The Comfort of God Helps Us Comfort Others
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SCRIPTURE:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, ESV
OBSERVATIONS:
The historical context of these verses is that Paul had established the Church at Corinth during his first stay there and later wrote the first letter to them concerning dishonorable behavior of some of its members. The apostle expresses his deep emotions and his passionate personality in this epistle more than in any of his other letters. Paul was constantly being attacked by legalistic teachers who not only wanted to disrupt his work but at times would bring persecution that caused him much pain and suffering. Paul opens with the word “blessed” which was a Jewish way ascribing God as the source of blessings.” It is important to keep in mind that Paul suffered much at the hands of those who attached his integrity and in the midst of this God was faithful vindicate the apostle and in the midst of this suffering he sees how God has sustained him and given him fruitfulness in the service of Jesus Christ. The apostle combines the plural form of mercies with God’s compassion. Paul uses the genitive case which indicates that he is the pitiful recipient of God’s care and understanding. Paul’s use of the phrase: “the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” which speaks of Jesus and His authority as being God who was given authority by the Father to be the mediator that bridges the gulf between God and man. He suffered on the Cross and bore the affliction of physical pain and torture of the Cross that has set Him to be the God of all comfort. The word comfort in the classical Greek sense meant to stand beside a person who is experiencing intense testing and to encourage that person. Just as we share in the abundance of God’s sufferings we share in His comfort. The power of this passage is that the the same comfort that we receive from God we are now able and equipped to give to others.
APPLICATION:
The Holy Spirit really ministered to me through these verses especially with all the loss that I have experienced in the past two years. The Apostle Paul explains an important reason God allows hard times in our lives. Notice how many times the words suffering, trouble and comfort are repeated! In these four verses the word comfort is used 9 times, and the words trouble and suffer are used 6 times! The apostle is wanting to emphasize the spiritual principle that God comforts the suffering, so they can comfort others who suffer. I do not want to be the person that suffers but I refuse God’s comfort. Doing that would keep me stuck in anger, fear, and worry. God uses people as instruments of His healing by taking their pain and suffering or loss of a loved one and as one receives that comfort that person also becomes equipped to console and give encouragement to others who are suffering. The bottom-line is that I cannot give to someone else that which I have not received for myself. I must be willing to receive God’s comfort from others before I ever give comfort. People who vocationally serve others like Doctors, Nurses and Pastors need to be careful that we do not develop a Messiah complex, and we do not receive the comfort that people desire to offer to us. In the words of Pastor Rick Warren: “God recycles everything for His purpose to be worked through our loss and pain.” The body of Christ is a community of the hurting who have received comfort and offer to others. Jesus please help me not to give into a pride or self-sufficiency that would keep me from receiving the comfort you give through others to me.
PRAYER:
“Lord, I ask that I lean into you with my loss and pain and keep me from being stuck in any form of resentment or unforgiveness. Jesus I am choosing to receive your comfort as well as the comfort that you give through my brothers and sisters in Christ so that I can be your conduit of comfort and strength to others. I pray this in Jesus Name … Amen.”
Resources:
Hebrew - Greek Key Word Study Bible English Standard Version. Edited by ThD. and General Editor Spiros Zodhiares, ESV edition Warren Baker, D.R.E. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1996 and 2013 by AMG International Inc. Hughes, Philip E. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Edited by F.F. Bruce. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962 Reprinted April 1986. Rienecker, Fritz. Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament. Edited by Jr. Cleon L. Rogers. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976. Textual Criticism. 1980. Rogers, Fritz Rienecker and Cleon. "Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament," (1976).