The conditional clause, “if, in fact,
we suffer with him” might cause one to “fall back into fear” especially if one
lives a life where suffering is minimal or avoided altogether. Of course all
suffering is relative and in that sense painful. Even minor losses are loses none-the-less.
But Paul is not talking about minor inconveniences. Nor is he talking about the
kind of suffering that is arbitrary or random, like an accident or a sudden
loss of health. Or the suffering caused by another. Or the suffering that is personal
and borne alone. Paul is talking about the suffering one chooses to endure in
the same way that Jesus abandoned the place of perfection to inhabit our flesh
that like the flowers of the field fades. The suffering Jesus endured, then,
was fully for the sake of others and the glory it brought him was the
redemption of a world hell bent on destruction. For us to, “in fact, suffer with
him” means we choose the path of pain and sorrow with and for the sake of the other - to pick up the cross that belongs to
someone else in the same way Jesus bore our pain and suffered our sorrow. The
condition of this clause depends on our possessing the family gene which is love
and the good news is that the adoption papers have been signed, sealed and
delivered by the One who made us to be children of God.
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