#388 The Jesus Trip, Why All This Pain?

#388 The Jesus Trip, Why All This Pain?
By: D. Karl Thomas

(See download links at the bottom of the page for the Sermon Notes, PowerPoint Slides & Group Discussion Questions)

Job 1:21 NKJV“And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.”

If what Job has said is true: 1. All good things come from God. 2. All bad things come from God.
God is the one who is ultimately responsible for evil. Everything happens for a reason.

Theodicy:— (Justifying God — Two words God theos and Righteous dike) the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.

Job is one of the Bibles poetic books and must be studied as such. It’s a drama, play, or ancient epic poem.
This does not diminish the historicity of Job, but is simply an acknowledgment of the literary nature of the Book of Job.

++++++++++++++++++ TYPES OF WRITING +++++++++++++++++++

Prologue— a separate introductory section of a literary work. Unknown to characters.
Main Narrative
Epilogue— This is a summary in which the main character can wrap things up and speak freely.

God is Good! Devil is bad

Job 1:8“Then the Lord asked Satan, ‘Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.’”

Job 1:9-11 “Satan replied to the Lord, ‘Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property … prosper in everything he does … But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!’”

Satan Openly Challenges God:
1. You have fixed this whole system so that man will devote himself to you.
2. Let me at your finest man and when I am done he will curse you. OK satan but this is all on you!

Question:— Do you have to get permission from God every time you do something stupid?
There are random actions by evil actors in the spiritual realm … stuff happens and we don’t see the spiritual source or interactions.

Job 2:7,9“So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.…Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Job 2:13 NLT“Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.”

Job 3:1-4“At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. He said: ‘Let the day of my birth be erased, and the night I was conceived. Let that day be turned to darkness. Let it be lost even to God on high, and let no light shine on it.’”

Job’s Comforters: Eugene Peterson “There are Job’s friends. The moment we find ourselves in trouble of any kind … people start showing up telling us exactly what is wrong with us and what we must do to get better. — Sufferers attract fixers the way roadkill attract vultures. At first we are impressed that they bother with us and amazed at their faculty with answers. They know so much! How did they get to be such experts at living? — More often than not, these people use the Word of God frequently and loosely. They are full of spiritual diagnosis and prescription. It all sounds so hopeful. But then we begin to wonder, ‘Why is it that for all their apparent compassion we feel worse instead of better after they’ve said their piece?’”
Eliphaz – Argument from experience.
Job 4:7-9 “Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed? My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same. A breath from God destroys them. They vanish in a blast of his anger.”

False view of God:Be good and you won’t suffer. Do bad and you get what you deserve.
Psalm 103:10“He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.”

Bildad – Argues from tradition.
Job 8:4“Your children must have sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved.”
Job 8:8-11“Just ask the previous generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors … But those who came before us will teach you.‘Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh?’”

Luke 13:4-5 “And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
Jesus refuted this mindset.

Zophar – Religious performance.
Job 11:13-19“If only youwould prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you. Thenyour face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear. … Even darkness will be as bright as morning.”

TRUTH – NOT TRUTHFULLY APPLIED: My response to your calamity. Wrong application can increase the misery of your friend! Job 27:5-6“I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die. I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.”

Job’s Descent:Job 9:22-24
“Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent … If he’s not the one who does it, who is?”

Job 21:15“Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?”
Job 30:20-21“I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look. You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.”

Job’s Hope: Job 9:33“If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.”
Daysman:— Schedule a hearing and impose his authority. I need help. I need someone to represent me

Job 19:25-27“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God. I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!”

Elihu – Prepares The Way
Job 32:2“…was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.”

Job 33:19-28 “If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness, Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;…” “…I have found a ransom’; His flesh shall be young like a child’s, He shall return to the days of his youth. He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness.”

Ransom:— to cover, purge, make an atonement, cover over with pitch.

God approaches in a storm. He doesn’t focus on Job’s weakness.
Two Major Questions:Can you grasp my greatness? Do you know I can destroy enemy?
He reveals His great power and declare His ability to destroy all of our enemy.

Job 38:4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.”
Job 41:1-4“Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower? Can you put a reed through his nose, Or pierce his jaw with a hook?”

Job 42:3“You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.” Clearly I didn’t have all the facts.

Job 42:5-6“I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

Job 42:7 ESV“After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.’”
Kuhn:— to align with or be straight … you spoke from your gut … brutally honest.
He loves honesty more than accuracy.

Job 42:10 “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

Before: Righteous Have Faith In The Promise CROSS After: Righteous Have Faith In The Performance

Colossians 2:13-15“He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses … Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

John10:10“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

God Good! devil bad

The Jesus Trip, Why All This Pain? PowerPoint Slides, PDF

The Jesus Trip, Why All This Pain? Sermon Notes to print, PDF

Week #3 – The Jesus Trip, Why All This Pain, Group Discussion Questions to print, PDF