April 06, 2023 – Thursday
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV
3 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.
Comments
Yesterday, Wednesday, we discussed Acts 9:30, 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. It was a result of how when 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. They could not stand against his teaching, so they wanted him dead. What verse thirty told us was that Saul’s fellow believers looked out for one another. The Bottom Line for that was Believers look out for and take care of one another when they are able. Reading through the book of Acts you will see this occur a number of times.
Then Wednesday evening I got to hear Pastor Luke Stephens preach on 2 Corinthians 1:3-6, which paralleled Acts 9:30 in many ways. His message will be up soon here. He taught using the ESV which closely aligns with the NET, but the NIV is shown as it closely aligns with the BLB. I am choosing to use the ESV because of the phrase Father of mercies, not found in the NIV or the BLB.
When we look at verse three alone, we have. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. The phrase Father of mercies carries quite an impact. The idea here is that the Father is the literal source of all mercies. This surely lines up with James 1:17, 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
But let us look a bit further for after the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , the Father is described as the Father of mercies, He is also described as the God of all comfort. If you are not sure of what that means, look how the verse continues into verse 4, 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 . We, who are comforted by God, are to comfort others. The Benson Commentary puts it this way, God “Bestows comfort on us, his apostles and ministers, for the sake of others; that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble — He that has experienced one kind of affliction is able to comfort others in that affliction: he that has experienced all kinds of afflictions, is able to comfort others in all.” We who are comforted are to become comforters!
Our source of this is Jesus as the next two verses tell us, 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. We know of Christ’s sufferings, let us in prayer and worship as well as communion share in that suffering.
Bottom Line: When God comforts us, we are not to be selfish with what He has done for us. But we are to then comfort others letting them know of His mercies and salvation through His Son.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Your mercies and comfort are beyond our understanding. We can only with great humility gratefully thank You for such tender mercies and comfort. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek