All Creation Groans, Pt. 6
Study Guide, August 24, 2025
Pastor Clay Olsen
What do you think these three images have in common? [Show Stars…Galaxies…Babies] Keep that in mind and we’ll come back to that. But sometimes one issue demands such attention from us that we isolate it from other issues. We’ve been Biblically examining one such issue…the issue of ‘Suffering’. Certainly, suffering is so alarming and so harming that it is justified to have such great attention in the lives of most people.
As we mentioned, the issue of ‘Suffering’ is the most questioned issue of all by people concerning matters of faith. And it’s both natural and normal to have deep questions about the suffering that comes into our lives and others. In fact, in God’s gracious and caring ways, God invites questions of all kinds, as the Bible is an ‘Open Book’ to the world. ‘Come and See’ is God’s invitation to everyone about everything. That’s why God the Holy Spirit moved Prophets and Apostles to record the Scriptures…the ‘revelation’ from God which would communicate and commune with people everywhere in wondrous and amazing ways, but yet with one particular purpose. The Apostle Peter recorded it, and we have cited it, but we need to state it again, and then unveil it further. It’s this: 2 Peter 1:1-4- “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature…” NASU
So not only is the Bible the Words of God to all people, but the Bible is also the revelation that is necessary for people to know in order to come to know their God as their Lord and Savior and to then to trust Him and worship Him and serve Him and live godly lives. And we rejoice in knowing that is why we have this indescribable collection of sixty-six books of God’s revelation to the world and especially to each one of us, His children! But it also points out a very profound reality about the very nature of God’s revelation…of the Bible…which sheds great light on how the Scriptures deal with every issue of life, including the issue of suffering.
Notice carefully: The Bible follows a particular pattern of revelation. It’s a pattern of ‘Necessary Revelation’. We say ‘necessary’ rather than even ‘needed’, because even the concept of ‘need’ is often viewed as optional from man’s side, whereas, ‘necessary’ points us to that which is absolutely vital as viewed from God’s side. So the Bible is the collection of what God views as ‘absolutely vital information’ for His created people in order for…as the Apostle Peter pointed out…for His created people to become His created and converted people…for anyone to be able to come to know their God as their Lord and Savior and to then trust Him and worship Him and serve Him and live godly lives.
So note again: The Bible is ‘Necessary Revelation’ that fulfills that overall purpose. What the Bible is not, is that it is not ‘Complete Information’ about either this present world, nor the world to come. And knowing this difference equips us with great understanding and great comfort in dealing with even such a difficult issue as suffering. How so?
Let’s expand on this: God’s pattern of ‘Necessary Revelation’ is the same for all the subjects of this world, from the subjects of Creation and Science to History and Medicine to Prophecy and even on into Heaven itself. Take Creation and Science for example. God revealed to us that He created the Heavens and the Earth according to His Will and by the power of His Words…through His omniscience and omnipotence…through His abilities as being – ‘God!’ So, along with what He had recorded in Genesis about it, He could have also revealed volumes of encyclopedic information explaining all the questions we might have about the wonders of Creation and the particulars of Science, like DNA and RNA and the Molecular composition of all living organisms, and on and on, in order to explain His handiwork and to prove His works. Of course, He could have…but for now, He gave us Stars and Galaxies and Babies. God gave us partial revelation in His Word about Creation and the revelation necessary for us to know Him as our God, and then He gave us enough miracles in this world, for now, that continuously declare the glory of God…like Stars and Galaxies and Babies!
God followed the same pattern of revelation with the subject of Prophecy. Do you remember the question that Jesus’ Disciples asked Him about the timing of His coming Kingdom? Acts 1:6-8- “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” NASU
Could Jesus have informed them and had them record for us the details of every prophetic event that was going to happen in the coming millennia, and in the coming centuries, and in the coming decades ahead leading up to His return and the ushering in of His Kingdom? Of course He could have! But He revealed what was necessary for them and for us to know for now in His Word, and what was necessary for us to know by becoming ‘The Living Word!’ And He did this by taking on the form of Humanity, and then by proving how much God loves us by giving up even His own life for us on a Cross to redeem us. And then He raised Himself from the dead, by the power of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus even gave us the Resurrection and recorded His Ascension into Heaven for us, in order to assure us that every promise He has made to us in His Revelation of the Scriptures to us is all true and will also come to pass!
But again, notice that Jesus revealed the answers that were necessary for them to know, but He didn’t reveal every answer to everything they wanted to know. But with the revelation given that was necessary and needed, they now knew enough to be both content and confident, and to be even more committed to following Jesus and serving Him and seeking to do His will. You see, just like with the Disciples, we haven’t been given the answers to our every question about the timing of Jesus’ return either. However, we have already been given enough answers in prophecies that are necessary for us to know in order to know that Jesus is coming back exactly as He promised! The revelation that we do have in the Scriptures represents the ‘Necessary Revelation’ about Prophecy that is necessary for us to, like the Disciples, be Jesus’ witnesses both in our own Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and to the remotest parts of the world!
And that is the pattern that God has used in His revelation on every issue and subject of life. It’s the pattern of ‘Necessary Revelation’, which is what the Bible represents. It is essential that we understand this about God’s revelation, because just like with every other issue in the Scriptures, while the revelation we do have about suffering is not a collection of answers for all of our questions, still, it is the revelation that is necessary for us to be able to then trust God…to trust God because of the answers God has already given and because of the truths that we already know about God’s character and caring and compassion as revealed in Jesus Christ. And therefore, we have more than enough reasons to be able to be at peace and to rest over the rest of the revelation that we one day will know about every subject of life, revelation that is for now – ‘necessary, yet partial revelation.’ Still, what we are to know is that the revelation that we do have is the exact revelation that we do need for knowing God as our Lord and Savior and for trusting and worshipping and serving Him, and for living godly lives now and forever.
The answers that God has already given us about every subject in which we have questions are clear enough to give us peace for the time being over every question we still have that will be answered in due time, in God’s time, when it’s the right time for God to answer it. Plus, it’s like the Apostle John said about Jesus…remember that? John 21:25- “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.” NASU If God would have chosen to explain the processes and record the answers to all questions about all subjects like – Creation, Science, History, Medicine, Prophecy, and even Suffering, the world could not contain the books that would be written. Now, perhaps in Heaven there will be like the ‘Library of Heaven.’ Imagine the size of that Library! Maybe one whole ‘Planet’ will be ‘The Library of Heaven’ with books explaining every subject, along with historic videos showing how God created the Heavens and the Earth and the New Heavens and the New Earth and so on…along with coffee and chocolate to enjoy while we’re there…maybe…it’s possible!
Let’s take it further: So could God have had His Prophets write out an answer to every person’s questions that He knew that they would have, explaining every instance of like…their suffering? Of course God could have! But for now, God revealed what was necessary for us to understand about what life was going to be like, both for His own children and for unsaved people in this world. All needed to know that until we live in God’s restored world of the Millennial Kingdom and then into God’s resurrected world of the Eternal Kingdom, that all mortal people would have to live in this cursed and damaged and decaying and dying and mortal world of suffering, where even His own prophets and apostles and, especially, even His own Son suffered.
Jesus even showed us His own tears that He shed over the suffering caused by sickness and pain and death, even to those He would resurrect! In addition to that, remember, God told us that He suffers with us: Isa 63:8-9- “He said, “They are My very own people. Surely they will not betray Me again.” And He became their Savior. In all their suffering He also suffered…” NLT We have talked about the marvel that God allows Himself to suffer with His people…with you and with me! We never suffer alone, but always ‘with’…we suffer with Jesus and Jesus suffers with us, even in us. And certainly, God will reveal more reasons about that when we are able to sit down with Jesus and talk with Him for hours and hours about all of our questions. And Jesus will give us all the answers we need, maybe even want. We’ll have eternity to talk about it all, you know!
So again, God could have given us parchment and later paper, with the revelations with every answer about every question we have, like even about His love and care for us. But what was absolutely vital and necessary in order for God to demonstrate His own love for us was to give us ‘Jesus!’ So God gave us Jesus, and the Cross… “For God so loved the world, loved you, that He gave His only Son, so that in believing…in receiving Jesus…you would not perish, but have eternal life.” In the Cross, God proved everything necessary for us to know His immeasurable love for us, and to also be given His redeeming sacrifice for us, in order to have us belong to Him forever and ever. God gave us the Cross as proof of His love for us. And in addition, God gave us His precious promises of how He was going to help us in our times of suffering, along with His promises to deliver us…either from it or through it. And that is essential to know.
So note: We haven’t been given the answers to our every question about suffering. However, we have already been given enough answers…or rather…we’ve been given enough ‘necessary revelation’ about suffering to know that God does love us and is suffering with us. And in knowing that God loves us and is suffering with us, we are then assured that we can rest in His love and trust in what He is doing about it, in spite of everything we do not yet know or understand about it. And, as we have also stated, we can rest assured that He is delivering us! For God is our Deliverer, and thus He will deliver us from all harm. Yet, we are to know that this ‘deliverance’ will be either immediately, or in time, or in eternity. God will deliver us either from it or through it, but either way…we are to know it!
For an example of that, the Apostle Paul knew that God was his Deliverer and even said that God would deliver him from all evil. Notice: 2 Tim 4:18- “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” NKJV Think about that. This testimony came from one who had been stoned, lashed several times, imprisoned and treated harshly, gone without food and proper clothing, and more. And yet, his testimony was that God was His Deliverer, and he trusted in God delivering him according to God’s timing. Which tells us that trusting in God’s deliverance includes trusting in God’s timing, for that deliverance will be either from the suffering or through the suffering, but for sure…we will overcome the suffering, and are to be confident of being victoriously delivered!
Here is something else that people, even followers of Christ, often do not think about in connection with the issue of suffering. Suffering is a time that not only reveals what we know about suffering…it is a time that reveals what we know about our God. Like Paul, do we know and trust our God as our Deliverer, even when we are in the midst of needing deliverance? Like the Psalmist, do we know and trust God as our Shepherd, even when we are walking in a shadow period of our lives? Like Peter, do we know and trust God as ‘The Way, The Truth, and our very Life? Do we know that God has given us everything we need to know, or rather, everything that is necessary for us to know to worship God and to live godly, even like when Peter was about to be martyred for being a follower of Christ?
Again, certainly, suffering rightly calls for us to seek to understand what we can learn from the Scriputers about it, so as to better handle it. But suffering also rightly calls for us to seek to also use it for our constant purpose of living a godly life and for glorifying our God, even glorifying our God before the eyes of others. For there is one thing about suffering for sure…suffering is one thing that gets the attention of others. They may not pay attention to you when things are going well, but they sure pay attention when they are not…especially when you are suffering. Suffering is one of the most powerful platforms from which to point others to your hope…to your Blessed Hope, your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (And we’ll talk about that more later on too.)
And one more thing for our study today…Suffering calls out not only ‘Why’, but it also calls out ‘What now?” What now am I going to do about this suffering, about my suffering? Even if I don’t understand all there is about it, still, what am I going to do about it? And ‘What we can do about it’ is part of what we’ll examine in our next study.