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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday February 11, 2018
GOD
OFFERS COMFORT TO ALL
2
Corinthians 1:1-11
In A.D. 57, while visiting in
Ephesus on his third missionary journey, which was put together to raise money
for the financially ailing central Church at Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul sat
down and penned a second letter to the Church at Corinth.
Paul’s earlier letter to the Church had not
quite settled all of the issues and problems that the Church had been faced
with during the difficult days of its infancy. Then too, for reasons not all
explained in this letter, the Corinthian Church had apparently developed deep
suspicions about Paul, regarding the true legitimacy of his proclaimed
authority in CHRIST as a chosen apostle.
And so, it was with much grief and anguish
that Paul wrote this second letter, which he also intended to use to try and
re-establish his authority as one chosen to lead others to CHRIST, and to also,
lead them in the faith, as Christians. In this doctrinal letter, Paul also
covers some of the more practical matters, such as supporting believers in
other parts of the world who may have fallen on hard times, and then, reviving
them to a state of being viable, fruit-producing branches in the newly formed
Christian network.
The motif of this letter is “triumph over
adversity”, as Paul can clearly be viewed as one who loves his people. However,
at one and the same time, we can also see him as being one who is hurt by the
Corinthian’s unwarranted suspicions of him. As Paul makes a list of his life
experiences, and the intricacies, or nature of Christian service, we can see
GOD assisting him in his efforts, bringing good from the opposition of satan,
that had been originally intended for evil.
GOD is the source of all mercy and comfort.
When HE lifted up CHRIST JESUS to complete HIS suffering on the cross, HE also
lifted mankind up from the permanency of the grave. GOD comforts us in all of
our troubles, so that when we receive the opportunity, we can take great joy in
comforting someone else. The more we suffer for CHRIST, the more GOD showers us
with HIS comfort through CHRIST (v.5). And so, when we as Christians are
weighed down with troubles for the sake of CHRIST, it can be seen as being to
the benefit and salvation of those who would otherwise be lost (v.6). When GOD
comforts us, it is always so that we can, in turn, be of encouragement to
someone else.
In the biblical Greek, the word used for
“comfort” is “parakaleo” (par-ak-al-eh-o), and it means “to call near for the
purpose of consoling, or encouraging”. It is a word that the Apostle Paul uses
8 times here in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 3-7. The point that he is
trying to make in this passage is that, our own suffering enables us to identify
with the sufferings of others, and vice versa. We can also sense the comfort of
GOD, and at one and the same time, find our own comfort in HIM. In other words,
whenever our weaknesses are exposed, the strength of GOD is revealed as HE
helps us to overcome those weaknesses.
In verses 8-11, Paul makes reference to his
second missionary journey (Acts 16-18) when he reflects back on their hard
struggles;
“We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the
trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and
overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live
through it. In fact, we expected to
die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only
on God, who raises the dead. And he
did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed
our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. And
you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because
God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety” (NLT).
It’s always easy for any of us to point to
our own strengths as a way to defend ourselves against negative attacks and
criticism. But here, we see Paul freely and openly sharing his “weaknesses”, as
he often did. To be in pressure situations that take us beyond our ability to
endure, or extricate ourselves, is when we realize most earnestly that we need
GOD in our lives to sustain us.
Paul already knew full well that he could
not force people to respond positively to his authority in CHRIST (you can’t
make grown folks do nothing), and he has to be patient and wait on the power of
GOD to change hearts. We as Christian are all involved in a ministry that
ultimately leads to changes in the hearts of men. However, those changes don’t
occur through anything that we do in our own personal strengths. GOD gives us
assignments that only HE can complete, as we are just vessels that HE uses to
carry HIS message to someone else.
We must be able to know, through spiritual
discernment and communication with GOD, just how far HE wants us to go, before
we pause to let HIM finish the transforming work that will ultimately save a
person’s soul from condemnation in the last days. It is not the duty of a
Christian to show others how important they are, but rather, it is the duty of
a Christian to show the world, through their behavior, that Christianity
produces the best men and women, and, to ultimately expose to the world, the
importance of GOD, to the lives that HE created, here on earth.
RESTORED
RELATIONSHIPS
2
Corinthians 1:12-24
After the Apostle Paul changed his plans for
a re-visit to Corinth during his third missionary journey in A.D. 57, his
opponents in the church took advantage of the opportunity to charge Paul as
being untrustworthy. They also contended that Paul was “just another tyrant”
who cared nothing for the people he sought to rule over. It was a charge that
deeply hurt Paul, because he knew in his own heart, his commitment to the work
GOD had called him to do.
In reality, Paul changed his plans, because
he had let his “emotions” get away from him, and a visit to Corinth at that
time, would have been too painful to both he and the people at the Church at
Corinth. Whenever we let our emotions get the better of us, or control us, that
is the time when we leave ourselves most vulnerable to satan.
Second Corinthians, chapters 1:12-7:16
represent a rather passionate defense, by the Apostle Paul, of his sincere
commitment to his Christian ministry in general, and, to the Church at Corinth
in particular. Paul met the questions concerning his commitment head on, and he
affirmed with confidence that his moral conscience and his intensified
knowledge of GOD’s Word were without censure, and were exemplified in his own day
to day conduct, both publicly and privately.
As a leader and a person who closely
followed CHRIST, Paul always strived to be simple, sincere, and
straight-forward, and he was the same way in his letters. Here in 2 Corinthians
1, taking up at verse 23, Paul, very honestly and straight-forwardly tells the
Church at Corinth, that, the reason he didn’t return to Corinth was because he
wanted to spare them from the “severe emotional rebuke” that he was prepared to
give them. As a powerful man of GOD should, he knew that he needed to first get
his emotions in check before coming to visit the church at Corinth.
Paul, like all Christians who desire to
share the mind of CHRIST, must come to understand that “emotions” are the
origin of most sins, be it adultery, murder, etc. and whenever we lose our
“self control” (egrathia) to our emotions, we are rendered powerless to perform
the work of GOD. Satan can then, take over, and get us to do virtually anything
he wants us to do.
In the biblical Greek the word used for
“compassion”, when it is applied to JESUS, is “metriopatheo”, and it is “a
midpoint between two extremes”. JESUS wants us to show and use “compassion” in
our dealings with others, which will automatically keep us in the middle, where
“virtue” is. To lose control of one’s “emotions”, going from one extreme to the
other, can only lead to sinful results in most cases. Our emotions should never
go unchecked if we are to remain firmly in the Christian Faith.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
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