This is always the way: God the Father sends God the Son to be with us in our suffering and to bring us out that we might worship the Father in freedom and joy.
Exodus is the story of this Figure from the bush: the Angel, the Great I AM: He leads the people out of slavery and into salvation.
I enjoyed your discussion. You also show: How God's being in expressing love is eons away from His fallen human creatures' and to think; we will one day see this: "No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." All of this because of His cross which "redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us
Glen, I enjoyed the audio sermon, very much! Seems to be a problem with the
Text version or maybe it's just my pc. Thanks!
Thanks A3...
And thanks Ken. It works on my computer. The link should take you to this page:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VDAPqx_5Exb1u18lWqlHpPYxB-NE-hwAiD38d1lLQrM/
If you still want it / can't access it, I could always email the document.
There are 2 ways a Christian can suffer: for doing good or for doing evil (1 Peter 3v17). We need first to discern for which we are suffering and then make the appropriate response. Sometimes in our reatively repectable lives the idea that we are doing evil seems remote. But unforgiveness hidden in our hearts will result in suffering (Matt 18v34-35) and unbelief is evil (Heb 3v12). If we are suffering for doing good we can rejoice. (Matt 5v10-12). If we are suffering for doing evil we must confess our sins (1 John 1v9).
Of course what I have just written is entirely challenged by the experience of Job. There is, however, a danger of turning Job into a new orthodoxy when it was meant as a challenge and a balance to orthodoxy. The Jobian orthodox view of suffering is that it is entirely random and bears no relation to the actions of the one suffering.