The Proof of Sonship Part 4 and 5: Suffering

And if children, and heirs, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him in order that [or for the purpose that] we may be glorified together with him. – Romans 8:17, author’s translation

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem on his way to suffer and die on the cross. He did so to accomplish our redemption. The way of the cross is also the way of our life. Why are God’s children enrolled in the school of suffering? The answer is so they can graduate to glory. Cross now, crown later. That is the order.

We have been considering the proofs of sonship in Romans 8:14-17. Sons of God are, first, those who are being led by the Spirit of God; second, those who give witness to that fact by crying out, “Abba, Father,” by the help of the Holy Spirit; and third, those to whom the Holy Spirit himself gives testimony that they are children of God. Now we want to study the fourth proof, that the children of God are called to suffer now in this world so that they may be glorified in the age to come.

God ordains suffering for the good of his children. So suffering is not a surprise for the people of God. I recently heard the testimony of a Roman Catholic priest who was sent from Texas to Spain to do his doctoral studies in the theology of the cross. This man had long suffered from migraine headaches. Once in a while they would go away. When that happened, he could work hard and excel in his studies. But this time, he became overwhelmed. Not only did he not feel good, but also his classes were in Spanish, not English. So he called his superior and said he could not continue. His wise superior answered, “What are you researching?” This priest replied, “The theology of the cross.” “Well, do it, then.”

We walk the way of the cross. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “If you are suffering as a Christian, and because you are a Christian, it is one of the surest proofs you can ever have of the fact that you are a child of God.”¹ Robert Haldane said, “The man professing Christ’s religion, who meets with no persecution or opposition from the world for Christ’s sake, may well doubt the sincerity of his profession.”²

Suffering can only last until we die. What will endure forever for us is not suffering but our reigning in glory with Christ. Every child of God will suffer here and now. If you are suffering, then rejoice in hope of the glory of God and in the fact that you are truly a child of God.

And If Children

In the Greek, Paul begins verse 17: “And if children.” This phrase really means “because we are children.” There is no doubt about it. We are children by the judicial action of God called adoption. John declares, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). In his first epistle he exclaims, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Paul also speaks of this: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” (Eph. 5:1). We are children of God! No longer are we sons of Adam or sons of the devil. Truly we are children of God by his special love shown in his adopting us. As children, we are being conformed to the image of his Son.

We Are Heirs

Paul continues, “And if children, and heirs. . .” If we are God’s children, we are also his heirs. Sons are heirs, and heirs inherit, as we read in Jeremiah 3:19: “I myself said, how gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land.” Paul writes, “So you are no longer a slave but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir” (Gal. 4:7). Elsewhere he says, “After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children” (2 Cor. 12:14). The Spirit of God dwelling in us guarantees our inheritance of final and full salvation: “He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor. 1:22).

All true believers are children of God, not just some, and all children are heirs, not just some. There is a great inheritance waiting for us. This is the greatest stimulus for God’s children to live holy lives in this world even as we suffer. All believers-Jewish or Gentile-are heirs. Paul says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. . . . There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26, 28).

We are heirs “according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29), which is the promise of God who cannot lie, a promise that is made more sure by divine oath. We are heirs of salvation, full and free; heirs of the grace of life; heirs according to the hope of eternal life; heirs of righteousness; and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised. So Jesus assures us, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). He tells us in Matthew 25, “Then the King will says to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world'” (Matt. 25:34). If children, then heirs.

Heirs of God

Not only are we heirs, but Paul then says we are “heirs of God.” All true believers are not just sons but heirs of God the Father. “Heirs of the Father” is a unique phrase, signifying that we are “heirs belonging to the Father.” So our inheritance is absolutely safe. Our Father is eternal and unchanging; he cannot lie, nor can any enemy defeat him and take away our inheritance. So Peter states, “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade-kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4). We saints have a treasure in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. We are not heirs of men whose promises cannot be trusted. They can be killed or their wealth can fly away.

As heirs of God, all that God owns (i.e., the whole creation) belongs to us. As heirs of God, we need not fear that somehow we will perish before we arrive in his presence to enjoy our inheritance. That is not going to happen, he keeps safe not only our inheritance, but us as well. Jesus promised, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:28). Nothing in all creation is able to cut us off from God our heavenly Father. What God begins, he also continues and completes. The salvation of God’s heirs is absolutely certain.

This also means that we inherit not only all that the Father has, but also God himself. The Bible says that God is our portion, and we are God’s portion. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25). God is all-sufficient. We possess God and all God has.

We Are Joint-heirs with Christ

Then Paul explains that all of God’s adopted children are “joint-heirs with Christ.” There cannot be any adoption or inheritance outside of Christ. We were sons of Adam and sons of the devil, but God took us out of that family by a divine miracle. By faith we are now united with Christ. He is the head, and we are the body. He is the bridegroom, and we are the bride. He is the foundation, and we are the building. He is the vine, and we are the branches. He is the Son, and we are sons in him. So Paul writes, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-2).

We are inseparably and eternally in Christ. We are sons in his Son and brothers in Jesus, our older brother. So all our inheritance comes to us in him also. God has appointed his Son to be “heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). Since we are united with the Son, we too are appointed to inherit all things.

In the parable of the tenants, Jesus said, “Last of all he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance'” (Matt. 21:37-38). But they could not take his inheritance. It is reserved for us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ.

So Paul says, “All things are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God” (1 Cor. 3:22-23). Jesus is seated on God’s right hand, we are seated with him, and “God placed all things under [Christ’s] feet” (Eph. 1:22). So we are joint-heirs with Christ, and Christ fills us with his fullness. All his inheritance belongs to the suffering children of God.

We Share in His Sufferings

Now Paul brings in more clarity: “if indeed we suffer with him.” This “if” does not signify any doubt that we will experience suffering. We can translate it this way: “since we are suffering with him” or “since we share in his sufferings.” That is the meaning of the text.

Paul suffered daily for the gospel. He was also keenly aware of the sufferings of the Roman Christians. He knew that union with Christ not only entitles us to his inheritance, but also causes us to suffer with him in this present evil age. If the world hated Christ, it will hate Christians because they confess his name. The Son himself, though sinless, learned obedience and became perfect by suffering (see Heb. 5:8-9). He was not exempt from it. Christ’s sufferings alone accomplished the atonement, the propitiation, on our behalf. Our sufferings contribute nothing to our redemption. But the path to glory for Christ was suffering, and for us suffering is also the path to glory.

The risen Lord asked, “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:26). And Peter says, “Concerning this salvation the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. . . . To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps” (1 Pet. 1:10-11; 2:21).

We learn more of Christ and make greater progress in sanctification, not in prosperity, but when we are facing severe adversity. All of Christ’s sheep are branded with the cross. We are persecuted because, as light of the world, we expose the evil of the world.

The Proof of Suffering

Suffering as a Christian, suffering for Christ’s sake, suffering because of righteousness, is proof that we are children of God. No son is exempt. If we are not suffering, we may not be shining as stars in the universe, holding forth the word of life. If we start shining by living obedient lives and proclaiming the gospel, we can rest assured that we will be persecuted.

There are many ways Christians suffer in our modern society. Suppose you are a university professor and do not believe in Darwinian evolution or in moral relativism, but in intelligent design and the Bible. You may not get tenure, and you may even lose your job. Suppose you are a student who believes the biblical view of reality and morality. You are against cheating and abortion and tell others that you are for sexual purity. You may end up with a lower grade. If you are an employee, you may be laid off for insisting on worshiping on the Lord’s Day, rather than working, or you may get fired for refusing to participate in a crooked business deal. If you are a pastor who preaches that Christians must live a holy life, keeping God’s commandments, you may be persecuted, slandered, and even removed from your office.

Yet even as we suffer, we can be encouraged that we are not alone. Jesus Christ suffers with us and is touched with our grief, for we are vitally united with him. So the resurrected Christ spoke to Saul in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” That speaks about the unity between Christ and the church. We suffer with Christ, and he suffers with us.

Daniel 3 speaks of the persecution of the three Hebrew children who refused to fall down and worship the image of gold. As threatened, these three sons of God were thrown into the fiery furnace made hotter seven times. But King Nebuchadnezzar then declared, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth one looks like son of the gods” (Dan. 3:25). Nebuchadnezzar was right: it was the Son of God. Christ is with us always, even to the end of the age. He is a wall of fire around us. We suffer with him, and he suffers with us. Jesus is truly our sympathizing high priest.

“Sympathizing” means suffering with us. The Greek word sumpaschô is found in only one other place in the New Testament: “If one member suffers, every member suffers with him” (1 Cor. 12:26). Because we are united to all the members of the body of Christ, we truly suffer with our suffering brothers and sisters. It is like a mother who truly suffers with her suffering child. So also, when we suffer with Christ, Christ suffers with us and gives us grace to endure.

Jesus told us ahead of time that we must suffer for our faith: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up the cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23); “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33); “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil about you because of me. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because great is your reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:10-12; see also John 15:18-25).

Paul said the same thing: “In this world we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Paul told Timothy, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted. . . . If we suffer, we shall reign with him” (2 Tim. 3:12; 2:12).

James, the brother of the Lord, said the same thing: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3). Then he declared, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Peter spoke similarly: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed. For the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1 Pet. 4:12-14).

John said the same thing: “Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13).

Therefore, if any evangelist or minister tells sinners to receive Jesus so that all their problems may disappear, and promises that they will obtain health, wealth, power, and glory in this world, he is a fraud. He is lining his pocket with the money of the suffering of others. He is a pseudo-evangelist, and his gospel is a different gospel, a lie from Satan.

The Purpose of Sufferings

When Christians suffer, their afflictions are meaningful. The godly suffer for a purpose. Through God-ordained sufferings, God forms in them the character of his Son Jesus Christ. In other words, through suffering God makes us like Jesus Christ. (PGM) So afflictions work for the good of conforming us to the image of Christ. “For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (Rom. 8:28-29).

God has purposed from all eternity to make us holy and blameless so that we can enjoy eternal holy communion with him: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4). Jesus Christ “loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:25-27). Paul elsewhere speaks of God as being “able to keep [us] from falling and to present [us] before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy” (Jude 24).

God has the following purposes in suffering:

1. Suffering is educative. God’s sons are loved and disciplined for their good that they may share in his holiness (see Heb. 12:7-14). Without holiness no one will see God.
2. Suffering is productive. It results in something. “I rejoice in sufferings also because we know sufferings produce endurance; endurance, proven character; and proven character, hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:3-5). Sufferings help us hope for heaven and make us let go of the world and its allurements. “For our light and momentary trouble produces for us an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). It is time that we valued suffering. “You know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:3).
3. Suffering is corrective. The psalmist declares, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now I obey your word” (Ps. 119:67; see also 2 Cor. 1:5-9).
4. Suffering is purificatory. “I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them. I will say they are my people, and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God'” (Zech. 13:9). Peter states, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith, of greater worth than gold which perishes, even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Pet. 1:6-7).
5. Suffering reveals the faithfulness of God. “I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous and in faithfulness you afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75).
6. Suffering causes us to discover the comfort of the Scriptures. “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction” (Psalm 119:92). All kinds of commendations and get-well cards cannot help you. You finally must open the Book, and there you discover the comfort of the Scriptures.
7. Suffering is also preparatory. “If you suffer with him, you will reign with him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Suffering prepares us for glory.
8. Suffering is preventive. Paul writes, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me” (2 Cor. 12:7). He prayed three times for it to be removed, but God said no. But that is not all he said. He also said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Paul’s suffering kept him from becoming arrogant. There are people who foolishly say that if we are suffering, we have no faith, and if only we believed, we would experience no suffering. In fact, our suffering proves the opposite. It proves we are sons who live by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul says the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives (2 Cor. 1:5). “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body” (2 Cor. 4:10-11). Paul also said he wanted “to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing with his sufferings” (Phil. 3:10).

By what power can we endure these fiery trials? We can do so, not in our own power, but by the power of God. Paul speaks of God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:19). It is the power that raised Christ from the dead. That same power raised us spiritually and will raise us also physically. This resurrection power is given to us so that we can live in this world and endure affliction. So Paul prays, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us” (Eph. 3:20).

Why must we experience all these troubles? Why all this heat? God uses troubles, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones said, like a hot iron to remove all wrinkles in our character.³ He will have a radiant bride without any stain, spot, or wrinkle, dressed in fine linen, bright and clean. Therefore, Paul calls us to rejoice in tribulations because they prepare God’s children for glory. If we are suffering now, Jesus calls us blessed: “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:10). Peter says, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed” (1 Pet. 4:14). James says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial” (James 1:12). Jesus, Peter, Paul, and James all say we are blessed! We are the most blessed people on the face of the earth.

Disappointments are truly God’s appointments. The believer’s suffering is not eternal. Our suffering will end with our death. Our sufferings are light and momentary. What is eternal is glory.

For those who are not children of God, what awaits is eternal suffering, torment, and agony: “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are in agony'” (Luke 16:25). If you are an unbeliever, call upon the name of the Lord and become a child of God. The risen Lord will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).

Glorified with Christ

Finally, Paul ends with two words: hina sundoxasthômen (“in order that we may be glorified with him”). There is a necessary connection between our present suffering and our future glory. As children of God, we now suffer with Christ so that we may be glorified together with him. No pain, no gain; no cross, no crown; no suffering, no glory. Our present suffering is a stepping stone, a step up to future glory. There is a necessary order, which cannot be reversed: first suffering, then glory. Any gospel that offers glory without suffering is not true and is an abomination to the Lord.

In the midst of their sufferings, God’s children rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We alone are people of hope. The people of the world are without hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2:12). Unbelievers live miserable and anxious lives every day. Paul instructs the Thessalonians not “to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13, italics added).

A rich man may dress in purple and dine on fine foods and party every day, but bad things are waiting for him (Luke 16). But glory is waiting for us. God has a plan for our lives: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). We must understand that God is planning a bright and glorious future of glory for those who trust in him.

We are predestinated to glory. God sent his Son to this world that he may bring many sons to glory, and he has done it. Jesus prayed to his Father, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. . . . Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world” (John 17:22, 24).

From all eternity God loved and predestinated us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. In time, he effectually called and justifies us. And those whom he justified, he also will glorify. In other words, it is a done deal. Every child of God will be glorified. What God begins, he completes. We shall be made like his own Son, that we may be with him to see his glory.

We cannot see his glory without ourselves being glorified in soul and body. John says, “But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This is speaking about our glorification. Even now, through sanctification, we are being transformed: “And we who with unveiled faces are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

We are being transformed, though outwardly we waste away through suffering (2 Cor. 4:16). We do not need any proof of that. We can look at the mirror and see it. Yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. There is real growth. All our sufferings are producing glory. And soon our bodies will be clothed with Spirit-engineered bodies, fit to dwell in glory with God, bodies like unto the glorious body of Jesus Christ, bodies of flesh and bones. For the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable. We will be raised in glory, power, and immortality.

Our mortal bodies must by divine decree put on immortality in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. Then we will have bodies without sin, bodies that shine like the sun. So Paul declares that Christ by his death destroyed death and “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).

Glory means no sin, no sickness, no wasting away, no tears, no death, and no separation. Glory means eternal life, eternal joy, eternal peace, and eternal fellowship.

All of God’s children will enjoy this glory. Paul says, “And I pray that you may have power together with all the saints to grasp how long and wide and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Eph. 3:18, italics added). Those who break covenant with a Bible-believing church do so because they are not true members of that church. Our bodies are made of many members; our hands, for instance, cannot simply move away from us. God puts members together in his body the church. So Paul exults, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8, italics added).

All creation also shall be glorified. All creation is longing to see the children of God glorified. There will be a new heaven and a new earth where dwells no sin but only righteousness, where we dwell with God and Jesus and holy angels as well as trees, animals, birds, streams, and flowers. There shall not be any rebels there, who will slander and persecute and speak falsely all manner of evil against God’s people. No, only God’s glory awaits us.

He is coming soon, he is coming soon,

with joy we welcome his returning.

It may be morn, it may night or noon,

we know he is coming soon.

When Christ comes, he will give us a new name and a crown of gold (Rev. 3:12; 4:4). He will give us a crown of life, a crown of righteousness, and we shall reign with him forever. We shall sit with Christ on his throne. This glory is inalienable. All things are ours in Christ.

John Piper says, “Everything that exists will serve [our] happiness.”⁴ As children of God, we inherit God and Christ and all creation. And we will have a heavenly home. Christ ascended into the heavens to make a home for us. We will enjoy a heavenly banquet as we rule with Christ in our glorified bodies. Then we shall sing, “Hallelujah, for our Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7).

So rejoice in your sufferings! And as you suffer, see that the Son of God is with you. For he promises, “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the ages” (Matt. 28:20). He assures us, “My grace is sufficient for you” to live a victorious Christian life. The Lord guarantees, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). If we suffer with him, we shall be glorified together with him. Blessed be the Lord, who blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Soon our suffering will end, and God will take us to glory.

O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me,

when by his grace I shall look on his face.

That will be glory, be glory for me.

¹ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sons of God: An Exposition of Chapter 8:5-17 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 433.

² Robert Haldane, Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1996), 366.

³ Lloyd-Jones, ibid.

⁴http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/10/89_Children_Heirs_and_Fellow_Sufferers/