1. Universal 2. Not God punishing you for your sin
3. Not God lacking power 4. Not God ignoring you C. This world no longer functions the way God intended.
D. The reason we groan is because the world itself is groaning. E. Unrealistic expectations lead to being unprepared for suffering. F. We need to have a good, clear theology of suffering so that when it comes: 1. You don’t fall into wrong thinking. 2. You don’t preach to yourself a false gospel. II. Five reasons Christians suffer: A. Because we live in a broken, groaning world (Romans 8). B. For our spiritual growth (1 Peter 1). 1. Ore is heated and liquified to become pure and useful. 2. Because God loves you, he uses the heat of suffering to refine you. 3. “God will take you where you haven’t intended to go, in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own.” C. To become God’s messengers of comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3–9). 1. “God makes his invisible grace visible by sending people of grace to give grace to people who need grace.” D. For the sake of the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:7–10).
1. Jars of clay are weak, delicate, easily shattered. 2. Our limits are a divine intention, not a mistake.
3. God uses our “cracks” (weaknesses and limits) to reveal his glory. 4. Your weakness doesn’t contradict the gospel. It preaches the gospel! E. Because of our faith (1 Peter 4). III. How God Meets Us in Our Suffering: A. Preparing grace: 1. The Bible is clear about suffering so that you would be prepared for it. 2. God is sovereign, we are not, so we do not know the future. 3. Rest is found in entrusting yourself to the God who holds the future. 4. Don’t waste your time trying to figure out the future. a. Our limits are God’s goodness for us. b. If we could see it all and know it all, we would be crushed. 5. Your suffering is never meaningless.
Out l i ne
GOSPEL HOPE
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