Trouble - What Did I Do to Deserve This? (A Short Biblical Theology of Suffering)
Sermon Notes
1. The trouble all started in Genesis 3 (3.16-19), and all creation has been groaning ever since – awaiting its redemption (Romans 8.22 and 19).
2. This trouble is broad and profound – covering all of life, and it is a part of God’s sovereign plan for redemption (Ecclesiastes 3.1-14).
3. The trouble itself cannot hide beauty, and the trouble itself is woven into the web of the beauty of redemption (Romans 8.28; Hebrews 5.8).
4. For the Christian, trouble always gives us the opportunity to identify deeper with the sufferings of Christ in whose image we are and destined to be like (II Corinthian 1.5; Romans 8.29; Colossians 1.24).
5. That’s why we should embrace suffering and trouble (James 1.2-5; Acts 5.41). They keep us dependent and growing.
6. Trouble and suffering bind us together as a community (II Corinthians 1.4-7).
So what?