presence with you today?
Dear Father, thank you for your presence in my life today. Show me any areas that I’m walking independent of your guidance. I confess my predisposition toward self-reliance. I desire your leadership and am so thankful that your right hand will hold me fast. Amen.
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"So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer" (Luke 23:9).
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is time to speak and a time to keep silent. And this makes sense enough, but the issue is, when is the fitting time? When is it better to speak? And when is it necessary to stay quiet? This is the art of wisdom.
Yet, as a society, we have pretty unanimously voted in favor of speaking. Our world, filled with technology and social media, never stops speaking, be it with words, pictures, or videos. Background music follows us everywhere. There is pressure to yelp every restaurant, photo every meal, and post every opinion that passes between your ears.
This obsession with speaking has crowded out any positive value of silence. Yet, our Lord masters the art of the silence for us, so that we might speak better for him and so that our words may be conformed to his words.
In the gospel accounts of Jesus’ trial, we read that Pontius Pilate tried to acquit the innocent one. Yet, Pilate didn’t have the courage to do the right thing. He wasn’t going to risk his life for Jesus, so Pilate threw him to the wolves, granting the demands of the violent gang. Pilate set free a murderer and rioter, and Jesus was handed over to the will of the riotous crowd.
And with this, it appears that the many words of the crowd have won. Jesus didn’t even defend himself (Luke 23:9). In his quietness, we hear no eloquence, no powerful reproaches, no clear condemnation of wickedness. The loud speaking of the people appeared to have defeated the silence of Jesus; yet, nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are seven things you need to know about the silence of Jesus.
1. The silence of Jesus before Pilate makes us think back to what he said previously.
And they remembered his words. (Luke 24:8)
2. The silence of Jesus makes us remember how he prophesied that the Son of Man must suffer and die for our salvation.
And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:21-22)
3. The silence of Jesus recalls to our minds God’s Word of Isaiah 53:7—that the Messiah had to be a silent lamb.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth. (Isa. 53:7)
4. The silence of Jesus reminds us that silent suffering was necessary for Jesus. We are taught that sometimes being quiet takes more strength than talking.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. (Isa. 53:10)
5. The silence of Jesus instructs us that sometimes silence speaks louder than words.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:....
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. (Eccles. 3:1, 7)
6. The silence of Christ leading to his crucifixion is the power of God for our forgiveness, justification, and redemption.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18)
7. The silence of Christ was his Word triumphing for you. Jesus was speechless here to prepare himself for the silence of the grave that would then give way to the words of the Resurrection.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Cor. 15:3-4)
Because Jesus said not a word in order to fulfill God’s Word, by faith you are taken from death to life, from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ. Thus, in faith, we come to realize that Jesus muzzling himself was his powerful love to make you his own.
Indeed, Jesus was not silenced forever by the evil crowd; he rose to speak again the healing and hopeful words of resurrection.
It is now our turn to speak.
Jesus rose to make us those who speak about his resurrection. In fact, in the narrow sense here, we are told not to imitate our Lord. Back in Luke 21, Christ told us that when we are dragged before rulers for his name not to worry about what to say, for the Spirit will teach us what to say.
The Spirit will give us the words to speak for Christ. Thus, before our accusers, we testify about Christ. Before the noisy hostilities of the world, we gather on the Lord’s Day to sing and speak that Christ is the Son of God at the right hand. One of our highest privileges is that we get to speak well of our Lord and we can sing forth his praises.
And even if the world silences us with death, we have the sure confidence that the silence of Christ is more powerful than all the rhetoric of the world. Thus, let us root our faith and confidence in the Word of Christ that never fails and the silence of Christ unto death that won for us the resurrection.
And with Christ on our side, may we never be ashamed to speak for our Lord, to testify that he is both Lord and Christ. And may we sing boldly the name of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, every Lord’s Day, until we join the heavenly choir to offer up to God both our words and our silence for his eternal glory.
Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutThanksgiving and PrayerPhp 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,Php 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,Php 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:Php 1:7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.Php 1:8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.Php 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
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Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutThanksgiving and PrayerPhp 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,Php 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,Php 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:Php 1:7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.Php 1:8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.Php 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;Php 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;Php 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
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“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
Linda had a very low self-esteem. She’d always felt second-rate in her own family. Ugly. Like she was a nuisance to have around. I’m programmed to be a looser, she thought. How can I possibly be anything else? She lived in defeat and despair.
Then Linda learned about Jesus Christ, how he had come to save us from sin and give us a new life. Hope began to whisper that she could be set free from her sin and the negative influences of her past. She gave her life to Christ. She began to read God’s Word and apply it to her heart.
When negative voices shouted, “you’re a failure; you’re no good” she would counter, “I don’t have to listen to you. That’s not who I am anymore. God has chosen me before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) It gave him great pleasure to adopt me as His child (Ephesians 1:5) I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13) She wrote these verses and others on cards so that she could carry them with her and say them often.
As she fed on God’s truths, her self-esteem grew. She began to excel in school, became a registered nurse, and a well-loved public speaker.
Linda affirms that it’s not what has happened to us in the past, but our belief system at the present–what we believe about God and ourselves now–that determines success or failure. Success is not mind over matter, but truth over error. “The truth will set you free,” Jesus said. (John 8:32)
Jesus, I am so thankful that because you live in me I have all that I need to live a godly life which brings blessing to You and to others.
Image from Wikimedia Commons: “‘Selection’ of Hungarian Jews on the ramp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in German-occupied Poland, around May 1944. Jews were sent either to work or to the gas chamber. The photograph is part of the collection known as the Auschwitz Album. See Auschwitz Album, Yad Vashem: "The Auschwitz Album is the only surviving visual evidence of the process leading to mass murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau." The album was donated to Yad Vashem by Lili Jacob (later Lili Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier), a survivor, who found it in the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp in 1945.” For more images, see Category:Auschwitz Album at Wikimedia Commons.
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One of the objections that I heard and believed as a non-Christian was the objection from evil: A truly good and just God would not permit evil. The God of the Christians permits evil. Ergo, he is neither good nor just. The first (major) premise is to be doubted. The middle (minor) premise is to be qualified and the conclusion rejected.
Some Christians have tried and failed to satisfactorily explain the problem of evil.
There is evil in the world. It is a problem for Christians, and some Christian accounts of the problem are unsatisfactory. For example, the Christian neo-Platonic answer—evil is the privation of good; God is all good; therefore, evil has nothing to do with God—is unsatisfactory. It requires us to believe in a sort of scale of being between the creature and the Creator. There are two great problems with this approach.
First, Scripture does not present us a world in which God and creatures are on a continuum of being. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God.” Humans are nowhere to be found. As far as the Genesis narrative is concerned, we do not come into the story until later. God has not even yet spoken creation into existence. When he does create us, it is out of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7). When we were created it was not out of the divine being but out of created matter. We were animated, i.e., given life by the Spirit, but we were not created little deities. We were created as image bearers, analogues to God (Gen. 1:126-27). We were created as God’s “image” and “likeness” (these are parallel expressions, not two distinct things).
There are other unsatisfactory explanations of the relations between God and evil. One of them says that the world is “open” to God. He observes it, but he does not have particular influence over it. He would like to do something about evil, but he is unable to do anything. He is more or less helpless and dependent upon us. This picture of the Christian deity is virtually unrecognizable to the Christian tradition, which has confessed since about AD 170 (e.g., in Irenaeus’ “rule of faith,” which grew up to become the Apostles’ Creed): “I believe in God the Father almighty.” The God of so-called “Open Theism,” as Richard Muller observed 37 years ago, reduces the God of the Christians to an “incompetent Marcionite” deity. The god of Open Theism is much closer to the gods of the Greco-Roman pantheon than to the God of Scripture. The god of so-called “Process Theism” is no more useful for addressing the problem of evil. That god is swept up into the historical process. He is a victim of circumstances. In their attempt to save “God” from the problem of evil, the Open Theists and the Process theologians have made little more than an idol.
Perhaps the cleverest Christian attempt to save God from the problem of evil has been the doctrine of “Middle Knowledge.” This theory, which emerged in Jesuit circles in the late sixteenth century, theorized that instead of the traditional Christian doctrine of two kinds of divine knowledge, natural and free, there is a third kind of knowledge wherein God may be said to know exhaustively a set of hypotheticals, all the free choices made by humans and all the consequences of those choices, which he may be said to have limited, but he does not actually determine what those choices will be. Both Roman and Reformed critics savaged this theory as making God contingent upon his creatures. The God of middle knowledge is a very apt chess player with very good reflexes, but he is not the God who spoke into nothing, nor is he the God who raised Pharaoh up that he might show to and by him his glory (Exod. 9:16; Rom. 9:16).
The God of Scripture offends our sensibilities. He unleashes Satan briefly to sift Lot, so much so that righteous Lot is finally provoked to complain, to which Yahweh replies: pound sand (see Job, chapters 38 and following). The book of Job is meant to shock our sensibilities. That God is not taken up in the historical process nor is the future “open” to him. He is not contingent upon our free choices. He is sovereign, free, and beyond our judgment.
Pagans don’t have an answer for the problem of evil.
Thus, it is true that the pagans, however, have no answer for the problem of evil either. The Greco-Roman pantheon is, at times, evil itself. They are helpless against evil. The existentialists have essentially given up on transcendent meaning. They are more or less quitters. Existentialism does no more than remove the meaning of evil. The Enlightenment rationalists cannot explain evil, nor have they overcome it. Modern technology has made evil more efficient. Instead of one stupid, venal king killing a few hundred in some meaningless battle, in World War I Modernity gave us a brutally efficient warfare from which it was almost impossible to run. We were so “enlightened” we gassed each other and for what? If anything, Modernity has, in that way, intensified the problem of evil.
It is a great evil that one-third of the world population should die of the Black Plague in the 1340s, but it is a greater evil when Moderns killed the same number of people in World War II. No one set out to unleash rat fleas and disease on the world, but Stalin set out to murder millions of Kulaks (peasants who owned land, whom the Communists blamed for a famine instead of their own collectivist agricultural policies). Mao murdered millions of suspected counter-revolutionaries in China. The Nazis murdered millions of Jews and others, and all this after the “Enlightenment” under which we were supposed to be making progress every day in every way. Ghengis Khan (c. 1158–1227) killed a great number of people (perhaps a million or more), but he was a piker compared to Mao, Stalin, and Hitler. Empiricism cannot explain the problem of evil. It can merely count the bodies.
Only the Judeo-Christian tradition, however, has faced evil squarely and called it what it is.
In short, evil is a problem for everyone. Only the Judeo-Christian tradition, however, has faced evil squarely and called it what it is. The biblical account of evil places the blame squarely upon the free choices made by humans. We were created with the ability to make righteous choices, but, mysteriously, we chose to try to achieve deity, thus introducing sin and evil into the world. Scripture makes allusions to created figures—angelic beings—who had introduced evil into their realm before the humans fell, but it does not give us much detail and it does not dwell on it. As a literary matter, the Satan character is clearly corrupt before he came into contact with the righteous Adam character (Gen. 3:1–7). Scripture, however, places the blame for the fall on Adam. After the fall, God does not come looking for Satan but for Adam (Gen. 3:8–13). The Satan character is punished along with the humans, but it is the humans who get the blame.
The biblical story is that God is sovereign over all things. Nothing happens outside his purview or his providence, and yet he is not liable for the evil that happens in the world. In Scripture, whenever humans seek to blame God (e.g., Rom. 9:19), he rebukes them forcefully. The truth is that Scripture never offers a comprehensive answer to the problem of evil. It presents it. It describes it. It lays the blame at our feet and our choices, but unlike the other approaches to the problem of evil, the God of Scripture is not remote. He remains engaged in human history. He provides relief and even salvation to those who perpetrate evil. Scripture calls this grace. The God of Scripture restrains the consequences of the fall and limits the evil that occurs. As bad as things sometime seem, they could be worse. Despite the very real existence of evil, there is also beauty and goodness in the world. Despite the hatred and animosity, which makes up so much of what the media companies call “the news,” there is also real love in the world.
God is so committed to addressing the problem of evil that God the Son took on true human nature.
According to the Christian account of the problem of evil, God is so committed to addressing the problem that one of the three persons of the deity, God the Son, became incarnate, by the mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of a young Jewish virgin. He took on true human nature. The Greeks had theorized about humans becoming gods, but no one—not the Jews, nor the Greeks—imagined that the God who spoke creation into being would stoop to become one of us. According to the Scriptures, God the Son did not merely appear to be human. He really was and remains human. The book of Hebrews in the New Testament is at pains to make this point (Heb. 2:14–18; 4:15). The Apostle John strenuously asserted this point (1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7). The early church vigorously defended the true humanity (and the essential goodness of creation despite the fall) against the Gnostics and the Marcionites.
So, we say that God the Son, Jesus Christ, entered human history, became intimately involved in it, coming into direct personal contact with the muck and evil that we had created. He did not contribute to it in any way. He ameliorated it for many people, and finally, after he revealed who he was and why he came, we humans beat him, mocked him, and murdered him in the most vicious possible way. Yet, he testified repeatedly that this is why he came: to be the substitute for sinners and to face the wrath of God that was due us (Luke 24:26). He came to be “the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:36). The Christian explanation of things is that this death is a turning point in history. It is essential to the Christian understanding of the problem of evil because evil is not ultimate.
Evil will not ultimately triumph.
There is an end of the story. Evil will not ultimately triumph. The technical name for this category is “eschatology.” There is more to the story. There is a judgment coming. Jesus himself warned frequently of the coming judgment (e.g., Matt. 10:15; 11:22; 12:36; John 5:24; 16:8). The Christians say that Jesus suffered the judgment in place of all those who believe. For those who do not believe the judgment remains. When we speak of judgment it is theoretical. We have not experienced it, but according to the gospels it did not remain theoretical for him. He actually endured the judgment on the cross. After hours of torture, he finally cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).
Yet, as I already described, another central Christian claim is that Jesus was righteous. Unlike us, he had done no evil and committed no sin. He was perfectly righteous all his life and even in his death. Thus, death had no hold on him, and he was raised from the dead as a vindication of his righteousness. He is reigning now, administering his kingdom, and graciously saving sinners until the end. Then he will sit as judge over all things. There will be a reckoning for all the evil in the world, and things shall be made right.
God does not explain himself, but neither does he abandon us to ourselves.
Jesus’ suffering was not meaningless. It was saving. Human suffering generally is not meaningless. It is part of a great, complicated, mysterious story. It is part of how God is ordering history and achieving his ends. He does not explain himself, but neither does he abandon us to ourselves. I am content to live with that. It makes more sense than evolutionary determinism (How did the process start? Why is life good in a blind, evolutionary scheme?) or Enlightenment rationalism or Stoicism or Epicureanism or any of the alternatives.
I am not a Christian because the Christian explanation of evil is superior. I am a Christian because, by the grace of God, I came to see what I am (a sinner), what God is (a righteous but gracious personal deity), that Jesus is God the Son incarnate, the God-Man, who obeyed in my place, died for me, was raised for me, is preserving me, and will come again finally to make all things right. Nevertheless, I believe in order that I might understand what we can know about the problem of evil. There is no comprehensive, exhaustive answer. But there is a righteous person worthy of trust who knows more about evil than I shall ever know, and he has earned my trust. It is reasonable to trust him and I do.
R. Scott Clark is professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary California (Escondido, California) and the author ofRecovering the Reformed Confession(P&R, 2008).
This article by R. Scott Clark is adapted from “Why I am a Christian” atheidelblog.net. Clickhereto read the entire post, which addresses common objections to the Christian faith.
Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutSupport and Opposition3Jn 1:5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;3Jn 1:6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:3Jn 1:7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.3Jn 1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.3Jn 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.3Jn 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.3Jn 1:12 Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.
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Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutSupport and Opposition3Jn 1:5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;3Jn 1:6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:3Jn 1:7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.3Jn 1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.3Jn 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.3Jn 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.3Jn 1:12 Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.
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“He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Psalm 23:2-3
Thought
When we are exhausted, depleted, and on the edge of burn out, we need to have our souls restored! But who can restore our souls? Only the One who will lead us beside still waters! The Lord is our Shepherd. He alone can fully bring the nourishment and replenishment that we need. Yet why do we sometimes find it so hard to set aside time to be with him? Could it be that we keep our lives so busy that we miss out on the one thing that matters most?
Prayer
As you have shown me time and time again, dear Father, I know that being with you restores me in a place within my heart that no one else can reach. Forgive me for seeking nourishment and refreshment from places that are unholy and unhelpful. Reinvigorate me with your presence and power so that I can serve you more victoriously. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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“Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.” — Reinhold Niebuhr
The beloved Serenity Prayer has been adopted by many 12-step programs, most famously Alcoholics Anonymous, and spoken to God by countless millions of people around the world. The Serenity Prayer comes from an untitled prayer that was written by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who shared it in a sermon in 1943. According to Wikipedia, the Serenity Prayer is commonly quoted as follows:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
Wikipedia notes that the popular version uses the word “can” instead of “must,” which is in Niebuhr’s original version. Here are three related Bible passages for each of the three main petitions of Neibuhr’s prayer:
Christians are duty-bound to uphold God’s moral law.
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isaiah 1:17)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” (Luke 11:42)
God alone is sovereign.
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20)
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)
“Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” (Isaiah 46:9-10)
We need God’s wisdom to navigate life joyfully in a fallen world.
Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. (Proverbs 3:13-14)
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)
The Serenity Prayer helps us to remember that the Christian life involves standing for all that is right and good, our loving and good God is sovereign over all, even in the most difficult and dismal of times, and wisdom is essential for loving God and our neighbor well and resting in God’s will for us. We can be thankful for prayers such as Niebuhr’s that help us in making our petitions to God today.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones. (Prov. 3:5-8)
Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutWalking in Truth and Love2Jn 1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.2Jn 1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.2Jn 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.2Jn 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
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Today on the broadcast I will be talking aboutWalking in Truth and Love2Jn 1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.2Jn 1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.2Jn 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.2Jn 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.2Jn 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:2Jn 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
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“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Mark 16:15
Susie had never heard about Jesus in her home country.
But she moved without her husband to the United States to attend graduate school. A student involved in Campus Crusade for Christ befriended her and shared the story of Jesus. Within weeks, Susie gave her life to Christ through prayer. But her husband was in their home country and still unaware of Jesus.
Susie was attending a Christian meeting, learning how to share her faith, when her husband called. She held up the phone so he could hear the worship and praise songs. That night, they talked about Jesus. Her husband prayed over the phone to receive Christ!
Dear friend, the Bible encourages you to tell others about Jesus whenever and wherever you can. Long distance, or right next door, take advantage of every opportunity God gives you.
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Knowing the difference between the biblical categories of justification and sanctification is key for resting in Christ and understanding our duties as God’s children. Following is a basic definition of each word:
Justification
Without understanding how they are justified in Christ, Christians may wrongly think their own works, good or bad, could keep them in or out of God’s kingdom. The Bible says that we are declared righteous in Christ—this is a legal verdict and not something that God sees inside of us:
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:1)
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Rom. 5:8-9)
Christ has taken upon himself the punishment we deserve, and he has earned life for us by his perfect obedience to God’s law:
For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:17)
Even our faith is God’s gift to us (Eph. 2:8-9). Believers will never have to face God’s just sentence for their sins and spend eternity in hell separated from God. Think of someone in a courtroom who is guilty of a horrible crime and deserving of the severest punishment but is instead declared innocent because someone else paid the penalty for them—and even made them coheirs with him, sharing in his vast wealth! This is the joyful justification every believer has in Christ.
Sanctification
Not only do Christians have the benefit of being justified in Christ, they also have the benefit of sanctification. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer and is at work conforming them to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). According to the Heidelberg Catechism, sanctification in Christ consists of two parts:
the dying of the old self (mortification), which consists of a "heartfelt sorrow that we have offended God by our sin, and more and more to hate it and flee from it" (Q. 89);
and living unto God (vivification), which consists of "a heartfelt joy in God through Christ, and a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works" (Q. 90).
Christians should be diligent to grow in godliness and be confident, as the apostle Paul writes, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).
Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church has turned around the teaching of justification and sanctification, erroneously teaching that our justification comes some day in the undetermined future, after we have completed the process of sanctification via the sacraments of Rome and purgatory. The truth is that all believers are coheirs with Christ, and sanctification is God’s gift to all his children. As the apostle John declares,
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
Just as a child has the consequent duties to honor and obey his parents, so Christians have consequent duties to honor and obey their heavenly Father. Believers should expect to be recipients of the Lord’s discipline in their life when they disobey God:
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (Heb. 12:7-8)
Christians can rejoice, even in times of discipline, that they are God’s children and their adoption into the family of God is secure. All Christians receive the double benefit of justification and sanctification by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.” Psalm 119:15
There are times when solitude is better than community, and silence is wiser than speech. We will be better Christians if we take more time to be “alone” with God, and gathering spiritual strength through meditation on His Word, so that we will be refreshed to work in His service.
We should take time to ponder God’s word, because then we get real nourishment out of it. Truth is something like a cluster of grapes on the vine: if we want wine, we must work for it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The worker’s feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow. They must stomp the grapes well, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So likewise we must, by meditation, work at God’s clusters of truth, if we really want to grow through God’s wisdom.
Our bodies are not sustained just by putting food into our mouths. The process which supplies our muscle, nerves, and bones is the process of digestion. By digestion the outward food becomes absorbed into our bodies. Likewise, our souls don’t become well-nourished merely by listening to this and that, to part here and there of divine truth. Hearing, reading, and learning require inwardly digesting to be useful, and this digesting of the truth requires meditating upon it.
We may wonder why some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make slow advances in their spiritual walk? It’s because they do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it. They would eat the corn, but they will not go into the field to gather it. The fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it. The water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it.
Our prayer today is “Lord, help us overcome such foolishness.” And let this be our firm intention in response: “God, I will meditate on your precepts.”
Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon.
Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2008.
Used by Permission
A print from the Phillip Medhurst Collection of Bible illustrations in the possession of Revd. Philip De Vere at St. George’s Court, Kidderminster, England; image from Wikimedia Commons.
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I've always had something of an aversion to the "if Christianity is not true what do you lose" sort of apologetical approach—precisely because Scripture is God's word and because it is perfect in all that God reveals in it. To raise the question almost seems to inadvertently jeopardize the veracity of it. Nevertheless, that is precisely the kind of reasoning that the apostle Paul utilized in 1 Corinthians 15 after he appealed to the clear teaching of Scripture about Jesus' death and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-3).
What is at stake if we deny the resurrection?
Writing to a church that was in danger of allowing false teaching to creep in, the apostle tackled the issue of what was at stake if we deny the resurrection. Beginning in verse 12, Paul raises eight "ifs" (following them up with some of the weightiest of all theology) in order to explain the significance of the resurrection for the life of the believers. Consider the following eight "ifs" about the implications of denying the resurrection:
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Cor. 15:12)
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised....For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. (1 Cor. 15:13, 16)
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (1 Cor. 15:14)
We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. (1 Cor. 15:15)
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (1 Cor. 15:17-18)
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:19)
If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? (1 Cor. 15:29)
If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (1 Cor. 15:32)
According to the apostle's argument, if the resurrection never occurred one can categorize all that is lost under the following eight heads:
1. The Apostolic Message
The first thing that is lost, if we deny the resurrection, is the centrality of the death and resurrection of Jesus in the apostolic message. That is the central message of Christianity. How can some profess to be Christians and deny the central message of Christianity? The resurrection cannot be said to be a mythological or analogical story. It was an historical event that turned the world upside down. This, Paul, said—at the outset of the chapter—was an essential part of what was "of first importance." In essence, Paul is saying, "If there is no resurrection, we have nothing left to preach because our message centers on Christ having been raised from the dead."
2. A Living Redeemer
Next, the apostle heightens the argument by insinuating that if there is no resurrection from the dead, then "Christ is not risen." We not only lose the central message of Christianity if there is no resurrection—we lose the central figure of Christianity, namely, the living, reigning and returning Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The Efficacy of the Apostolic Word
As Paul proceeds with his argument, he told the Corinthians that the resurrection ensures the efficacy of the word of God. If Christ is not risen, there is no power behind the message proclaimed and there is no power in the life of those who receive the preaching of the Gospel. Paul uses a form of the word κενος in verses 10, 14 and 58 in order to bolster this argument. He tells his readers in verse 10, God's "grace to me was not in vain." Then in verse 58 he reminds them that the resurrection of Christ ensures that “in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Couched in between these bookends, Paul emphasizes that if Christ is not risen then his preaching and their faith is in vain (i.e. empty and powerless).
4. Apostolic Trustworthiness
Moving on to another aspect of the resurrection, Paul explains that if Christ is not risen from the dead then he and the other apostles are false witnesses. He goes so far as to say that they would then be "misrepresenting God" because they "testified about God." There is an inseparability between the apostolic testimony and the testimony of God. Not only would the apostles be found untrustworthy—God would be found to be untrustworthy. The resurrection of Jesus secures the covenant faithfulness and absolute trustworthiness of God and his appointed witnesses.
5. The Forgiveness of Sins
Perhaps the greatest of Paul's arguments is that which he sets out in verses 17-18. If Jesus is not raised, then no one has their sins forgiven. The logical implication of this is that those who have professed faith in Christ but who have already died have perished because they would not have had their sins forgiven. The forgiveness of sin is the greatest of all needs that we have. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we would have to conclude that his sacrifice was insufficient to atone for the sins of God's people and propitiate the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin.
The writer to the Hebrews captures the connection between the atonement and the resurrection so well when he writes, “the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus…by the blood of the eternal covenant” (Heb. 13:20). The blood of Jesus is the efficacious cause of the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is the validation that his blood was sufficient to atone for the sins of his people.
6. An Everlasting Hope
The apostle began to introduce the idea of eternal hope when he claimed that those who have "fallen asleep in Christ" have perished if he has not been raised from the dead. Now, Paul shows another side. He focuses on the hope that believers have in this life. He speaks of this hope elsewhere, when, speaking of the death of beloved Christians, he tells believers that we do not sorrow "as others do who have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13).
7. Union with Christ
Everything in 1 Corinthians 15 centers on the believer's union with Christ in his death and resurrection. Our resurrection from the dead is guaranteed on the basis of our faith-union with Christ. When the apostle asks the incredibly confusing question, "Why then are they baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise," he appears to be speaking of the union that believers have with Christ (represented by their baptism into Christ). If this is correct, the argument would run thus: "If the dead do not rise—and Christ then belongs in the category of the dead—why then are you baptized into union with the dead?"
8. Joy in Tribulation
Finally, Paul argues that if there is no resurrection, then he and the other apostles suffered for nothing. It was joy in the truth about the risen Christ—and the hope of the resurrection of believers—that drove the apostles forward to endure all of the persecution that they bore for the sake of the Gospel and the building up of the people of God. Paul reasons that, if there is no resurrection, we should give ourselves entire to hedonistic living because that would be all there is in which to find joy in this empty, futile and passing world.
We must preserve the truth of the resurrection.
There is so much more that Paul brings forward in this chapter to show the significance and inevitable consequences of the resurrection; however, these are the explicit arguments that he puts forth to establish in the minds and hearts of believers what we lose if we do not hold firmly to the biblical truth about the resurrection from the dead. In short, we have everything to lose if we don't preserve the truth of the resurrection and everything to gain by constantly abiding in it.
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