John 3:16-17 (KJV)
God So LOVES the World
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 16:33
In a World of Troubles -Jesus Has Overcome this World
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus is God's Son...And His Son died on the cross...And when your son dies, we know that this causes great suffering...So as God was watching us hang Jesus from a tree, He suffered with His Son, and felt the pains of what was happening on the cross...And when it was over He had died for our sins...The cross travels from a tragedy to a show of LOVE...God's LOVE was so strong for us, He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us...So we can believe that God so LOVES the world, that He did give His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish and die, but have everlasting life...For God did not His Son into the world to condemn the world of our sins; but He gave us His Son so that the world would be saved through Him...
When Jesus said in this world you will have troubles, He meant it...Jesus accepted these troubles and knew they would happen...But He overcame the troubles and sufferings in this world...God had to sacrifice His Son for the world to be overcome...So there maybe some, or there maybe a lot of sacrifice in suffering and love...In His suffering, torture, betrayal, death we are brought to God...Without Jesus' suffering on the cross, Jesus would not be who He is...Without suffering there would be no Christianity...
And we know that God allows suffering look what happened to the good man Job, and better yet look at what happened to His Son...Job's great troubles were not discounted by God at all...God in the end helped Job and made him whole again...We know that God is near us, and with those suffering...And not only near us, but suffering with us...What else would a LOVING Father do?...Just as He was near to Job, He was right there with His Son on the cross...A Father suffering with them...
So Jesus suffered on the cross...And He suffered on the cross for mankind's sins...He specifically suffered for each one of us and each one of our sins...And He suffered on the cross out of His LOVE for us...And He died on the cross tortured, suffering and exhausted...So as we read about His suffering and death on the cross and this being out of LOVE, we see this great link in Christianity with suffering and in love...The very symbol of Christianity is the cross...The cross is a suffering symbol...We cannot have faith in Jesus without believing in the cross and He died out of His LOVE for us on the cross...
There is this great paradox in suffering and in love...I suffer from anxiety and have suffered with this condition for over forty four years...And what is interesting, the ones that I have shared my suffering with, and the ones that have been there with me and my suffering are the ones that I am very closest in my life...The ones who have been with me and stood with me and during these suffering experiences just happen to be the ones I love the most...I might guess why that is, and psychology experts might have one or several different opinions on why this is, but it is the truth for me...Through my suffering experiences they have given me a closeness to those who have been with me...So I see this connection in suffering and in love...And I believe that the reason is the cross...One cannot get to Jesus and what He did for us, except through the cross...And Jesus adds that no one can get to God except through Him...And Jesus suffered going up to and being nailed on the cross, and then dying on the cross...LOVE was on the Cross and suffering was on the Cross...
In life we will have sufferings and troubles and do our best to move forward and move on with them...Everyone in life suffers at one time or another...And each of our sufferings maybe different than our neighbors...But suffering happens in life...
Do we need troubles and sufferings in this world to have love?...I can see that love, God, and Jesus are all linked...We also know God allowed His Son to suffer and die on the cross...We know the God gave His Son for us so that we might have everlasting life with both Him and His Son...And in middle of this conversation is this matter of one's personal life's troubles and sufferings...I believe that suffering and love are linked because of God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit...And we know that Jesus said that in this world we will have troubles...When one opens up with their problems, their troubles, and someone who loves you genuinely and sincerely feels your pain, you can see and feel others love...So there must be something about a suffering and troubling experience that helps binds two people together, with a stronger love...Those traumatic and grieving experiences that we have in life can make love even stronger...Yet, even though in this world we will have troubles, we know that there was One on the cross who overcame this world with all of its different troubles and sufferings...Nothing in this world that is worth anything does come with some sacrifice...