“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:18)
The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross willingly, at any time He could have averted that shame, He could have called legions of angels, given verifiable proof to both the court of Herod and Pilate of who He is, He could have made all of creation simply vanish and start over. He is God, and He made the decision to go to the cross of His own free will.
I bring these truths up in connection with a verse that many of us have difficulty with, and few correlate the actions of Christ in this regard with their life. “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?” (1st Cor. 6:7)
Injustice is the word that comes to mind when we read this verse in context, when we are wronged intentionally and with malice of intent, we are, as many interpret this section, to acquiesce to that infraction upon us, we are to allow it to happen. In the modern vernacular, we are to just roll over and accept it.
Compare these verses, in context with Matthew 24:43, “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” And with Psalm 94:16, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” Which are we to do, allow ourselves to be made sport of, so to speak, or rise up against that which is evil, that which has malicious intent towards us?
The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth for a specific purpose, to offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. He was not about to change anything in that regard, so then, the question must arise, if we are to allow ourselves to be defamed, for what specific purpose would that be in our life?
“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” (1st Peter 4:16)
Sometimes when people who watch as we suffer for the Lord have their hearts are drawn to Him, these are the lost, the ones the Lord came to seek, the ones we are to be looking for as well. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)
To be willingly defamed is to keep our mouth shut when we know the truth, but it goes against every fiber of our being, we want to be vindicated.
If the purpose of your life is to glorify God, then, and if He decides that you are to be defamed, then in obedience to His will, you will allow it to happen. If He determines for His glory that you are to suffer for His name, then in no matter what form He allows that suffering to arrive in your life, you will accept it, with the full knowledge that Romans 8:28 is truth “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
But it will go against everything that you believe, up until that moment, when your beliefs will be changed.
Some will be as Job and receive seven times more, others will be as Lazarus at the rich man’s gate, that is up to the Almighty, we are to accept His will in our life, we are to say Thy will be done.
If the purpose of your life is to glorify God, to lift up the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you understand these truths, if not, then there may be another difficult lesson for you to learn in your future.
