Hebrews 12:4-11 NIV
[4] “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. [5] And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, [6] because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” [7] Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? [8] If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. [9] Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

The writer to the Hebrews gives us the clearest and most sensible explanation of “the problem of pain” in all of the world’s literature.

Ignorant people have their theories that often put the blame on God despite the clear teaching of Scripture. It’s God who does this to humans for whatever reason. Believers even think that God is punishing them for wrongdoing, ignoring the fact that He forgave all the sin of all people for all time through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. He cannot punish sin a second time. The only sin yet to be judged and punished is the sin of unbelief in Jesus and the fruit it produces.

John 3:18-19 NIV
[18] “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. [19] This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

What, then, is God’s purpose for suffering in this life?

We will not examine the causes of suffering but rather the outcomes for God’s children.

Suffering, hardships, trials and tests, are some of God’s methods of disciplining His children. Rather than displaying His anger or punishing us for wrongdoing, He is revealing His love to us as His sons and daughters by using hardships to help us overcome the sinful desires of our old nature.

“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

Peter put it like this…

1 Peter 4:1-2 NIV
[1] “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. [2] As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”

Suffering has a way of bringing us back to earth with a bump. All the trivialities of our lives, the things we put our trust in instead of trusting in the Lord, prove futile. We are thrown back on Him for His grace to steady us in times of extreme difficulties.

In our dark times, sin becomes distasteful. We see its so-called pleasures in a different light. We crave the reality of truth and the comfort and reassurance of God’s loving presence rather than the physical and material pleasures of indulging our sinful natures.

So, the writer assures us, God allows and even orchestrates hard times for us first, because He loves us as His own children and second, because He refuses to let us go our own way. Children left to themselves are in danger of self-destruction. Believers too, without the discipline of suffering, will land up going in the opposite direction to holiness.

God is insistent that the new nature and new lives He has given us prepare us for our eternity in His presence. He does not tolerate sin in any form, not even the sins we commit after our new birth. He forgives us when we come clean because of Jesus’ blood but He also insists that we learn to walk in the Spirit so that we will not satisfy the desires of our flesh.

Romans 8:12-14 NIV
[12] “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. [13] For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. [14] For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”

We can only show who our real Father is by our behaviour.

Jesus, in His altercation with the Pharisees, had this to say…

John 8:42, 44 NIV
[42] “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me…
[44] You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

There is a relentless war going on inside us, between the flesh and the spirit. This is the war we must win to gain the prize of likeness to Jesus. Our Father graciously helps us by applying the pressure of discipline. In this way, He keeps us dependent and faithful to Him so that we have a correct perspective on life and don’t lose track of our goal.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV
[17] “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Without the Father’s constant supervision and the Holy Spirit’s ministry in us through the Word, we would easily be drawn away by our lusts, lose our footing on the truth, and disqualify ourselves from ever reaching the purpose of our lives, God’s presence in His eternal kingdom.

Galatians 5:16-18 NIV
[16] “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. [18] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Paul issues a severe warning to those who trifle with sin.

Galatians 5:19-21 NIV
[19]”The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; [20] idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions [21] and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this WILL NOT INHERIT the kingdom of God.”

John reassures us…

1 John 3:9-10 NIV
[9]” No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”

Next, our writer reminds his Jewish readers of the origin and function of their religious system. This setup points to two important facts.

First, that God was using human activities to illustrate spiritual truths. Our writer has already reminded his readers that Moses was instructed to construct the tabernacle with its paraphernalia and functions exactly as God had shown him in the mountain.

Hebrews 8:5 NIV
[5] “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Since humans have never been to heaven nor can we imagine heavenly realities, God gave them, in earthly picture form, a pattern of the heavenly to follow.

Second, the people were bound to this system until the types and shadows, which pointed to the spiritual reality had been fulfilled. Let me illustrate…

A soldier leaves home to participate in warfare far from his home country. He takes with him a photograph of the one he loves. In the heat and danger of warfare, he keeps the picture close to his heart, reminding himself of one waiting for him back home. The day comes when he returns to his family and is reunited with his beloved. Will he need the photograph to remind him of her existence? No! He no longer needs the picture since he and she are together in person.

So, since Jesus has come and has done everything the picture was intended to show His people; the types and shadows have become redundant. It would be foolish of them to continue to gaze at the picture of Jesus in the tabernacle worship when He was with them in person, having fulfilled all the obligations of true worship.

Hebrews 9:9 NIV
[9] “This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.”

One thing is clear. The tabernacle system of worship with all its paraphernalia and rigmarole was incomplete. There was no conclusion to its activities. Day after day, the priests did the same thing, offered sacrifices, burnt incense, tended the lamp in the sanctuary, and…and… Costly and repetitive! Did anyone ever ask, “When will this ever end?”

And, worst of all, everything they did in obedience to God’s instructions, made no difference to their guilty consciences. Sin in their lives remained a stark reality. They still disobeyed God in their personal lives and relationships. So, what was the point of it all?

Hebrews 9:11-14 NIV
[11] “But, when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. [12] He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. [13] The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. [14] How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Thank God for the “but”! Jesus made all the difference in this hopeless situation.

He offered sacrifice to the Father, not on earth but in heaven, opening heaven to us by His own blood.

He offered Himself as a perfect lamb, not an animal that had no power to deal with sin.

His sacrifice atones for the sin of our souls, not just failure to obey the ceremonies of the law.

His blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and changes our hearts from rebel to son.

Hebrews 9:15 NIV
[15] “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

Jesus, then, is the mediator of this new covenant. He fulfilled all the requirements of God’s holy law. He redeemed us from sin by His blood. He opened heaven for us to access the Father and to receive all the blessings and benefits of our promised inheritance, eternal life. He ratified this new covenant, once for all, by His own blood.

Our need for a mediator between us and God, a high priest to be our advocate to represent us to the Father, and a sacrifice to atone for our sin are all rolled into one and fulfilled in Jesus.

Hebrews 9:24-28 NIV
[24] “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. [25] Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. [26] Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. [27] Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, [28] so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

To crown everything Jesus has achieved for us in His own person, He is coming again to complete His great work of salvation. “It is finished!” So He announced from the cross with His last breath, and so it is!

So, John tells us, it’s clear who God’s children are…

1 John 3:9-10 NIV
[9] No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed, (God’s Word), remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. [10] This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

Which way do your desires pull you…towards or away from God?

The Father calls us to surrender to His discipline, to embrace and thank Him for the things we suffer. They are telling us something. We are God’s children. He loves us. He wants us to be holy. He wants us with Him forever. Without holiness we will never see Him. Submit to His discipline. It’s the only way we will ever reach our eternal goal.

To be continued…