It Is For Your Sanctification!

It Is For Your Sanctification!




When we say that God is omniscient we mean that He is all knowing. He knows all things in a given moment, and he also knows all the past and future. He knows the end from the beginning. When we say that God loves us unconditionally, it means that God loves us regardless of how we feel about Him. He has our best interest at heart. Add these two together and you have that since God know all things – the end from the beginning – you have a God that knowing how things will end will tell you if the end is bad and how to prevent it. If the ending is good, he will let you know to continue in that path. God will not arbitrarily let us go through something if He knew it would harm us and it would in the end keep us from eternal life. Do we trust Him? What He let’s us go through, “It is for your sanctification!”



Jesus trusted the Father. There many verses to prove this. Jesus said that the Father sent Him. He said that the Father controlled all he said and did. Jesus went along voluntarily. Consider the following verses. When tempted Jesus replied with, “… It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Perhaps John 12: 49 elaborates on what He meant in Matthew, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” However, it was more than just speech, Jesus also did as the Father told Him. We read in John 5: 30,



John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.



Dying on the cross was included on list of things that Father wanted Jesus to do, and Jesus trusting the Father, obliged. Listen to Jesus’ prayer in John 12: 27,



John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.



The same sentiment is repeated at Gethsemane. Let us read Matthew 26: 39 and 42



Matthew 26:39 And he went a little farther, 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.

Matthew 26:42 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.



If our all knowing and unconditionally loving God had any other way to redeem man, He would have done it that way. This is why Luke refers to the work of Christ as a necessity. We often see Luke speaking of things Jesus went through as a necessity or necessary. No surprise that He quotes Jesus and Paul in the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts speaking in these terms. Jesus, like Paul, studied the Old Testament and drew the conclusion that the Messiah would “have to suffer these things and then enter his glory” (Luke 24:26, NIV). The “have to” of Luke 24:26 translates the same word as Acts 17:3 (NIV), where Paul says the Messiah “had to suffer.”



Ellen White states that Jesus was not alone. The Father was with Him every step of the way. And, so it is with us. Let us read from Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (TMB) page 71,



The Father's presence encircled Christ, and nothing befell Him but that which infinite love permitted for the blessing of the world. Here was His source of comfort, and it is for us. He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ. Whatever comes to him comes from the Saviour, who surrounds him with His presence. Nothing can touch him except by the Lord's permission. All our sufferings and sorrows, all our temptations and trials, all our sadness and griefs, all our persecutions and privations, in short, all things work together for good. All experiences and circumstances are God's workmen whereby good is brought to us. (MB 71)



The belief that God would not let us suffer is increasing in popularity, even against all the Biblical proof against that belief. Christ said many times that we would suffer and be persecuted. The issue is will we trust God believing it is in our best interest that we do. Ellen White makes another important statement about this. She says that if we knew the end from the beginning we would choose God’s way. Let us read her statement,



Let God plan for you. As a little child, trust to the guidance of Him who will "keep the feet of His saints." 1 Samuel 2:9. God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. {MH 479.2}



Next time the thought to ask yourself, “why would God do this to me” or “why did He let this happen,” you have the answer, “it is necessary.” (It is for your sanctification!)