As the underground Church in China has been baptized in a fire of intensely severe persecution this has produced a theology of suffering with Christ.598 They have realized that all suffering is because of Christ and for Christ.599 It was clearly told to Paul the Apostle, that he was persecuting Jesus Christ directly when he was persecuting the early Church believers.600 There is a willingness in the Church in China to suffer for Christ as the normal cost of being a believer. It is accepted as the will of God at times to suffer601 and to even expect severe persecution. This type of suffering produces a joy602 and sense of privilege that they are willing to identify with their precious Lord who has saved them.
