Living in a Suffering World

He was… a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. ISAIAH 53:3

John Stott comments so helpfully on the sufferings of Jesus in a moving passage from his book called The Cross of Christ:

I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross… In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?

I have entered many Buddhist temples… and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away.

And in my imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me!

Many people who endured the First World War felt that they could no longer believe in God, but Edward Shillito went a different way. The horrors of war convinced him that a suffering world needs a suffering Saviour. He wrote a poem called, Jesus of the Scars, and in these (paraphrased) lines, he is speaking of the world of religion with all its varieties…

The other gods were strong; but you were weak;

They rode, but you stumbled to a throne;

But to our wounds only can God’s wounds speak,

And not a god has wounds, but you alone.

The wounds of Christ are His credentials to a suffering world. And by God’s grace, He came through it, and by God’s help you will too.

Do you feel your need of a suffering Saviour? Why or why not?

Written by Colin Smith

Read by Sue McLeish

www.openthebible.org.uk

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March 31, 2024

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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Living in a Suffering World

He was… a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. ISAIAH 53:3

And in my imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me!

The other gods were strong; but you were weak;

They rode, but you stumbled to a throne;

But to our wounds only can God’s wounds speak,

And not a god has wounds, but you alone.

The wounds of Christ are His credentials to a suffering world. And by God’s grace, He came through it, and by God’s help you will too.

Do you feel your need of a suffering Saviour? Why or why not?

Written by Colin Smith

Read by Sue McLeish

www.openthebible.org.uk

Details

Date

Monthly Offer

Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Linked resources

© Open the Bible UK 2025.

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Living in a Suffering World

He was… a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. ISAIAH 53:3

And in my imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me!

The other gods were strong; but you were weak;

They rode, but you stumbled to a throne;

But to our wounds only can God’s wounds speak,

And not a god has wounds, but you alone.

The wounds of Christ are His credentials to a suffering world. And by God’s grace, He came through it, and by God’s help you will too.

Do you feel your need of a suffering Saviour? Why or why not?

Written by Colin Smith

Read by Sue McLeish

www.openthebible.org.uk

Details

Date

Monthly Offer

Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Linked resources

© Open the Bible UK 2025.

Hear about new resources and events

It looks like you're viewing the site from outside the UK. Click below to visit our international site or close this pop-up to view the UK site.

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