Sin, suffering, and sanctification are not problems of the mind, but facts of life—mysteries that awaken all other mysteries until the heart rests in God. Oh, the unspeakable joy of knowing that God reigns, that He is our Father, and that the clouds are but "the dust of His feet"!
Religious life is based and built up and matured on primal implicit trust, transfigured by Love; the explicit statement of that life can only be made by the spectator, never by the saint.
Lord, how little nourishment I have been giving to the indwelling Christ in me; O Lord, forgive me. Fill me with the ample sense of Your forgiveness that I may not only joy in Your salvation, but be filled with Your Spirit for the work here.
- Oswald Chambers (Joy - Strength from the Lord)
My Pondering
Sin, Suffering and Sanctification these are three huge words that greatly impact our human life. No doubt are keenly religious words. Two of three impact everyone, and the third - Sanctification - the path to relief and glory does the saint.
Religion is often a frowned upon word by both sinners and some saints as well. The secularist see the word as weird and archaic. The saint say down religion and up with relationship. I suppose it depends upon you definition and mindset regarding the word: religion. Religion is how we saints organize publicly and deal with God privately. It includes the constructs of our doctrine, ceremonies, habits, structure and our derivatives from relating to and walking with God. Both relationship and religion go hand in hand.
This statement by Chambers is worth sharing again:
Religious life is based and built up and matured on primal implicit trust, transfigured by Love;
Trust being the key he speaks of; primal and implicit trust.
Then the love of God transforms us so that the result is joy, pure joy.
Theses mysteries can either take us closer to God or propel us away.
"Why did God even make sin or allow it? Why was there a tree of Good and Evil even there in garden? Did God set us up to sin and fail?"
The only answer I can reconcile is love. To fully love, it takes free will. To fully know and relate to God, it takes choice.
It was not my nor you choice to be born. Not when, where to whom.
It was not our choice to sin. We inherited that from our original parents when they made their choice. We all are born into sin.
Therefore, God sent a Savior, the second Adam to free us of our bondage, at least positionally for the time being but we must exercise our choice to respond in love, to accept and believe upon Christ Jesus. Our free will choice must be made.
Many a lost and saved person gets tripped upon, "Why does God permit suffering in this life of ours?" It's a fair question. It's a complex one. I have reconciled a few reasons to whymbut it boils to trust. I don't have to know everything but rather I simply need to know the One who does. This tried and true statement is proven: It is most important of who you know than what you know. Knowing is important and encompasses both the who and what. This brings us back to relationship and religion.
On the surface suffering is painful, unwarranted and unwanted. On the other hand, it does often prompt us to seek a solution and search for a Savior. Without suffering, I may have never responded to God's calling unto a relationship with Jesus.
Sometimes what seems as a curse can be a blessing and other times the apparent blessing morphs into a curse of sorts. God works in mysterious ways, so says the Good Book.
What is sanctification? Once we are saved positionally (which is called atonement- as Jesus atoned for our sins on His rugged cross and His righteousness is imputed to us) when then have the opportunity to mature in our sanctification process. The process of being led by God's Spirit to become more mature. To move from 'milk and cookies' to 'meat and potatoes'. This process is called sanctification in which we a sealed unto the final stage, when we die, meet Jesus and enter glorification. Many questions arise.
There is nothing wrong with pondering God's complexity, mysteries and life so long as we base it upon trust and love which are fundamental.
Reflection Questions: Do the difficulties, inequities, and mysteries of life cause me to give up in despair or convince me to trust the One who sends me out to proclaim the message that Love will conquer sin and suffering?
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