Comfort Ten Times

Meditations on Second Corinthians

 April 10, 2023

Comfort Ten Times

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.

2 Corinthians 1: 3-4

Read: 2 Corinthians 1:1-7

In First Corinthians, ten times in the first ten verses, Paul invoked the name of Jesus. In that letter, Paul’s theme was about the person and work of Jesus Christ, and Paul laid that foundation at the very beginning of the letter.

In Second Corinthians, Paul uses the word comfort ten times in five verses. Again, Paul has laid a foundation for the theme of his letter. There are extraordinary qualities to this very special comfort of God that Paul is assuring the church God is providing for them.

First, Paul tells us that the Comforter can identify with your pain and suffering. Through the passion of Christ, the Comforter personally experienced pain and suffering.

Secondly, the Comforter brings the assurance that your life has meaning. Nothing is being wasted as the conclusion of First Corinthians teaches: your labors, even though they may result in pain and suffering, are not in vain.

Thirdly, the very presence of the Comforter is a source of strength to you. There is a quality to this comfort that allows you to see beyond the shadows of earth and into the light of eternity, where the ultimate truth of God is revealed to you.

This truth is that what is true of Jesus the Messiah becomes true for his people. The all-encompassing quality of Jesus’ life was that he rested in the sure knowledge that he was the beloved child of God. Paul teaches that this was true for Jesus, and it is true for the followers of Jesus. God’s people can rest today in the sure knowledge that we are the beloved of God, and that nothing can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.

My Takeaway: As I ponder what it means to experience comfort in the presence of God, I think about the lyrics to Trust In You, by Lauren Daigle, that I listened to this morning:

When You don't move the mountains

I'm needing You to move

When You don't part the waters

I wish I could walk through

When You don't give the answers

As I cry out to You

I will trust, I will trust

I will trust in You

(Emphasis mine)

Sē’lah

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(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 © 2023 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.