Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Rom 8:17).

The sufferings we are to share with Christ are the burdens he carries for the salvation of humanity. Jesus died on the cross, was raised from the dead, ascended to the heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father. The salvation is now complete as he said on the cross, “It is finished.” But that does not mean that he has no more burdens for the salvation of humanity, and stays indifferent to the sufferings that humans are still going through on earth. Satan has been defeated, but many are not saved yet, and even those who confess him as Lord know so little that they still suffer from what they have been already redeemed from. And of course, there are Christians who suffer from persecutions for the name of Jesus. He still bears all these burdens on him, and is interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. If so, there is no question about what we need to do as co-heirs with Christ. Paul speaks of sharing in this kind of sufferings as knowing “the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings (Phil 3:10),” or as filling up “what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions (Col 1:24).”

The following parable describes well how Christ sees the sufferings that people are going through:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left (Mat 25:31-33).

Jesus who died and was raised from the dead 2000 years ago was “the Son of Man,” and that time, he did not come “in his glory, and all the angels with him.” But the time will come when he “comes” that way, and “all the nations will be gathered before him”—the Jews and the Gentiles, Christians and non-Christians.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (v. 34).

“The Son Man” 2000 years ago is now “the King.” What is so interesting is the reason or the criteria for which the sheep were separated from the goats:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me (vv. 35-36).’

This is the calling given to us as co-heirs with Christ living in this era. There is another interesting parable to illustrate the same truth. First, pay attention to its introduction as to what prompted Jesus to tell this parable:

While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back (Luke 19:11-13).’

So, there is a period between the time this “man of noble birth” goes and the time he returns as “king.” During this period, “his servants” are given “minas,” one mina for each servant, and are told to put them to work. What is this one mina for us, and how do we put it to work?