Jesus Christ, in His suffering, glorified God by meekly submitting to His adversaries without defense, though He possessed the power to prevent any harm to Himself. He could have called upon twelve legions of angels for protection, yet He chose to fulfill God's plan over receiving angelic assistance. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed to the Father, asking if the cup of burden might pass from Him, yet He bowed to the Father's will, accepting the enormous burden His submission required, including arrest, persecution, crucifixion, and death at the hands of His own creation. As the Forerunner, sent to reveal the Living God, His incomparable submission and faithful humility allowed Him to become our Savior. For those who believe in Christ crucified, partaking in His sufferings through the cup God prepares for each is necessary, though our burdens pale in comparison to what was required of Him. This participation in suffering, as encouraged by the apostle Peter, will be well worth the effort at His return.

When we partake of the Passover each spring, drinking from the cup of wine symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on our behalf. This act of drinking from the cup signifies sharing in the consequences of the New Covenant, which He established. At the Passover meal, He identified the cup as the new covenant in His blood, agreeing to fulfill it through a perfect blood-sacrifice only He could provide. By drinking from that cup, we assent to share in whatever results from that covenant, including the price of suffering that must be paid in this life. Suffering is an integral part of uniting with Christ through partaking of His blood, just as His life involved suffering. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed that, if possible, the cup would pass from Him, yet He accepted it. When He asked James and John if they could drink the cup He was about to drink, He implied that sharing in His glory required sharing in His entire experience, including suffering. The sequence is clear: suffering precedes glory, and we cannot attain the latter without enduring the former. He Himself is the ultimate example, having both suffered and been glorified. We are called to rejoice in partaking of Christ's sufferings, knowing that when His glory is revealed, we will be glad with exceeding joy. He encourages us not to fear the suffering we are about to face, promising the crown of life to those who remain faithful until death. Throughout history, being chosen by God has meant enduring suffering, just as day follows night, with the assurance that glory will follow darkness.

God called us to emulate Jesus Christ in doing good, and because of the world's opposition, suffering is inevitable when we act righteously. If we have been called by God, we must follow the example of Christ, who endured unjust suffering while always doing good. Since Christ suffered for us, we should adopt this attitude as armor, prioritizing the Father's will above all. If doing His will leads to suffering, then we are sharing in the fellowship of Christ's suffering. Our sins caused Jesus to suffer so we could have life, and similarly, our sins and those of others will bring suffering into our lives. Yet, if we approach that suffering with faith, trust in God, and obedience, it can be used for a good purpose. Even when suffering seems undeserved, if we commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously, we can trust that it will accomplish good, as Christ's wholly undeserved suffering has achieved immense good. Suffering may teach us aspects of God's way, help us identify more closely with our Savior, allow us to sympathize with others, test our trust in Him, or keep us humble and submissive to Him. If we approach it with faith, we can trust that God will strengthen us and cause the circumstance to bear good fruit, including an abhorrence of the sin that caused the suffering, writing God's law indelibly on our hearts. God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted or suffer beyond what we can bear, providing either strength to endure or a way of escape. With faith and a long-range view, we can keep suffering in perspective, knowing it is temporary and that what God has in store for us in the resurrection far surpasses our current experiences. Though we may suffer, even unjustly at times, these experiences serve the purpose of preparing us to become glorified members of the God Family.

Suffering, as depicted in Scripture, encompasses a broad range of experiences beyond violent martyrdom, including rejection, opposition, contempt, abuse, neglect, hunger, thirst, and deprivation. It also involves being hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, as well as enduring imprisonment and weariness. In the context of the New Testament, suffering often describes what believers face due to their faith, particularly the painful consequences endured by the apostles in preaching the gospel. Paul, in Colossians 1:24, expresses rejoicing in his sufferings for the church, stating that he fills up in his flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body. He further reveals that he suffered the loss of all things to gain Christ, to know Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. This fellowship, akin to communion, signifies a deep bond formed through shared suffering. Suffering, even when not directly tied to faith, offers an opportunity to fellowship with Christ, who experienced human life and its trials. Paul emphasizes relating our sufferings to those of Christ, focusing on His experience to gain a clearer understanding of our Savior, and believed that enduring similar afflictions throughout his Christian life of service was worth it to know Christ more deeply.

As firstfruits, we share a profound affinity with Jesus Christ, called to conform to His image through a process of sanctification. This likeness is not merely physical but extends to spiritual qualities, requiring us to think, act, and speak as He does. Our path mirrors His, as we must suffer, overcome, and strive for perfection just as He did during His earthly life. He endured temptations, persecution, reviling, beatings, and death, setting an example of loyalty and endurance for us to follow. Though our trials are lesser in degree, they are designed to shape us into His likeness, reflecting the same path of suffering and overcoming. Our intimate connection with Christ means our lives are enveloped with Him in God, inseparable from Him after baptism. He is our life, walking with us step-by-step through sanctification until we reach the same goal of glory. As He suffered to bring us to His level, we are required to exhibit the same dedication, learning from His model to imitate His ways. Suffering and persecution in this world affirm that we are on the path to firstfruithood, sharing in the same salvation and reward as Christ. The greater our affinity to Him now, through enduring the rigorous training He underwent, the greater our reward will be in eternity.

As Christians, our chief affinity must be to our Savior and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, an affinity that takes top priority in our lives. Pentecost serves as a reminder of how close we are to Him and how much like Him we should become. We are called to be conformed to His image, to look like Him, act like Him, think like Him, and speak like Him in all that we do. This process of growing into His image requires our cooperation and a lifetime of dedication, drawing us closer to Him as we progress. Jesus Christ, as the firstborn, opened the way for us to follow in His path. We share in the same process He underwent, facing perils and evils as He did, to attain the honor of being called first fruits alongside Him. This affinity is evident in the 144,000, who are closely aligned with Him, bearing the Father's name on their foreheads and receiving special privileges. They are redeemed from a world apart from God, mirroring the challenges He faced, and are so united with Him that they form one Body, following wherever He leads. Suffering with Him is a crucial part of this journey. We are called to suffer as He suffered, to overcome as He overcame, treading the same path He walked 2,000 years ago. His experiences as both God and man equipped Him to be the perfect High Priest, understanding the temptations and limitations of humanity. He faced these challenges without sin, becoming our Advocate before the Father, mediating for us with empathy derived from His own trials. Because He endured such sufferings, which were greater than ours will ever be, we too must endure similar struggles to share in a similar reward, though differing in degree. We are encouraged to react to trials with patience, as He did, recognizing that suffering is a natural outcome of living a life different from the world. Sharing in His suffering prepares us for glorification and reward, and we should find joy in this opportunity. The heroes of faith, as well as Paul, exemplified this willingness to endure hardships for the sake of the resurrection and the promise of being forever with the Lord, a reward that holds the greatest significance. Pentecost prompts us to reflect on our position as first fruits, striving to resemble Jesus Christ so closely that we become one Body with Him, perfect as He is.