“JESUS CHRIST MADE PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS”
“Though he
were a Son, yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the
author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” (Hebrews
5:8-9)
There is
the story of the man who had a cocoon
of an Emperor moth.
Now he
thought he would help the poor insect in its
struggle to get out of the very small hole when exiting out of its
shell … and
so he did an experiment.
So he
snipped away the confining cocoon to make the
insect’s exit more easy … and it worked!
With
perfect ease there emerged the moth dragging a
huge swollen body behind it … and little shrivelled wings.
But the
man’s false tenderness produced nothing
but a stunted abortion that could only crawl through a very
shortened life.
You see
the pressure that is exerted on the moth’s
body, in passing through the very small opening, is necessary to force
the
body’s juices into the wings for a proper and full development.
Now God
the Father, with true loving tenderness,
allowed Christ to suffer the pressure of suffering, distress and
sorrow, in
order for his Son, through obedience, to be made perfect through
sufferings and
much tribulation.
“Who his
own self bare our sins in his own body
on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by
whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
God’s far
sighted love was too true to be weak with
a false tenderness.
Because he
perfectly loved his Son he spared not
his two requests to have the cup pass from him … at his
ultimate
sacrifice on the cross.
“And he
went a little further, and fell on his
face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass
from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt … He went
away again the
second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not
pass away
from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:39, 42)
Indeed
because God the Father loves those in Jesus
Christ, he chastises us that we may be partakers of his
holiness … and spares
not our crying.
Through
many trials and temptations, as sons
of God, we must also be trained up to obedience.
“My
brethren, count it all joy when ye fall
into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh
patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect
and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
“Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for
a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations:” (1
Peter 1:6)
“The
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out
of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment
to be
punished:” (2
Peter 2:9)
If Christ
had not been made perfect through
obedience by the things which he suffered, redemption, that is, eternal
salvation,
would have not been made available to man.
Harley
Hitchcock
This
website’s front page is:
www.
AN ENCOURAGEMENT FOR
CHRISTIANS
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Australian Bible Ministries, PO
Box 5058 Mt. Gravatt East, 4122 Qld, Australia
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com