What Is True Of Jesus Is True For His People

December 30, 2021

Amazing Grace:

Meditations on God’s Smile of Affection for You

What Is True Of Jesus Is True For His People

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.”

2 Corinthians 1: 3-7

In the Apostle Paul’s prayer in 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7, he uses the word comfort, in one form or another, ten times. Ten times in five verses. In using this word, Paul does not mean comfort like someone giving you a hug and assuring you that they care for you. He means so much more. He means a comfort that meets you where you are and then raises you up to where you can see new hope, new possibilities, and a new way to move forward. This is the comfort of God for us when we are suffering. This comfort from God is so real that once you have experienced it, you can share God’s comfort with other people. In this brief passage, Paul reveals the essence of our Life in Christ: What is true of Jesus is true for His people. What was true for Jesus is that he was comforted by God. Jesus’ people can also experience the comfort of God. What was true for Jesus is that he comforted and healed others. Jesus’ people can share the comfort and healing of God with others.

Noted theologian and scholar Bishop N.T. Wright says that at the heart of the gospel proclaimed by the Apostle Paul is the fact that “what is true for the Messiah is true of his people.” For Paul this was not just a powerful thought or belief, but a fact of experience. Wright explains this truth this way: “the Messiah died, so his people die in him, sharing his suffering; the Messiah rose again, so his people rise again in him, knowing the power of the resurrection to comfort and heal, already in present time, and cherishing the hope that one day they will be given new, resurrection bodies like the one the Messiah himself has now” (Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone 2 Corinthians (London, SPCK) p.4).

My Takeaway: Once again, I’ll paraphrase Brennan Manning: Do you honestly believe that what is true of Jesus is true for his people? If you could answer, "Yes and Amen," there would come a relaxedness, a serenity, and a compassionate attitude toward yourself that reflects God’s own tenderness.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.