Based on Luke 6:20-26 (New King James Version)
“Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: ‘Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
Should we put hope in this world if we are followers of Christ? Does the believer's life have to be difficult now? Won't God help us while we are in this life? Is it necessary to pay for our salvation with suffering? These are questions that I imagine we have all asked ourselves or continue to ask ourselves. And of course, it should be clear that the answers to these questions, and all other questions that make sense can be answered through the Word.
To begin, I think we all know that this world is not a perfect place and sin makes it so, both the sins of our past generations, from Adam and Eve, and all the way to all of us now, both our personal sins and the sins of the people around us. That is why, no matter how much the vast majority do not want to accept that sin does exist, and that it does cause harm, we have very clear evidence to the contrary, that sin is destructive and deadly, that it can produce both physical death and the worst of deaths, spiritual death. We must always be clear on what has produced all these evils, both sin and Satan, because Satan is the agent that promotes all sin. So, if this world is full of sin, we should not put much hope in it, because it is completely corrupted. But part of the hope is that all of this is temporary.
And this leads us to answer the following questions, whether our life as followers of Christ should be difficult now. The answer is yes, because if we are with God, and follow His will, then we are against sin and Satan, which reign at the moment. We are in a war against the enemy to challenge what is today so that we can have better and eternal things after this. And this also answers the question of whether we need to suffer to obtain salvation. Now, does God really want us to suffer? No. Remember that everything God did was very good. Sin ruined everything. Remember that God gave the whole world to man at the beginning, but it was not enough for him. Deceived by Satan, man thought that God was hiding greater things from them, and that is why they ate the forbidden fruit, finally paying attention to a being they owed nothing to and disobeying the One who had given them everything. But let's not blame Adam and Eve so harshly because we would have done worse than them, because they were a better version. We were born corrupted, just as King David himself said: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5.
Now, will God help us in the meantime? Of course, yes, but we must understand the global and eternal issue, the one that surpasses the temporal. The Lord always seeks our good but looking towards eternity. As a fallen nature, we must be restored to the likeness we need to have in order to inherit the eternal. If we retain our present likeness, and of course, our way of thinking in the present, we will not be able to inherit the eternal, because the corruptible cannot inherit the incorruptible. Because if that happened, the cycle of corruption would never end. Sin corrupts everything, and therefore cannot be admitted into the heavenly places. And also, the Lord speaks that we will have authority over unimaginable things, eternal things. But, if we are neither ready nor prepared for that, how can He give them to us? Impossible. It's like giving the keys to a luxury sports car to a one-year-old child. If they could still start the car, what do you think a child who neither has the height, nor the skill, nor the knowledge, nor anything else he needs to be able to drive something like that responsibly do? So, for the Lord, preparing us for the coming kingdom will always take priority over what we think we need or want here and now. You have to see things from that point of view. Our sight and understanding are incredibly short and limited, and that is why we must simply let ourselves be led by Him and seek to do His will in all things. So, the Lord will always help us, but in the context of our greatest good, and not only our individual good, but the good for everyone that surrounds us.
And this brings us to our last point. Since God is always thinking of the universal view, He not only has your good in mind, but also the good of everyone around you. Being God is not easy, and blessed be He that He is the one who performs that function, so to speak. Think of it this way. Can you imagine trying to order the course of more than 7 billion people at the same time, and thinking about those who come after, and with an enemy with an evil army that only seeks to sabotage and change what God wants to do, and in a totally corrupted world which is destined for a certain destruction? It is impossible to think about it. But, nevertheless, and within all the challenges, what He tries to do most is to give the opportunity to an entire world to know the way to salvation, for a greater and eternal good. This is what the Word finally advises us about living in a world full of evil and sin: “For: ‘He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’ And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. ‘And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.’ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:10-17. So then, are your eyes placed on Him that surpasses everything in the present? Lord bless! John. Support Israel. Pray for Israel. God will bless those that bless Israel.