The New Bereans

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; Hebrews 5:8

Even for Christ, suffering was necessary to learn obedience.  He was obviously not disobedient, so there must be something more to learning obedience, than merely correction of rebellion.  How do we learn obedience?  We are told Jesus learned by suffering.  In my limited experience this learning is a process always stressful, and often painful.  I am reminded of the gold furniture in the tabernacle, the gold for the lamp-stand had to be beaten into shape, the olive oil that fueled it had to be beaten, and even the cherubs atop the Ark of the Covenant were made of beaten gold.  The gold was not to be cast; it had to be beaten into the right shape.  Why?  God was clearly illustrating that breaking down and reshaping raw materials, into objects fit for use in the worship of God, is a long and difficult process.

As Christians we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. ₁ The word conform is summorphos in the Greek, it speaks of changing the shape or form of the object until it is the same shape as the model.  The Greek word for image is eikōn, of the 23 times it is used in the Bible, it usually describes a three-dimensional image.  It is used to describe relief of Caesar on a denarius.  In this example of the coin, a piece of metal was conformed to the desired image by taking a die, which is a big heavy piece of hard metal with the reverse image of the coin on the bottom.  The die is then placed over a little round piece of soft metal, and then struck with a heavy hammer this would violently force the metal up into the image void; the image on the coin would then be conformed to the image on the die.

I believe this is why we are told not to despise the chastening of the Lord₂ because, Afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.₃ Suffering, chastening, discipline, prepares us for use by God.  We often view discipline wrongly, assuming it is always punitive.  But the Bible clearly states that the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.₄ We are of no use to God when we are full of ourselves, reeking with pride and ego.  Once we have been conformed to his image, we are able to let God use us without getting in the way or contaminating his message.

1. Romans 8:29

2. Hebrews 12:5

3. Hebrews 12:11

4. Hebrews 12:6