Paul opens this letter to the Corinthians indicating that it is from he and Timothy. In 1 Corinthians 16:10 he told the Corinthian churches about Timothy's potential visit. He also mentions that this letter is for the church in Corinth and for all the saints throughout Achaia, so this letter was meant to be passed around.
I begins with a blessing to the reader of the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
He then enters into a discussion about the comfort of God, "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort". The church is undergoing sufferings (v 7) but Paul wants them to know that God has not deserted them, but that he provides comfort, works in us patient endurance (v 6), uses the difficulty to teach us to rely on him (v 10), and uses the situation to teach us that God answers prayers, comforts us and then praise goes back to God. In our lives we often try to avoid difficulty and hardship, but the reality is that these are very important for our growth and God knows this and lovingly allows and brings difficulties into our lives to grow us, but doing so with comfort and kindness.
Paul tells them that he had planned to visit but it didn't work out. He says that he wasn't making half-hearted plans but that it was really for their benefit that he didn't visit at that time (v23). He wants them to know that he is following God's direction and that they can trust God because he is not a shifting shadow or changing his mind from "yes" to "no" but actually all of God's promises are "yes" in Christ. Not only that, but God has put on us a seal of ownership, that is he has marked us as belonging to God. This would be similar to a wax seal that was used in those days to seal a document with a special marking so that the recipient could be certain that the message wasn't changed and that the message was from the person who owned the seal. In today's computer age, it is similar to private key encryption :). The point here is that we know and be certain that it was God who selected us and put his stamp of belonging on us. Also he says that he has put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. So not only does he seal us, but he gives us a deposit, a proof, something that we have that we know that guarantees our belonging and acceptance from God. This is actually quite an amazing thought! When we in our lives have uncertainty and doubts about our salvation or God's work in our lives, we can go back to the guarantee that we have of the Spirit that he has put in our hearts as a deposit.
Let us thank God for his kindness, comfort, wisdom and great love for us!
Verse 6 says if we are distressed/comforted, both are for our comfort and salvation.
ReplyDeleteI thought and learned something in that verse.
For the case when I cannot succeed on my plan, that also God's willingness and plan to make it better later.
In verse 10 and 11 we have reassurance that God will answer our prayers and be there to comfort us in our distress when we cry out in prayer for our deliverance.
ReplyDeleteI want to experience the comfort of the Lord over the comfort of the world. His comfort can be with me even in the worst of experiences, while the comfort of the world comes and goes and only makes me more lazy. Then I can share that same comfort to others as well.
What kinds of affliction was Paul suffering as he wrote this letter? I know that he was persecuted by the Jews who did not embrace Jesus Christ, but was this the primary source? In verse 8b he says, "For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself." This tells me that something made him want to end his life.
ReplyDeleteGod allowed this deep suffering in Paul's life to teach him "rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Paul says that God delivered them from a "deadly peril," but is that a physical or a spiritual danger? As the Lord answers prayer, and we remember, it does build faith and hope in him answering again.
I like how Paul says that "we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God." I want to learn to behave this way as well, and perhaps that means having to unlearn many of the things I have been taught in my worldly education. Please pray for me to be more simple and sincere in my actions, and to not rely on my own designs, but to trust in the perfect way of Jesus Christ.
Also, I really like verse 21 and 22 that says "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." Sometimes I forget that God builds our relationships on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Also, I sometimes despair that I am not saved, or that I don't know God. Then at times the Holy Spirit reassures me of the love of God, and his forgiveness of sin, and his ability to change my situation. Please pray for me to receive the salvation of God, and his forgiveness, and his anointing.