Dwell in the Word: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Consider these questions as you dwell in 2 Corinthians 1:1-11:

1. Paul emphasizes God as the "God of all comfort" despite facing afflictions. How does Paul's approach challenge the common perception of suffering? How might this concept shape our understanding of God's role during our own times of difficulty?

2. The passage highlights reliance on God rather than on one's own abilities, particularly in moments of hardship. How does this idea of not relying on oneself but on God's power resonate with your personal experiences or beliefs about facing challenges?

3. Paul shares that their afflictions were purposeful, aiming to cultivate reliance on God's power rather than their own. How can moments of suffering or difficulty serve as opportunities for spiritual growth and deeper reliance on God's sustaining strength? How might this perspective shape our response to hardships?

Transcript:

 As I said, right off the bat, Paul gets into this issue that they are having with the church in Corinth. And you can see here, how does he refer to God? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies. Okay, so that is a part of comfort, right? The idea that God shows mercy to people.

But then he gets right into it with saying and God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction. Paul is not running from the fact that they are facing these hardships. It would be really easy for him to say, what did you hear? It wasn't that bad, right? It's not like they were all walking around with their phones recording how they were suffering, right?

It would have had to have been word of mouth and Paul is not running away from any of this. Paul is being upfront and honest. He is saying, hey, we had affliction, but God comforted us. And we see here, Paul says this is for a purpose so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.  Paul wants to be able to say, hey, in the midst of all of this, God was with us, and God will be with you as well.

Paul is not running from this idea. And we have seen this as we've looked at other parts of what Paul teaches, right?  The basic idea that I usually express from this is You know, we serve a suffering Savior, a Savior who suffered. We should not expect that the world is going to bring us, um, everything we want on a platter.

If suffering was good enough for Jesus, we are not above that ourselves, right?  And so, we see here that Paul tells us this by saying, we share abundantly in Christ's suffering.  Right? This is all a part of who Jesus is. So that through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort too.  When we suffer, when we face affliction, we have a better opportunity of understanding the comfort that God gives.

So, Paul says if we're afflicted it's for your comfort and salvation he is showing the people in Corinth  that this isn't just about their prosperity or anything like that But instead this is an example for the church there. And so, if they have affliction It's showing them how they can endure if they are comforted It's so that they can show that god brings them the ultimate comfort when they patiently endure And so we see in verse 7, What did Paul and Timothy hope for them?

Our hope for you is unshaken. For we know that as you share in our sufferings, you also share in our comfort. He trusted if they have affliction, they will be comforted. He also trusted if the church has affliction, they will be comforted. This is what God does for his people. Even though he allows suffering, even though he uses suffering, He brings comfort because he is the God of all comfort.

And then we see this, this truth that, that Paul is making sure they understand what happened. We don't want you to be unaware, brothers, right?  Of this affliction we had in Asia. He's saying it was bad.  And I love this line in the middle of verse 9. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves. But in God who raises the dead, they understood after this happened that it wasn't them that was doing the work.

They were not relying on their selves. It was the God who can do anything. The God who can even raise people from the dead that is with them. He is the one who delivers them, and He is the one who brings comfort and so, Paul wants them to understand this. This is just his opening salvos, right? He's letting them know we're going to see a whole lot more as this theme is manifested in the book of Second Corinthians, but we see here the big idea.  That God is the one who is in control and through suffering, you've learned that you aren't in control.

And we don't rely on ourselves. Instead, we trust in God, the one who will raise us from the dead. We have hope beyond our affliction here. Yes, we can be comforted in this life. But ultimately, regardless of what happens to us, we have comfort in the next. And so may we trust in God, in his good wisdom, that when we struggle, when we experience suffering, he is able to use it.

He is able to show us how he can work all things together for good. May we have that patience, and may we experience that peace, and may we learn from it that we might live holy lives to the glory of God.