13.6 The sufferings of Job understood in the light of Christ

Most Christians quote the book of Job to show that such suffering is in God’s will. There is confusion because people have not understood what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Please keep an open mind as I share with you a powerful revelation. The book of Job can only be unlocked with Christ, a principle we shared earlier.

Job’s sufferings fall into the first category (sufferings that Christ redeemed us from). His afflictions came not from God, but from Satan, who had a legal right because of sin.

First of all, in the book of Job, Satan appeared to have legal access to the presence of God in heaven. When Adam fell into sin, Satan usurped his authority, and received the legal right from Adam. But when Jesus went to the cross, the access to the throne of Grace has been restored to the body of Christ. Satan lost his right. Jesus said that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Today we are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and we can trample upon the powers of darkness.

(Luke 10:18)
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Secondly, let me ask, was Job righteous before God in the sense that he was without sin? We must understand that though Job was more upright than anyone else on earth, he was born in sin too (Rom 5:12). The Bible gives the verdict that man’s own righteousness is like filthy rags before God (Is 64:6).

(Romans 3:23)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

Job was not righteous by the perfect standards of God because he was not clothed with the robe of righteousness (Is 61:10; Job 9:2, 33:12). As such, he needed a mediator but did not have one — which points to the need for Jesus (Job 9:33, 33:23).

Thank God that today, Satan does not have the legal ground to afflict us anymore with the curse of sin as we have been made righteous in Christ. Satan no longer has access to God’s presence to accuse the saints because he has been cast out from heaven (John 12:31; Luke 10:18; Rev 12:10).

We also have a mediator - Jesus the High Priest that Job did not have. Job was called a “servant” (Job 1:8) but today, we are not servants but “sons of God” through Christ (John 1:12). We should not suffer as Job did because Jesus has redeemed us. Being under the curse is not suffering for Christ. Jesus has redeemed us and we are to overcome in the battle of faith.