WEBVTT 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:11.179 Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neuroscientist, psychiatrist, more notably he was a Holocaust survivor. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:16.100 And he wrote his most famous book, which is called Man's Search for Meaning, 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:21.140 in really about his time in the concentration camp. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:23.580 Because it had a profound impact on him. 00:00:23.699 --> 00:00:28.100 He was surrounded by people who were facing unimaginable suffering. 00:00:28.100 --> 00:00:35.800 And he began to notice that some people were able to endure profound suffering, 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:38.260 and yet somehow they remained steady. 00:00:38.760 --> 00:00:41.800 They were able to persevere. It didn't crush them. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:48.200 And he shares some remarkable stories of people who seemed like the kind of people 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:54.040 who would be utterly crushed on day one, and yet somehow they remained steady. 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:58.679 And there are other people that seemed like the kind of people who would be able to survive a lot, 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:00.619 and yet they would be crushed on the first day. 00:01:00.879 --> 00:01:05.480 And he began to try to figure out what is the thing that makes the difference. 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:06.939 And that's what his book is about. 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:16.039 He realized that the key thing that determines our ability to face and endure suffering 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:20.000 is not actually the suffering itself. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:21.180 It's not the kind of suffering. 00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:25.360 It's not the extent of suffering, the amount of suffering. 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:29.140 It's the meaning that we attach to suffering. 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:32.560 The meaning that we attach to suffering. 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:38.020 In other words, if we are able to find or make meaning out of the suffering that we face, 00:01:38.219 --> 00:01:39.600 it makes all the difference. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:43.679 Now, with that in mind, we want to look at the Apostle Paul 00:01:43.679 --> 00:01:46.780 and what we read here in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 00:01:47.839 --> 00:01:51.179 Paul says something almost unbelievable. 00:01:51.939 --> 00:01:52.219 He says, 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:58.659 Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 00:01:58.919 --> 00:02:02.479 And I would suggest that this goes well beyond what Frankl had in mind. 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:06.840 Frankl is talking about simply enduring suffering, 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:09.319 but Paul's saying something altogether more. 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:11.479 He's not just talking about enduring suffering. 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:14.379 He's talking about the fact that in his suffering, 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:18.460 as he is wasting away, as that is happening to him, 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:20.060 he is being renewed. 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:25.640 That suffering for Paul has become a place, a source of spiritual renewal. 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:29.199 And the question that we want to ask this morning is, 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:30.520 How is such a thing possible? 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:33.640 And the answer that we will see is this, 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:40.759 that Jesus Christ transformed the role that suffering plays in Paul's life 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:44.119 by giving it an entirely new meaning. 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:54.159 Suffering itself can become a source of spiritual growth and life and maturity. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:58.879 And so we're going to look at this passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:03.639 verses 1 through 12, and we're going to sort of examine this in three parts. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:08.159 First of all, we want to consider the default perspective on suffering 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:11.780 that we see in Corinth, that we see, I think, in modern-day D.C. 00:03:12.099 --> 00:03:14.780 Then we'll look at a new perspective on suffering 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:16.939 that comes through Paul's encounter with Jesus. 00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:21.379 And then finally, we will see how that yields in our lives a new pattern 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:24.379 for how to face suffering as it comes. 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:24.859 Let's pray. 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:30.140 Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we don't even have to ask and you're here. 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:34.980 I thank you that as I look out into this room, Lord, 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:38.480 I see friends both new and old. 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:42.440 I thank you that as we look out in this room, 00:03:42.620 --> 00:03:45.300 and if we're here and we are struggling or suffering, 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:47.060 feeling hopelessness or despair, 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:48.580 we can know we're not alone. 00:03:49.740 --> 00:03:52.080 That, Lord, you're the one who sees the truth about our hearts 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.540 and however we may present on the outside. 00:03:55.260 --> 00:03:59.540 You know that there are a lot of us here who are struggling in various ways. 00:03:59.660 --> 00:04:02.420 And we pray that your word would minister to us 00:04:02.420 --> 00:04:05.300 in ways that are only possible because of your Holy Spirit. 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:07.660 And we ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus. 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:08.840 Amen. 00:04:09.880 --> 00:04:13.540 I'm going to get this because my voice is a bit on the fritz, as you can tell. 00:04:13.920 --> 00:04:16.120 But praise God, it's here enough. 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.680 I think God wanted me to talk less this week. 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:20.220 And so he took my voice away. 00:04:20.459 --> 00:04:23.980 But he's allowing me to say a few things from up here. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:30.379 Let's look at the default perspective that we see in the church in Corinth. 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:34.959 The church in Corinth had a situation where there were false teachers who had come in, 00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:38.160 and they were promoting a kind of health and wealth gospel. 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:40.720 Now, if you're not familiar with what that is, it's okay. 00:04:40.780 --> 00:04:41.720 I'll explain it in a minute. 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:44.560 But they're promoting a kind of health and wealth gospel. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.720 The basic idea is this, is that if you're the kind of person who is successful 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:54.800 and good-looking and wealthy and important and influential, 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.319 it's because you are blessed. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:00.560 You're hashtag blessed. 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:01.819 God has blessed you. 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:06.079 And obviously the opposite is also true. 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:11.279 If you're unsuccessful, if you're poor, if you're suffering, if you're rejected, 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.160 then clearly you are not blessed. 00:05:14.580 --> 00:05:17.560 And in fact, God may very well be punishing you. 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:21.340 So people see you sitting on the side of the road asking for money with no place to live. 00:05:21.760 --> 00:05:25.360 The most common response would be to say, what did he do? 00:05:25.460 --> 00:05:28.160 What did she do to end up like that? 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:31.960 They assumed that it was your fault, that you had somehow angered the gods. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:36.300 And so this is why some of the leaders are criticizing the apostle Paul. 00:05:36.440 --> 00:05:41.060 They're saying, basically, don't listen to anything that guy says. 00:05:41.060 --> 00:05:44.100 Why would you listen to anything Paul says? 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.139 It's clear that God is not with him. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:48.319 Look how much he suffers. 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:55.759 So they would point to the suffering in Paul's life as a way of invalidating all of Paul's teaching. 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:58.500 And here's Paul's own description in chapter 11. 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:00.980 He doesn't deny the fact that he suffers. 00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:07.259 He says this, five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 00:06:07.660 --> 00:06:09.540 Three times I was beaten with rods. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:10.840 Once I was stoned. 00:06:11.200 --> 00:06:12.660 Three times I was shipwrecked. 00:06:12.840 --> 00:06:14.960 A night and a day I was adrift at sea. 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:16.540 I mean, it goes on and on. 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:20.980 Now, they would say, and I think it makes sense to many people, common sense anyway, 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:23.700 that doesn't sound like someone who's loved by God. 00:06:24.460 --> 00:06:27.300 That doesn't sound like someone who's blessed by God. 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:30.560 It actually sounds like someone who has been cursed by God. 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:35.800 And this is the way that most people tend to think. 00:06:36.540 --> 00:06:41.780 It's our common sense way of trying to make sense of our lives and the world. 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:49.919 People mistakenly assume that there is a connection between worldly success and spiritual success. 00:06:50.359 --> 00:06:58.659 If somebody is successful by worldly standards, then people assume that is evidence of their spiritual success. 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:00.859 That God must really love them. 00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:02.639 They must really be close to God. 00:07:02.739 --> 00:07:11.019 There are many church boards and elder sessions and leadership bodies that have been built primarily out of this fallacy. 00:07:11.779 --> 00:07:15.000 Well, they run a very successful, lucrative business. 00:07:15.479 --> 00:07:16.819 They'd probably make a good elder. 00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:21.619 And of course, if that is true, then the opposite is also true. 00:07:21.799 --> 00:07:25.259 If somebody is suffering, if they're a failure by worldly standards, 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.159 then that's probably evidence of their spiritual failure. 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:31.599 They must have angered God somewhere along the way. 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:36.899 This is the perspective that I would say runs through many of the world's great religions. 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:44.419 You have karma religions like Hinduism that say if you're suffering, it's because of things that you did in a past life. 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:46.699 Ways that you fell short or sinned. 00:07:46.779 --> 00:07:52.599 Islam teaches that if you're suffering, it's probably punishment for sins that you've committed in the present life. 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:58.319 So you see this in other world religions, but I would say it's also the perspective that we see in our culture. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:07.360 Most people assume that life is about trying to be as happy as you can be, which we equate with material success. 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:09.639 Why am I here? 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:11.740 It's to be happy. 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:12.540 How do I be happy? 00:08:12.620 --> 00:08:13.639 Well, I'm successful. 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:20.560 This is why we bust it year in and year out, pushing ourselves and our kids to climb that ladder, 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:24.039 to get the best grades so that we can get into the best colleges, 00:08:24.039 --> 00:08:28.079 so that we can get the best jobs, so that we can be successful, so that we will be happy. 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.219 And that's the way people believe life works. 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:38.740 And if there is a God, most people assume that God's job, if he's loving, if he's good, is to help us get there. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:40.299 Surely God wants me to be happy. 00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:42.120 Surely God wants me to be successful. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:50.399 This is essentially what the sociologist Christian Smith referred to as the default religion in America. 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:52.419 Right? 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:54.100 Life is about being happy and successful. 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:55.659 God's job is to help me get there. 00:08:55.659 --> 00:08:58.139 All God cares about is I'm a basically good person. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:00.160 And good people go to heaven when they die. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:02.640 It's what he called moralistic therapeutic deism. 00:09:03.900 --> 00:09:08.360 So whatever religious institution you affiliate with or have disaffiliated from, 00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:13.000 whether you call yourself religious or irreligious, theist or atheist, 00:09:13.760 --> 00:09:18.700 Smith found that down deep, this is what most Americans believe on some level. 00:09:19.260 --> 00:09:20.420 Moralistic therapeutic deism. 00:09:20.540 --> 00:09:26.440 This is why, by the way, the prosperity gospel televangelists of the 20th century were so successful. 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:26.880 Right? 00:09:27.880 --> 00:09:34.180 They were preaching the message that everybody already believed and wanted to hear desperately, wanted to believe. 00:09:35.800 --> 00:09:42.060 The self-appointed gurus that we see today on Instagram and TikTok, this is why they're successful. 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:46.660 And by the way, they are the spiritual successors of the prosperity gospel televangelists. 00:09:47.180 --> 00:09:49.820 They're the next generation preaching the same message. 00:09:50.280 --> 00:09:51.940 They're all selling the same thing. 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:53.240 It's just different packaging. 00:09:53.960 --> 00:10:00.600 So whether you're donating money out of your retirement fund to get a prayer cloth that's been touched by the person on TV, 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:06.040 or whether you are buying supplements and deciding it's time to shift to an all-meat diet, 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:11.560 and do ice bath plunges every morning because it's going to change your life, 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:13.439 the promise is the same. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:14.379 You can live longer. 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:15.219 You can be happier. 00:10:15.359 --> 00:10:19.979 You can become more successful if you just buy this product, if you just do this thing. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:25.279 So in our culture, in a culture that thinks that way, 00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:31.779 when it comes to suffering, what you find is there's typically only one category for suffering. 00:10:31.779 --> 00:10:37.600 The only category we have to really make sense of suffering, to make meaning out of suffering is, 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:43.360 well, suffering is unequivocally bad, and it means that either we have failed, 00:10:43.459 --> 00:10:46.699 or some person or system out there has failed us. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:49.559 Right? 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.740 If I'm suffering, if I don't have the life I want, if I'm not happy, if I'm not successful, 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:59.559 either I failed somewhere along the way, or some system or person out there failed me, 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:01.100 or some combination of both. 00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:02.420 It is somebody's fault. 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:04.680 Somebody has failed. 00:11:05.680 --> 00:11:07.060 Because otherwise I wouldn't be suffering. 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:11.960 And as far as God goes, for people who bring God into the equation, 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:18.320 if we assume that there is a God and that it's God's job to help us pursue a life of happiness and success, 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:20.920 then what does suffering show us? 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:23.779 Well, God's not doing his job. 00:11:25.180 --> 00:11:25.899 Why not? 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:28.519 Well, either because he doesn't love me or care about me, 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:30.960 or because he can't. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.500 Or because he doesn't exist. 00:11:34.180 --> 00:11:39.320 And you have a lot of people who will encounter major suffering, grief, loss in their lives, 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:42.139 and because this is their view of God in life, 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:43.700 they leave their faith. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:45.700 Because they say, well, God really let me down. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:49.080 God really, I was trusting God to come through and give me that life, 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:50.000 but he didn't. 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:51.300 He wasn't there. 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:52.219 And so they leave. 00:11:53.839 --> 00:11:58.019 Now, if this is our perspective, if this is the default operating perspective, 00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:00.659 what happens when you get bad news from the doctor? 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:07.819 You know, we're, some of us are in our 40s and the check engine light comes on and the call's coming. 00:12:08.500 --> 00:12:08.819 You know? 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:10.340 And some of us have gotten a few calls. 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.700 And it's not like when you're in your 20s. 00:12:14.540 --> 00:12:14.800 Right? 00:12:14.860 --> 00:12:16.780 And some of you are older still and you know that. 00:12:17.260 --> 00:12:20.780 Some of you got the bad news call when you were a child or when you were a teenager. 00:12:20.940 --> 00:12:21.120 Right? 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.679 But what happens when you get that call? 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:27.200 What happens when you get fired unexpectedly? 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.899 What happens when someone hurts you or betrays you? 00:12:31.779 --> 00:12:32.720 What do we end up doing? 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:37.980 We spend hours ruminating, trying to figure out where we went wrong 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:42.080 or how we could have prevented it if I hadn't eaten all those cheeseburgers. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:42.460 You know? 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:46.279 But now, I mean, you know, it's not an excuse to eat all the cheeseburgers you want. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:47.259 I wish it were. 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:51.319 But you start trying to think of like, where did I go wrong? 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:54.299 Or how could I have prevented this bad thing from happening? 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:55.939 Because it clearly means the ball got dropped. 00:12:57.019 --> 00:13:00.639 And then when it comes to God, we say, what's the most common thing we say? 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:01.679 Why me, God? 00:13:03.059 --> 00:13:05.620 Why would you let something like this happen to me? 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:06.179 Why me? 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:06.759 Why now? 00:13:06.939 --> 00:13:07.480 Why this? 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.840 So then, not only do you have the suffering itself, 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:14.620 but you have all of the meaning that you've attached to it. 00:13:15.100 --> 00:13:16.000 Which is what? 00:13:16.819 --> 00:13:17.220 Failure. 00:13:17.259 --> 00:13:17.340 Failure. 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:20.519 God doesn't love me. 00:13:20.659 --> 00:13:21.659 God doesn't exist. 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:23.259 Hopelessness. 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:25.899 It's a pile-on that only makes it worse. 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:27.879 That's no way to endure suffering. 00:13:28.059 --> 00:13:28.799 It's not sustainable. 00:13:29.319 --> 00:13:30.559 So suffering crushes us. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:34.120 That's the default perspective on suffering. 00:13:34.259 --> 00:13:36.200 Now, a new perspective. 00:13:37.059 --> 00:13:38.340 Look what happens to Paul. 00:13:38.539 --> 00:13:39.720 The thing is, you've got to understand, 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:41.840 Paul used to have this exact same perspective. 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:44.200 He was a Pharisee back in the day. 00:13:44.419 --> 00:13:45.480 He was highly successful. 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:46.559 He was highly ambitious. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:47.939 He was well-educated. 00:13:48.099 --> 00:13:49.899 He had all the outward signs of blessing. 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:54.119 He didn't know that inwardly, spiritually, he was dead and disconnected from God. 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:57.759 He had all the outward signs of blessing and success. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:03.419 And then one day, on the road to Damascus, he encounters the resurrected Jesus Christ. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:06.980 And it changes everything. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.600 Because in that encounter, he realizes this. 00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:21.980 On the one hand, he recognizes immediately, as he sees that glorious light, that Jesus is the full embodiment of God's glory. 00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:23.279 That's what Paul means. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:27.039 He's thinking about that as he's writing verse 4. 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:30.560 He refers to Jesus as the image of God. 00:14:30.659 --> 00:14:34.659 Jesus is so blindingly glorious that Paul falls to his face. 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:37.080 And he's struck temporarily blind. 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:44.900 On the other hand, Paul knows for a fact what happened to Jesus. 00:14:45.820 --> 00:14:49.139 That Jesus suffered more than anybody in history. 00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:55.180 He knew that Jesus had been humiliated and mocked and tortured and executed. 00:14:55.179 --> 00:15:03.239 So simultaneously, this glorious image of God standing before him, blindingly bright. 00:15:03.539 --> 00:15:08.259 And on the other hand, humiliation, torture, rejection, suffering, death. 00:15:09.579 --> 00:15:13.339 And this completely turns everything upside down for Paul. 00:15:13.479 --> 00:15:19.799 Because Christ is showing him that everything he thinks he knows about suffering is wrong. 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:32.439 And Christ is offering a vision, a meaning for suffering that is far more nuanced, far more beautiful than anything Paul has ever seen in his life. 00:15:33.659 --> 00:15:35.259 He realizes this. 00:15:35.339 --> 00:15:46.719 First of all, the reason that people suffer, the reason that some of us are suffering right now, is not because God is punishing those people. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:52.920 It's because all human beings have rejected God. 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:58.139 As Paul says in verses 3 and 4, it's because people are spiritually blind. 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:07.420 You know, when he was struck blind seeing Jesus, it helped him understand this is the real problem with the human heart. 00:16:07.800 --> 00:16:14.379 All people, Jews and Greeks, all are spiritually blind and cut off from God. 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:19.439 And that means, frankly, friends, and I'm sorry to break it to you, the world doesn't work the way it should. 00:16:20.980 --> 00:16:22.919 There is no fairness. 00:16:24.299 --> 00:16:25.360 You know, life is not fair. 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:30.360 You know, I had a mentor who used to say, the only kind of fair in this life is the one with cotton candy and a Ferris wheel. 00:16:30.980 --> 00:16:31.960 There is no fair. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.100 I would come to him and I'd say, well, that's not fair. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:35.080 He'd be like, what'd you expect? 00:16:36.899 --> 00:16:38.940 There is only an approximation of justice. 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:46.640 What that means is that some people can lie and cheat and steal, and they're going to be fabulously wealthy and successful. 00:16:47.560 --> 00:16:55.020 It means that other people can live morally upright, selfless, self-sacrificial lives, and they're going to face tremendous suffering. 00:16:55.500 --> 00:16:56.720 And you say, well, that's not fair. 00:16:57.640 --> 00:16:58.720 I think you're starting to get it. 00:17:00.140 --> 00:17:01.040 So that's the first thing. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:04.120 Second thing, God hates suffering more than we do. 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:09.679 And God's answer to the problem of suffering when we ask him is not to give us an explanation. 00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:11.439 Well, it all goes back to this and that. 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:12.959 And if you understand that, that's not God. 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:16.239 God's answer to suffering is to enter into it. 00:17:17.879 --> 00:17:19.339 It's to join us in it. 00:17:20.659 --> 00:17:22.459 It's to suffer more than we do. 00:17:23.439 --> 00:17:28.579 It's to send his son to die so that one day suffering will ultimately be brought to an end. 00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:35.839 His answer to suffering is to suffer in order to bring an end to suffering. 00:17:36.919 --> 00:17:40.559 And then thirdly, Paul realizes this on that road to Damascus. 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:42.980 Suffering does not mean failure. 00:17:43.919 --> 00:17:46.099 It doesn't necessarily mean that you have failed. 00:17:46.179 --> 00:17:48.899 It doesn't mean that somebody or some system has failed you. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:51.599 That might be a part of it. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:58.740 But what Christ shows us is that suffering is actually inseparably linked to glory. 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:05.839 That God can use suffering to achieve his glorious purposes in the world. 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:07.559 And you say, well, how do we know that? 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:09.740 And Paul would say, well, the cross. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:18.679 The place where you see the worst failure by worldly standards ever. 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:21.759 The worst suffering ever. 00:18:22.840 --> 00:18:28.799 And yet simultaneously, the cross is the means by which Jesus is glorified. 00:18:29.580 --> 00:18:31.380 The cross is his glory. 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:36.840 The cross is the place where Jesus becomes who he was meant to be. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:38.200 The savior of the world. 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:42.320 It's the place where God's plans and purposes are finally accomplished. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:48.659 So suffering is unavoidable because of human sin and rebellion. 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:49.500 It's unavoidable. 00:18:49.639 --> 00:18:51.659 We're all going to suffer to some extent. 00:18:52.619 --> 00:18:58.559 And yet God is so powerful and God is so loving that he's able to take the worst possible suffering 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.779 and bring about the greatest possible victory through it. 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:04.639 Which means no suffering is wasted. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:11.599 God is capable of redeeming and repurposing and utilizing all of the hardships we face. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:17.159 You know, I love to talk about Joni Eriksson Thada because her story is so powerful. 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:22.419 Being paralyzed from the shoulders down from a diving accident at age 17. 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.779 And so many directions could have come out of that incident. 00:19:27.859 --> 00:19:32.699 But by leaning into the Lord through years of wrestling with God 00:19:32.699 --> 00:19:35.759 and wrestling with the reality of suffering and glory, 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:39.759 out of that was born a ministry that has reached millions of people. 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:44.740 Especially those whose lives are impacted by disability. 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.859 And she often says this, one of her favorite quotes, 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:52.700 when she thinks about her own life and the lives of those who suffer, 00:19:52.859 --> 00:19:58.000 sometimes God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:02.819 Sometimes God uses what he hates to accomplish what he loves. 00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:09.799 That's why Paul's able to say, in verse 8, 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:11.859 we're afflicted in every way but not crushed. 00:20:13.579 --> 00:20:15.720 We're perplexed but not driven to despair. 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:19.579 We're persecuted but not forsaken. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:22.279 We're struck down but not destroyed. 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:28.680 If you believe that suffering means that God has abandoned you or that you have failed, 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:32.139 then when you're afflicted, it's going to crush you. 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:36.879 You know, when you're perplexed, it's going to drive you to despair. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:41.759 It's the meaning that you're attaching that makes the difference. 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:45.480 But Paul has come to see that suffering, listen to this, 00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:50.579 is precisely the place where God can work most powerfully in our lives 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:55.379 and where we can connect most personally with him. 00:20:56.179 --> 00:20:58.720 He's come to realize that here's the meaning of suffering. 00:20:58.899 --> 00:21:04.220 Suffering is precisely that place where God can work most powerfully in our lives 00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:07.159 and where we can connect most personally with him. 00:21:07.819 --> 00:21:10.279 It's a radically different way of thinking about suffering. 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:14.960 And from that, in Paul's life, we begin to see a new pattern emerge, 00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:17.799 a new pattern for suffering. 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:24.359 When a person becomes a Christian, they do so by putting their faith in Jesus. 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:28.059 They ask Jesus to forgive their sin. 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:33.000 They ask Jesus to make them righteous and holy, to reconcile them to God. 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:36.419 They ask Jesus that they might be adopted into God's family. 00:21:37.180 --> 00:21:38.940 And God answers those prayers, how? 00:21:39.879 --> 00:21:42.899 By spiritually joining that person to Jesus. 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:45.720 It will no longer be you and Jesus. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.440 You will become part of Jesus. 00:21:47.580 --> 00:21:48.920 His life will become your life. 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:51.259 Your life will be subsumed into his life. 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:52.920 You become one with Jesus. 00:21:53.580 --> 00:21:56.660 And if you want to know the core idea that runs through all of Paul's letters, 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.980 what it means to be a Christian, it is that truth. 00:22:00.380 --> 00:22:02.200 You become spiritually joined to Jesus. 00:22:04.259 --> 00:22:05.920 Now, that's extremely important. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:08.660 That union is marked by baptism. 00:22:08.660 --> 00:22:10.580 But how does Paul often describe baptism? 00:22:11.800 --> 00:22:13.019 It's a death and resurrection. 00:22:14.300 --> 00:22:16.580 When you're baptized into the life of Christ, 00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:19.000 you're baptized into a life that is shaped. 00:22:19.120 --> 00:22:21.680 The pattern of that life is death and resurrection. 00:22:23.580 --> 00:22:25.720 So here's what Paul begins to realize. 00:22:25.860 --> 00:22:28.019 Since we are spiritually connected to Jesus, 00:22:28.620 --> 00:22:33.840 even though that pattern of death and resurrection is a one-time thing in Jesus' life, 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:37.459 that pattern continues in the lives of Christians. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:38.799 That pattern continues. 00:22:39.099 --> 00:22:41.119 That becomes the shape of our life. 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:44.119 So this is what Paul means when he says in verse 10, 00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:47.939 we are always carrying in the body the death of Jesus 00:22:47.939 --> 00:22:51.879 so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:54.119 We are carrying death and resurrection. 00:22:54.679 --> 00:22:58.939 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake. 00:22:59.139 --> 00:23:01.099 We're always being given over to death. 00:23:01.099 --> 00:23:04.159 It's a continuous thing that is happening all the time, 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:06.139 day in and day out, year in and year out. 00:23:06.419 --> 00:23:06.859 Why? 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:11.759 So that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:12.240 He's saying, 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:17.139 my entire life now is shaped by this cycle of death and resurrection 00:23:17.139 --> 00:23:19.839 that is happening again and again and again. 00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:25.159 The normal Christian life repeatedly reenacts the death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:28.340 So how does this work practically? 00:23:29.779 --> 00:23:31.920 We enter into some kind of suffering 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:38.140 in which we realize our creatureliness, 00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:40.120 we realize our weakness, 00:23:40.320 --> 00:23:42.080 we realize the brokenness of the world. 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:44.100 We enter into that kind of suffering. 00:23:44.180 --> 00:23:45.240 Some of you are there right now. 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:48.660 But in that suffering, 00:23:48.819 --> 00:23:52.940 we also become aware of areas of our lives where there is sin, 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:55.740 where we are believing things that are not true, 00:23:56.559 --> 00:24:00.720 where there is rebellion or resistance to God. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:02.500 And then by grace, 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:03.819 in that time of suffering, 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:06.259 there is an opportunity to put those things to death. 00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:08.359 Those parts of us, 00:24:08.420 --> 00:24:10.200 those sinful parts of us are put to death. 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:14.740 And then we emerge from that suffering with a kind of new life, 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:16.779 a deeper faith, 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:18.160 greater maturity. 00:24:18.580 --> 00:24:21.259 We're a little more conformed to the image of Christ. 00:24:23.120 --> 00:24:23.240 Right? 00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:24.440 So practically speaking, 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:26.180 this becomes a pattern for life. 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:29.819 It becomes like a map that gives meaning to our suffering. 00:24:30.019 --> 00:24:33.319 It's a new roadmap to show us how to navigate suffering. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.140 So the next time we face hardship, 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:41.420 we could spend time ruminating about where we went wrong 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:42.380 or who let us down 00:24:42.380 --> 00:24:44.400 or shaking our fist at God and saying, 00:24:44.520 --> 00:24:45.580 how could you do this to me? 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:46.340 And you know, 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:47.660 there's a time and a place for that. 00:24:48.340 --> 00:24:51.420 God's big enough for us to be angry at him. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:53.380 But ultimately, 00:24:53.600 --> 00:24:55.580 that response is not going to change anything. 00:24:56.280 --> 00:24:57.700 You can ruminate day and night 00:24:57.700 --> 00:24:59.200 about all the things you could have done differently. 00:24:59.300 --> 00:25:00.520 It's not going to change anything. 00:25:01.780 --> 00:25:02.140 Instead, 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:03.000 what if, 00:25:03.600 --> 00:25:04.259 hypothetically, 00:25:04.259 --> 00:25:07.720 what if we simply say to ourselves, 00:25:08.819 --> 00:25:09.180 okay, 00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:12.259 this, 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:13.519 whatever it is for you, 00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:16.140 this is yet another cycle 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:17.940 of death and resurrection 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:19.779 that the Lord is leading me into. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:21.660 And here's the thing. 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:25.500 We accept the things we cannot change. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.299 We simply accept them. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:30.900 We receive them from the Lord. 00:25:30.900 --> 00:25:34.540 And then we can begin to prayerfully ask, 00:25:35.100 --> 00:25:36.840 in the midst of this, 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:41.540 what needs to be put to death in me? 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:42.660 And you say, 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:42.800 well, 00:25:42.840 --> 00:25:44.320 what a cruel question to ask 00:25:44.320 --> 00:25:46.560 somebody who's facing a hard time. 00:25:46.840 --> 00:25:47.500 That's a lot. 00:25:47.620 --> 00:25:47.800 No, 00:25:47.840 --> 00:25:47.940 no, 00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:48.040 no, 00:25:48.060 --> 00:25:48.180 no. 00:25:49.620 --> 00:25:52.680 It's a recognition that in the midst of the evil 00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:55.820 that is a part of living in a broken world, 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:58.920 God is constantly working redemptively in our lives. 00:25:58.920 --> 00:26:02.340 It's a recognition that life is ultimately not about happiness, 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.759 that happiness is a byproduct of deeper, 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:05.880 truer things, 00:26:06.360 --> 00:26:07.340 things like holiness, 00:26:08.340 --> 00:26:11.019 spiritual peace that comes with knowing the Lord. 00:26:12.620 --> 00:26:14.360 And then from that place, 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:17.519 we can begin to ask questions of our own heart. 00:26:18.820 --> 00:26:22.300 What inside me is being spotlighted by this suffering? 00:26:22.299 --> 00:26:28.579 What is blocking me from greater trust or greater faith in the Lord? 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:32.299 What needs to be put to death in me right now? 00:26:32.419 --> 00:26:34.539 What do I need to let go of? 00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:36.419 What do I need to turn away from? 00:26:36.779 --> 00:26:39.159 What truths do I need to embrace? 00:26:41.019 --> 00:26:41.359 Right? 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:42.940 So just to give you a couple of examples, 00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:48.000 if you are suffering from significant fear and anxiety, 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.480 significant fear and anxiety, 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:56.359 you feel like your life is just grit and a vice grip of fear, 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:00.519 what needs to be put to death? 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.920 What is blocking us from greater trust in the Lord? 00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:06.779 Maybe we are imagining, 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:08.920 maybe we are really good at imagining 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:12.660 some future worst case scenario. 00:27:12.660 --> 00:27:15.180 And in vivid detail, 00:27:15.320 --> 00:27:18.000 we can see the horrible things that are going to happen. 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:20.340 And maybe you realize, 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:20.700 you know, 00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:24.019 I'm actually putting more faith in that. 00:27:25.019 --> 00:27:29.380 I am more certain that that imaginary scenario is going to happen 00:27:29.380 --> 00:27:33.779 than I am of the Lord. 00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:35.920 And you realize that. 00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:36.440 That's actually, 00:27:36.580 --> 00:27:37.300 that's what I believe. 00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:38.060 That's my God. 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:38.500 That's my, 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:40.340 that's the reality that I'm embracing. 00:27:40.339 --> 00:27:43.359 It's that imaginary thing next week. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:45.859 Maybe that's what you realize. 00:27:46.259 --> 00:27:46.699 Maybe, 00:27:46.699 --> 00:27:46.779 maybe, 00:27:46.939 --> 00:27:47.699 maybe you realize, 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:49.419 I actually don't believe that, 00:27:49.539 --> 00:27:49.939 that, 00:27:50.059 --> 00:27:52.439 that things are okay unless I'm in control. 00:27:52.679 --> 00:27:53.579 I actually think that, 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:54.539 that, 00:27:54.699 --> 00:27:57.059 that my life would be better and the world would be better 00:27:57.059 --> 00:27:59.119 if I could just be in control of everything. 00:28:00.639 --> 00:28:01.279 And maybe, 00:28:01.379 --> 00:28:02.339 maybe you realize that. 00:28:02.399 --> 00:28:04.480 And you realize these are things that need to be put to death. 00:28:05.679 --> 00:28:06.759 And then you turn, 00:28:06.879 --> 00:28:08.399 you begin to embrace these truths. 00:28:08.679 --> 00:28:09.019 You know what? 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:10.299 Christ is with me. 00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:11.539 Uh, 00:28:11.539 --> 00:28:14.079 nothing can separate me from his love. 00:28:14.740 --> 00:28:16.139 If those bad things happen, 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:18.439 Christ will be with me in those things. 00:28:18.679 --> 00:28:19.199 And they're, 00:28:19.259 --> 00:28:19.459 they're, 00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:21.099 they're not things that he can't handle. 00:28:22.099 --> 00:28:23.299 And because of him, 00:28:23.339 --> 00:28:24.959 I know what Paul says in Romans eight, 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:29.639 that God is always working things for the good of people like me, 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:32.319 the good of people who have been called according to his purposes. 00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:34.740 Even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment, 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:40.039 I can trust that God is working all of this toward his good in my life. 00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:42.399 Right? 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:42.799 So you're, 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:42.980 you're, 00:28:42.980 --> 00:28:43.919 you're letting go of, 00:28:43.959 --> 00:28:46.919 you're putting to death these false beliefs and you're beginning to embrace 00:28:46.919 --> 00:28:48.139 things that you know are true. 00:28:49.179 --> 00:28:50.819 Or just to give you one other example, 00:28:50.959 --> 00:28:53.279 if you were suffering because you are in, 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:55.460 in conflict with another person, 00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:56.339 uh, 00:28:56.339 --> 00:28:59.940 if you're struggling with anger or bitterness or unforgiveness, 00:28:59.940 --> 00:29:03.779 and in the midst of that, 00:29:03.860 --> 00:29:05.740 your heart is crying out for justice. 00:29:06.539 --> 00:29:06.660 Your, 00:29:06.779 --> 00:29:08.440 your heart is crying out for validation. 00:29:09.059 --> 00:29:11.279 Your heart is crying out for people to take your side. 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:14.660 You want to be proven right. 00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:15.720 You want to be vindicated. 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:18.880 But you also ask in the, 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:20.039 that's a form of suffering. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.460 You ask what needs to be put to death in me in the midst of this? 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:24.460 Maybe, 00:29:24.460 --> 00:29:28.759 maybe I'm assuming I know that other person's motives. 00:29:29.600 --> 00:29:34.120 Maybe I'm assuming and filling in the blanks on what their intentions were or are. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.360 That needs to be put to death. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:42.140 Maybe I'm putting myself in a position to judge someone else's life. 00:29:42.140 --> 00:29:44.920 That needs to be put to death. 00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:48.280 And then we begin to embrace the truth. 00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:48.560 Hey, 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:51.280 only God knows the truth about the hearts of people. 00:29:52.120 --> 00:29:53.860 Only God knows what's going on. 00:29:55.820 --> 00:29:56.920 The older I get, 00:29:57.460 --> 00:29:58.780 the more I realize, 00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:00.320 the more bad I am. 00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:01.560 I realize that I am at, 00:30:01.580 --> 00:30:03.860 at assuming I know what other people are thinking or feeling. 00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:06.600 Or you embrace the, 00:30:06.600 --> 00:30:10.480 the truth that only God can truly judge human beings. 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.940 And the judgment ultimately belongs to him. 00:30:13.360 --> 00:30:16.019 And that God will bring justice in his time. 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:21.539 So all of these experiences like this are kind, 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:24.200 are a kind of many death and many resurrection. 00:30:24.460 --> 00:30:24.559 They, 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:27.259 they contribute to the death of sin in you. 00:30:27.420 --> 00:30:28.620 The mortification of sin, 00:30:28.700 --> 00:30:29.799 as the Puritans used to say. 00:30:30.860 --> 00:30:33.680 And they contribute to the growth of Christ in us. 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:36.599 So going back to the beginning, 00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:38.440 just bringing all this back together. 00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:41.400 I do think that Viktor Frankl was correct. 00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:46.840 The most important thing that determines our ability to endure suffering, 00:30:47.080 --> 00:30:48.860 is the meaning we attach to it. 00:30:49.620 --> 00:30:51.000 But here's what we need to see. 00:30:51.500 --> 00:30:53.759 You will find no greater source of meaning, 00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:56.100 for the suffering in your life, 00:30:56.519 --> 00:30:58.380 than the one you will find in Jesus Christ. 00:30:59.500 --> 00:31:01.140 You find a new perspective, 00:31:01.140 --> 00:31:06.759 that suffering is precisely that place where God can work most powerfully in our lives, 00:31:06.900 --> 00:31:09.280 and where we can connect most personally with him. 00:31:10.500 --> 00:31:12.759 And then you inherit a new pattern, 00:31:12.860 --> 00:31:17.480 a pattern that has shaped the lives of Christians for thousands of years. 00:31:18.520 --> 00:31:23.120 Suffering is an invitation to share in the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:27.279 and ultimately to become more and more like him. 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:29.000 Let's pray. 00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:36.579 Lord, would you take these words, 00:31:37.579 --> 00:31:40.379 and would they be words that become flesh? 00:31:41.099 --> 00:31:44.279 Would you press these truths? 00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.980 Would you impress upon us, 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:51.639 especially those of us here who are struggling or suffering in various ways, 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:53.779 would you impress upon us? 00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:56.819 Give us a vision of your cross. 00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:01.079 Give us a deep understanding of the shape of your life. 00:32:01.079 --> 00:32:05.159 And might that become a map of meaning for our lives? 00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:08.740 That whether we feel that our suffering is meaningless and arbitrary, 00:32:09.099 --> 00:32:10.139 that you're capricious, 00:32:10.679 --> 00:32:12.299 or whether we feel that we're being punished, 00:32:13.419 --> 00:32:15.059 whether we feel that we have failed, 00:32:15.159 --> 00:32:17.679 or that someone has wronged us or let us down, 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:20.679 may we accept the things we cannot change, 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:23.019 and may we enter into this cycle 00:32:23.019 --> 00:32:26.139 through which we become more and more like you, 00:32:26.179 --> 00:32:27.659 until that glorious day 00:32:27.659 --> 00:32:29.500 when your promise is fulfilled, 00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:31.640 when we see you face to face. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.119 We pray this in the name of your son, Jesus. 00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:35.599 Amen.