My spirit is broken, my days cut short, the grave awaits me. Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility. Job 17:1-2
Job is a book in the Old Testament that reveals much suffering. Why it happens is discussed by three friends and a young man named Elihu. In Job 2:9, Job’s wife told him to curse God and die! None of us would sign up for what Job endured and yet, mankind does in fact suffer and often questions God’s character.
Here is the amazing thing about the Book of Job. All of the trials and tribulations he encountered with despair were accepted by Jesus Christ. Jesus knew his suffering in advance and pleaded with God the Father in the Garden to let this cup pass. Christ was a man familiar with suffering. But, He took the cup knowing that the only way we could ever escape judgment and condemnation was to take it upon Himself.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Jesus Christ voluntarily took upon Himself the suffering that Job experienced and the pain that we deserved, out of love for us. And yet, He was and is despised and rejected by mankind. Listen to these complaints by Job.
People open their mouths to jeer at me; they strike my cheek in scorn and unite together against me. God has turned me over to the ungodly and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.
All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me. God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
Jesus felt all the pains we felt and suffered greatly on our behalf yet was without sin. Job was guilty of sin and so is every single person ever born. But, Jesus Christ took the sin from us by his death so that we would not die in our sins rather to give us forgiveness and a future in heaven. No matter what your situation in life may be now, do not despair. God has made a way for you to escape the consequences for your sins through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for you. Do not despair, God will save you if you trust in Him.
In this world you will have tribulation (John 16:33), you are not in heaven yet! Have faith in Christ to the very end and you will overcome the world. There will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more sin in the new world that God has prepared for you.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:1-4
Listen to this message titled “When All Hope is Gone” by Charles Stanley
