Acts 2:22-24
God's Deliberate Plan
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Romans 3:22-26
Man Falls Short of God, but Jesus Atoned for Our Sins
22 There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Matthew 9:9-13
Jesus Came and Died for Sinners
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
1 Peter 1:6-9
Faith Tested Through Sufferings, Grief, and Trials
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
God has a Plan for us in our lives...A Plan that is deliberate, and one where He knows what is going to happen, before it happens...And being a Deliberate Planner, God shows Great Patience in what He does...That is God and His Foreknowledge...
God allows suffering in this Plan... He allowed the blameless man Job to suffer...And He allowed His Son, Jesus, to suffer...God’s Plan is an interesting one, where His thoughts are not like our thoughts, and His ways are not like our ways...His Plan is what is best for not only us, but for everyone...
We know that Jesus did not sin, and He was One did not fall short of the Glory of God...Yet, God allowed Jesus to suffer...God could have let Jesus live on and not go to the cross and die...Either God or Jesus could have stopped His suffering and death on the cross...But God's Plan was for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins...
So, we know that suffering is a necessary part of our faith...That is shown by Jesus suffering and dying on the cross for us sinners...God with His Deliberate Plan and His Foreknowledge knows better than us what we need...After all He created us...As the Good Doctor helping us with bitter medicine, saved us by His Son's death on the cross...And the prize is seeing and being with Him and His Son in heaven...Or as St. Peter said, the purpose of their suffering is that as their faith, when tested with trials, comes out on the other side, it becomes more precious than the most refined gold...