I spoke
of this matter lately to a minister of profound mind. He replied: "I
would not think much of Him if He could not suffer."
I have even thought that in the incarnation and death of Christ, the
Father suffered equally with the Son. It is a great mystery; I do not
press it. But my thought has been that there was such infinite sympathy
between them that the Father actually suffered as much as the Son. If a
child is sick, does not the mother suffer as much as the child? And do
we not all suffer if our children are in pain? Now, we inherit as much
of the Divine nature as is possible to be communicated to human nature.
The root of such suffering is love. And is not God's love for His
children infinitely greater than ours? Therefore, would not His
happiness be curtailed by seeing His children in pain? We know that "He
doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." Can He,
then, contemplate with changeless equanimity the wickedness and final
suffering of the great majority of our race? So far as I know, there is
no such idea in Scripture; and it is certainly not suggested by our own
human nature in its highest development.
Now, can it be supposed that the sin of puny man will finally impair the
happiness of God? It may for a time; but Divine Love will win; God will
be all in all.
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