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[0:00] Well, do take a seat. And we now come to read God's Word from the book of Job in our Bibles. If you have a Bible, do turn to Job.

[0:10] If you don't have a Bible, then pick up one of the church Bibles. It's on page 528. 528, we're going to read Job chapter 38 and then some of Job chapter 40.

[0:23] And this afternoon's message is based on chapter 8, chapter 39, and then into chapter 40. And this is the time since the beginning of the book of Job, the time when God now speaks to Job and responds to him as Job has wanted.

[0:41] So Job chapter 38, reading most of chapter 38, and then chapter 40, verse 1 to 5. This is the Word of God.

[0:54] Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said,

[1:57] Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

[2:24] Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanse of the earth? Tell me if you know all this.

[2:38] What is the way to the abode of light and where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know for you were already born.

[2:51] You have lived so many years. Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?

[3:04] What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed? Or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain and a path for the thunderstorm?

[3:19] To water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert? To satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father?

[3:31] Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? When the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?

[3:44] Can you bind the chain of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion's belt? Can you bring forth the constellations and their seasons or lead out the bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens?

[3:57] Can you set up God's dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?

[4:08] Do they report to you? Here we are. Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the cockerel understanding? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

[4:19] Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? Okay, and then we're going to move now to chapter 40, verse 1 to verse 5.

[4:34] The Lord said to Job, Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him.

[4:48] Then Job answered the Lord, I am unworthy. How can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer.

[5:00] Twice, but I will say no more. Amen. May God bless to our hearts this reading from his words. Okay, let's pray and ask for God's help as we look at these verses together.

[5:16] Thank you, God, for your word to us. We do pray that by your spirit, you would help us hear your voice speaking to us and pointing us to your son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:29] For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I wonder if you've ever seen the comedy film, Bruce Almighty. Jim Carrey, that terrible actor, plays the TV reporter Bruce Nolan, and he's a popular character, but he does think the world isn't really treating him very fairly at all.

[5:49] And then after the worst day of his life, Bruce angrily rants against God for ruining his life and for mismanaging his universe.

[6:01] And so in the movie, God appears in human form, and God is played by the actor Morgan Freeman, and he challenges Bruce to see if Bruce can do a better job of running the world than he can.

[6:14] And he says he'll give to Bruce all of his divine powers for Bruce to use. And so what Bruce does is he accepts the challenge, and he uses the powers, of course, for selfish ends, much to our amusement in the movie.

[6:30] And it soon becomes obvious that Bruce can't do a better job of managing the world than God can. And it ends up a complete disaster as Bruce realizes there's no way that he can take on the role of God.

[6:46] And he's got to accept, and he admits that he has limitations. He is only a man, and God is God. And so he's got to let God be God because God knows what is best when it comes to running his world.

[7:02] And that is really the point that God makes to Job in these chapters, chapter 38 and chapter 39 into chapter 40. Job has been longing to hear from God, to have God speak to him, and for God to answer him, and to explain why he is suffering.

[7:20] Now remember, God's been silent since the very beginning of the book. And now God shows up, and he responds to Job, where his speech is, in a sense, from the climax of the book of Job.

[7:34] And they're key to better understanding suffering. Because what God does here is he makes it clear to Job that there are things that Job just cannot know.

[7:45] And there are things that Job just cannot understand. And if we are a human being, it's the same. There are things we cannot know, things we cannot understand, that God alone knows.

[8:00] And that's why God confronts Job about questioning his rule of the world, which Job has been doing throughout the book. And God does this not by answering Job's questions, or even by explaining Job's suffering, but by giving Job a description of the immense power, and yet the intricate planning in God's vast universe.

[8:25] And we saw that in the reading we had in chapter 38, and there's more of it in chapter 39. And Job realizes, after God has said all of this, just how inadequate Job's understanding is of God, of God's ways.

[8:42] And so the Lord reminds Job that he is God. We must let God be God. We've got to trust him, even if we don't fully understand all of his ways.

[8:55] And so I'd like us to look at three points this afternoon. They're up there on the screen. The first, how God speaks, how the Lord speaks. Second, what the Lord says. And then third, why the Lord silences.

[9:07] How the Lord speaks, what the Lord says, and why the Lord silences. So first, how the Lord speaks. Chapter 38, verse 1 to 3.

[9:18] Notice that the Lord speaks to Job out of the storm. Look at verse 1. The Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. And then it goes on into what he said.

[9:29] So God reveals himself to Job in this powerful and yet very personal way. Powerful, obviously, because he appears out of a storm.

[9:41] And yet personal, because he condescends to speak to Job. And this personal aspect is communicated in the name that's used for God. Now, when you read the Bible, throughout the Bible, there are all different names for God.

[9:56] God's referred to by various names, various titles, and each one reveals a different aspect of God's character, God's nature, or God's relationship with his people.

[10:09] And so God's name here is translated into English, our English, as capital L-O-R-D. And you see this throughout the Bible.

[10:19] And in Hebrew, it's the name Yahweh. And it's there at the beginning of the book. In Job chapters 1 to 2. But throughout the book, in all of God's speeches, God is always referred to by his title, God.

[10:34] But then again, here at the end, he is referred to as Yahweh, Lord. Referred to by his name. And it's his covenant name describing God's personal, God's loving, God's binding relationship with his people.

[10:52] And so God comes to Job in this very personal and intimate way. Just put it like this. King Charles has both a title and a name.

[11:04] King is his title and Charles is his name. And if we happen to be interacting with him, we wouldn't call him Charles or Charlie Boy or whatever.

[11:15] It's too personal. Unless, of course, you're one of his family, you can call him Charles Sten. But if you or I were to meet him and we didn't know him personally, we'd have to give him his title, king, or maybe address him as your majesty.

[11:29] But imagine he comes to you and he says to you, hey, you can call me Charles. And there's a level of intimacy there, isn't there? And so we should pick this up when we read the Lord spoke to Job.

[11:44] God initiates this personal encounter encounter with Job. So this isn't one-way communication from God. This is God in relationship with Job.

[11:57] Because while God speaks to Job, he also gives Job the right to reply, which we'll come to later. And yet, despite this personal encounter, the personal nature, the way that God comes to Job with this personal name, the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm.

[12:21] What are storms? Storms are frightening, they're powerful, they're destructive, and this is how God chooses to reveal himself to Job in this most terrifying of ways.

[12:33] And so Job is forced to come face to face with the awesome power of God. And so yes, of course, God is personal, God is loving, but we should never domesticate God and forget about his power and his might, which I think is a common mistake that people often make.

[12:56] They think that God is close, and so they don't care that he is also powerful, but he is awesome. And that's why Job has this awesome encounter with God.

[13:07] Verse 2 says, Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Now remember, God gave Satan permission to allow Job to suffer.

[13:20] We read that back in chapter 1 and 2. And at the end of Job, God gave his verdict on Job, saying that he is blameless and upright. Sorry, in chapter 1 and 2, God says he's blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.

[13:37] And so when we get to the end of Job here, God is not how, not somehow just dismissing Job out of hand. But Job does need to understand God better and understand God's way of working better because God, we're being told here, has plans and God knows exactly what he is doing.

[14:00] And so Job, with his limited knowledge, is in no position whatsoever to question Almighty God. God. And that's why God says there in verse 3, Brace yourself like a man.

[14:13] I will question you and you shall answer me. Now it's the Lord who questions Job. Not Job who asks questions of the Lord.

[14:25] So Job wanted to question God, but God is God and Job must realize that he is a mere man. And that's why God says, Brace yourself like a man.

[14:38] Not to, in some way, belittle Job, but to say to Job, Job, you should be man enough to hear what I've got to say to you. You should be able to take what I'm saying.

[14:53] Job needs to realize God doesn't owe him any kind of explanation for how he chooses to govern his world. And that's why we get this rapid fire questioning by God.

[15:06] God's questions are unrelenting. God's questions are unanswerable because God is revealing Job's ignorance. Job's been talking about stuff he's got no knowledge of, stuff he cannot understand.

[15:24] And it might seem harsh on God's part because Job never gets a reason for his suffering. But instead, Job gets something better. He gets God instead.

[15:37] He gets God coming near to him. And so before we move on to what the Lord says, we should grasp this first of all. Because the reality is that when we suffer, we may not be given an answer or a reason or an explanation for why we're suffering, but we do get God drawing near, relating to us in a personal and in an intimate way.

[16:06] And so the book of Job teaches us that when pain comes and when suffering comes, it's not reasons that we need most. What we need most is a relationship with God.

[16:19] And so that's our first point, how the Lord speaks. Secondly, what the Lord says. Now, Job wanted God to respond to him about his suffering.

[16:30] And God does respond, but just not in the way that Job was expecting. So God launches into this barrage of questions for Job. Kind of like rhetorical questions.

[16:42] But basically, Job's response is, no, no, no, I don't know, no, I don't understand. No, no, I wasn't there at the beginning when you made the world.

[16:54] And so all these questions come, and they're all about how God's creation was established, how God's creation is governed, and even how evil has a place in God's design for how he runs his world.

[17:09] And so God is helping Job get a better perspective on everything about this creation, about this world, including suffering. suffering. And so God's not dodging the issue of suffering here.

[17:21] What he's doing is he's responding to Job's accusation, and Job's accusation is, God, you haven't planned this world very well, because there's injustice, and there is innocent suffering, so you've not done a very good job in running and governing this world.

[17:39] it's as if he's saying to God there's a design flaw here, because there is this thing called innocent suffering. Innocent people like me, who have not done anything to deserve this, do suffer in life.

[17:53] That can't be right. And so he's accusing God of being a bad designer, and there's a problem with his design. And so what God wants to do is to show Job that his world is perfectly planned out.

[18:07] And that means, because God has it perfectly planned out, that some things, some things, Job, nor the human race, will ever understand.

[18:21] And one of those is the place of suffering. It's hard to work out the place of suffering within God's good purposes for this world. Now, what does the Lord say?

[18:32] Well, if you just look down, this speech is the first of the Lord's speeches. We'll look at the second speech next week in chapter 14, 41. But this speech here in chapter 38 and 39 has got 17 fairly short sections to it.

[18:48] So it doesn't mean I've got 17 points for you to listen to. But the first 10 of these sections, you can see they go by the paragraph divisions in the chapters. The first 10 sections focus on the design of God's creation.

[19:04] So that's basically chapter 38 verse 4 up to verse 38. And then the final seven sections focus on the design of God's creatures.

[19:15] So that's chapter 38 verse 39 through to the end of chapter 39. So two sections, the design of God's creatures, sorry, the design of God's creation, and then secondly, the design of God's creatures.

[19:29] chapters. And if you've read Genesis recently, it's a bit like a mirror here that reflects Genesis chapter 1, where in Genesis chapter 1, God formed the world on the first three days, and then on the next three days, God filled the world with different things.

[19:51] And there's a similar pattern here, where God speaks of the creation of the world, the infrastructure, if you like, and then God speaks of the creatures that populate his world.

[20:05] And it's all pointing to the perfection of God's design. It's all planned, even if it's often perplexing, and even if it sometimes includes pain.

[20:16] So let's see what the Lord says. So first of all, the design of God's creation. This is verse 4 to 38 of chapter 38. So verse 4 to 7, where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?

[20:30] Tell me if you understand who marked off its dimension, who stretched a measuring line across it, on what were its foot set, or who laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy.

[20:46] So God is forcing Job to reflect on his creation design with all of these questions. And Job can't answer them. Where was Job when God made everything?

[20:58] Obviously, Job wasn't about. And so these verses, and they come in poetic form, basically describe the beauty and ease with which God created his world.

[21:11] And then verse 8 to 11, we read them there, the sea is described, and in the Bible, the sea, you remember, is an image of chaos and of evil, but we're told God sets limits for the sea.

[21:22] So he says, this far, but no further. And next, it goes on to the sunrise and the sunset, verse 12 to 15. So God commands the morning to wake up the world.

[21:34] That's how God designed the creation, sun, moon. But he didn't just set up the world, God also sustains the world day by day. And then there's the depths of the earth in verse 16 to 18.

[21:49] And then we're told about the place of the dead in the deepest sea. But even in such extreme places, God is saying he sees and he knows.

[22:00] Job doesn't see. Job doesn't know. Next, there's the light and the darkness, and it's controlled by God too. Verse 19 to 21. And God questions Job on all of these elements of creation, even asking Job if he's been to where the weather originates.

[22:20] Let's look at verse 22. Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail? These are not literal storehouses that God has full of snowballs and hail.

[22:33] This is poetic language to describe God's order and control of the weather. And so if Job had been to these places, then he would know how it all worked.

[22:44] But of course, Job hasn't been to these places, so he doesn't know how it works. And then we're told how God's creation can be both life-giving on the one hand and destructive on the other.

[22:55] Verse 25. Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain and a path for the thunderstorm to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert? God's wanting Job to reflect on the power of the water in all its forms.

[23:11] And they're there in verse 28 to 30. Drops of dew, rain, ice, frozen. The water is amazing. It's used for good.

[23:21] It's used to do so much. And then there's the constellations and the stars in space, verse 31 to 33. Job can't control the movements in this vast universe that God has designed and sustains.

[23:37] And the point is, Job, you can't do any of this, but I'm God and I can. God made it. He's got dominion over all of it.

[23:48] Just listen to how God's power is described in verse 34 and 35. Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?

[24:00] Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, here we are? God speaks. The weather obeys. The lightning bolts stand up in line and report for duty.

[24:13] Yes, sir. We're here before God sends them out. And it's saying to us, God is wise in his creation. He knows exactly what he's doing.

[24:26] And so what God is doing here for Job is he's widening his horizons. He's giving him this mind-blowing tour of the cosmos in graphic and glorious detail because he wants Job to understand that no human being can control or command, let alone understand how all of God's creation works.

[24:50] God alone is the creator and the sustainer of the universe. And so God speaks about the design of his creation.

[25:02] So that's the infrastructure bit. And then God speaks about the design of his creatures. Secondly, chapter 38, verse 39 through to 39, verse 30.

[25:15] So God's planned out not just the creation's infrastructure. God has also planned out and designed the animal kingdom. And so what God does next is he highlights some of the distinctive features of particular animals.

[25:32] Now, this is a section we didn't read, but we'll read some of it. This is not just some kind of random selection of animals. These are wild animals with a clear focus on their life cycles.

[25:47] And so we begin with conception and birth, and we move through life and on into decay and death. And these animals, it's a bit like a David Attenborough nature program, if you've ever seen one.

[26:00] But not one of the programs where you see these animals with grace and beauty. No, this is nature red in tooth and claw, of the brutal struggle for survival in the animal world.

[26:16] And so God begins with predators and prey, verse 39 to 41. It says there, do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?

[26:34] Who provides food for the raven when it's young? Cry out to God and wonder about for lack of food. Okay, so there's the lion, obviously the lion is the predator, and then there's the raven who we're told eventually feeds on the prey of the lion.

[26:51] And it's a bloody scene. But God has designed the animal food chain to work in this way. And so it raises the question, well, is this design good or is it evil?

[27:06] Because what seems to be evil and destructive for some animals is actually good and life-giving for other animals. wild animals survive at the cost of the lives of other wild animals.

[27:24] And so in the context of Job, it's saying to us that suffering has a place in God's purposes. That's how God has designed it. And so we move on now from death to life, and God speaks about the birth of the mountain goat.

[27:43] So it's worth reading. Chapter 39, 1-4. Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear?

[27:54] Do you know the time they give birth? They crouch down and bring forth their young. Their labor pains are ended. Their young thrive and grow strong. In the wild they leave and do not return.

[28:07] So God's designed how the mountain goat becomes pregnant, goes into labor, gives birth in the wild, produces young that just thrive.

[28:18] They don't need a midwife. They don't need hospitals. There's no birthing plan. God planned it this way, and it works. It works for mountain goats because it works for every creature that God has designed.

[28:34] And of course there's an element of mystery about it, just as there is for the wild donkey who comes up in verse 5 and 6. the wild donkey roams wild and free, but it's looked after and it's provided for by God.

[28:49] And then there's the mystery of the wild ox and its ways in verse 9 to 12. The ox is a scary animal and a stubborn animal. And so God challenges Job about controlling the ox.

[29:03] Job, can you domesticate the ox? Can you make the ox work for you? Job, of course you can't, but I can. And then there's the weird, yet the endearing antics of the ostrich in verse 13 to 15.

[29:22] The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand and mindful that a fruit may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.

[29:38] So the ostrich is a bird. It's a bird with wings, but it can't fly. It lays its eggs on the ground where they can be crushed, but the ostrich doesn't seem to care.

[29:52] Verse 16, She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers. She cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.

[30:06] saying, It's not the smartest of animals, the ostrich. And yet the ostrich can run at an unbelievable speed, even giving the horse a run for its money.

[30:17] Verse 18, Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at the horse and rider. Imagine watching the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the horse racing, and the horses are charging round the track, and then along comes an ostrich.

[30:32] Can't fly, small tiny head, hardly any brain, runs past and laughs at the horse and the rider, because it can beat them in a race. What's the point of God describing the ostrich like this?

[30:48] I have no idea. I think it's to emphasize how some of God's creatures are just weird, but they were designed to work that way.

[31:00] And they do work, and there's no fault with them. And then we've got these two pictures of death and the end of life cycle. So there's the horse, verse 19 to 25, the horse is strong and it's powerful, so God gives it its strength, so the horse can charge fearlessly into battle.

[31:20] And then in verse 26 to 30, finally we hear about the savage world, birds of prey. Let's just read that, verse 27. Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?

[31:33] It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night. A rocky crag is its stronghold. From there it looks for food. Its eyes detect it from afar. Its young ones feast on blood.

[31:46] And where the slain are, there it is. So again, the young eagle's hunger is only satisfied by the death of another creature.

[31:57] And so there's this clever and carefully balanced ecosystem that God has designed. And that's how God made life to work in the animal kingdom.

[32:12] And the point is, it just doesn't go well for every animal all the time in the animal kingdom, does it? And it's all part of the mystery of God's creation, where the extremely beautiful and the often bizarre and the frequently brutal nature of the animal world is actually perfectly normal in God's wise ruling and governing of his universe.

[32:41] God knows how to make it all work. And so the point for Job and the point for us is that God has planned it to be this way. And while it may seem strange and perplexing, God is in control of all of it.

[33:00] There's balance and there's harmony and there's functionality in this good, wise design of God. And so when it comes to human life, stepping aside from the animal kingdom, it should not surprise us that God has built suffering into his design for how this life works.

[33:22] And it is often perplexing and it is a mystery and yet it is part and parcel of God's way of working, of ruling his world.

[33:34] And so God is saying to Job that Job's knowledge and Job's understanding are limited. There are so many things that Job just simply cannot and does not know.

[33:47] And so Job needs to look at the design of God's creation and he needs to look at the design of God's creatures to know that God can be trusted.

[34:02] There's no design flaw. God knows what he's doing because he's a good God with good purposes. That's our second point, what the Lord says.

[34:14] So first, how the Lord speaks. Second, what the Lord says and then thirdly and finally, why the Lord silences. Did you notice as we turn to chapter 40, verse 1 to 5, that the Lord's speech silences Job?

[34:29] Verse 1 and 2, the Lord said to Job, will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him. So God rebukes Job for finding fault with the way that he runs his world.

[34:47] And God has just proved to Job how foolish that he has been. And Job will repent for his words. Chapter 42. Because God knows exactly what he's doing as he governs his world and our lives.

[35:04] There's nothing, nothing that God could do better. That's a phrase that haunts me, could do better. It came on every single report card I ever had at school.

[35:15] Jonathan tries hard, but Jonathan could do better. With God, there's no could do better. It's the best it possibly could be because he's designed it.

[35:29] And this is the awesome reality there's sinking in for Job. Because when the Lord stops speaking to Job, he gives Job this right of reply. And see what Job says, verse 3-5.

[35:42] Then Job answered the Lord, I am unworthy. How can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer twice, but I will say no more.

[35:55] Job's got the message. And at the first chance he gets, he admits his insignificance, and he acknowledges that he just needs to shut up. He is humbled and silenced before God, recognizing that God's knowledge and God's power and God's wisdom are infinitely beyond him because they're infinitely beyond every single one of us.

[36:21] And that's why it's impossible to fully understand why there is innocent suffering in our world and why people like Job innocently suffer.

[36:31] We can't figure it out. I remember our children getting their MMR vaccines going to the doctors, remember, get this massive needle stuck in their arm.

[36:46] And the children couldn't fully understand what was going on and why their mum and dad would possibly allow them to suffer by having somebody stick such a massive needle into them.

[36:59] And of course, they're just too young to understand about measles and mumps and rubella and why this was for their good. Because as a three-year-old child, even trying to explain just doesn't make any sense to them.

[37:17] And yet as they sat on her knees, they had to trust that mum and dad loved them, that mum and dad knew what was best, even though it was going to be painful.

[37:30] And we get this, right? There's this gap between a three-year-old's knowledge and the parent's knowledge. And Job's learning that there's this gap when it comes to human beings and almighty God.

[37:44] But the gap, of course, is infinitely greater because God is God and so he is wise and powerful enough to have reasons for allowing suffering that we'll never understand.

[37:57] in fact, we'd find it surprising if God didn't have reasons that we'd never thought of. And just because we can't find reasons why we're suffering doesn't make sense to us, that doesn't mean that God doesn't have any.

[38:16] And so it doesn't make sense to question God as Job discovers. And the Apostle Paul says the same in Romans about anyone who'd argue with God because they don't understand what God is doing.

[38:28] Paul says, but who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? God is so far beyond us that we need to be careful, that we don't underestimate him, that we don't squeeze him into a box, that our God is not too small.

[38:48] Because while we may never know what he is doing, we can know him and we can trust him. Listen to the words of Elizabeth Elliott, the late American missionary and author.

[39:03] Her first husband, Jim Elliott, was killed in 1956 as a missionary as he was trying to make contact with the Auka tribe of eastern Ecuador.

[39:14] And as Elizabeth Elliott reflected back on her life and over all the suffering that she had endured, including the death of her second husband, she said these words, God is God.

[39:27] If he is God, he is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in his will. And that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to.

[39:45] And so the book of Job is asking you and asking me, will you trust God? That's what God is saying to Job here, isn't it? In these long speeches, Job, will you trust me?

[40:00] Because God is not just powerful enough to design a world where everything works together to achieve his ultimate purposes for good, even with suffering included.

[40:12] God is also personal enough to reveal himself to us, to speak to us, so that we can know him and enter into a relationship with him.

[40:26] And that's why Job, the story of Job, is part of the bigger Bible story, where our loving God has a good plan for his creation, including the creatures he has made, people like you and me.

[40:42] And guess what? God's perfect plan is a plan that can only be achieved through suffering, the suffering of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[40:55] Because Jesus is the ultimate Job. He is the only truly innocent sufferer. Because thousands of years after Job suffered, Jesus came to suffer and die.

[41:09] And while God spoke to Job out of the storm, here God sent Jesus through the greatest storm on the cross, the storm of God's justice against our sin that fell upon Jesus.

[41:27] And so when Jesus died, he cried out on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And those words came from his lips so that God would never forsake us.

[41:41] Jesus came to save us from the ultimate suffering, an eternity in hell separated from God forever. And so whenever we face suffering in this life, we not only get God's voice speaking to us, we get the Savior who will never leave us or forsake us.

[42:04] God's And it's by faith in Jesus that we have this intimacy with God, a relationship where we can know and experience his presence with us, here and now, in our suffering in this life, but in the new creation where we'll be free from all suffering forever.

[42:25]