The circumstances need not always be adverse, so Scripture admonishes us --
… “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.”(Rom 12:15 NASB)
Yet too often, when our eyes are focused on self we are not able to relate to the attitude of the Apostle Paul --
…“for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”(Phil 4:11 NIV)
When Paul made that statement, he expressed that he had known the reality of being in need at times, and at other times having plenty. The circumstances did not dictate his inner happiness of soul for he had learned a secret – first, there is something to learn in God’s Word and secondly, God gives opportunity to apply what is learned. What was that secret? Paul resoundingly writes --
… “can do all things through Him who keeps pouring on the power.”(Phil 4:13)
Problems in life are indeed inevitable; difficulties at times abound; times of prosperity and relaxation are also part of life’s experiences. How each of us deals with these events determines whether we will respond to the issue demonstrating love, appreciation, contentment of soul, inner joy, compassion, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control, all which are manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit, or will we react and demonstrate the fruit of the flesh – slander, brawling, anger, wrath, revenge, vindictiveness, maligning, gossip and bitterness. Only one of these honors the Lord and imitates His thinking and actions. The Apostle Peter forcefully gives witness to the thinking of Jesus as the Savior experienced the hatred of sinful mankind. In his epistle Peter wrote --
… “he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge.”(1 Peter 2:23 TEV)
How did the humanity of Christ maintain this thinking and course of action? He chose to walk in submission to the Father’s will and fulfill the purpose for His coming to earth -- that He might offer Himself a sacrifice for sin so that all who place their faith in His finished work on the Cross will have eternal life. Thus Peter concludes that it was Christ Himself who carried our sins in his body to the Cross so that we might die to the power of the sin nature and live for righteousness. Of course the skeptic or person who is looking for excuses to justify his reaction to situations is quick to say that Christ, since He is God, could not sin. True! However, note the rest of His name -- Jesus -- that is the name of his humanity and as a true member of the human race he could have chosen to sin but He did not. The writer of Hebrews states --
… “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”(Heb 4:15 NASB)
Thank God, Jesus Christ lived each moment committed to responding to the Father’s will and plan of salvation so that even in the most crucial hour of decision he could say “not my will but Thine be done.” Had the humanity of Christ reacted to the horror of bearing our sin, the human race would be hopelessly lost, separated from God. Instead, He responded to the plight of sinful man and became a willing, sacrificial substitute for my sin and yours. Hallelujah! What a Savior.