The God of All Comfort

Introduction

Good afternoon. Today we are going to look at 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. We are going to learn about our God of all comfort. Let us start by reading our passage.

Reading

2 Corinthians 1:3–5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies

and God of all comfort, 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.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Blessed Be God

Before we dig into what it means to have a God of All Comfort, there are some interesting things that Paul writes in this section of verses that I want to touch on. Each of these two things can be sermons in and of themselves, but it would be good to look at them briefly.

In the beginning of the passage, Paul writes: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What is Paul saying when he says “Blessed be God”? Can we, as mere humans, bless God? Is it not God who blesses us. And what capacity can we have to bless the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth?

First, this is not the only case where Paul uses this phrase. We see it in:

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,”

In this one verse we see what we might expect: we have been blessed in Christ with spiritual blessings. We also see Peter use the phrase in 1 Peter 1:3 and John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, uses it after John is born in Luke 1:68.

Second, Paul is actually drawing upon the rich tradition of using this way of address from the Old Testament. We see it in about 23 verses in the Old Testament, usually of the form: “Blessed be the Lord God.” Two examples:

Psalm 66:20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Psalm 72:18–19 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

The word, “blessed”, will have two meanings based upon the object of the blessing. If God is the object, as we see with Paul’s use, then the meaning is to give praise and honor to God. It is to speak words of excellence about Him. So, in such a concise way, Paul is praising God.

Father of Mercies

Next, Paul gives a title to God: the Father of Mercies. This is tied very closely to where we will spend the rest of our time today. It is the mercy of our Father in Heaven to give us the comfort we need in any situation. It is part of God’s character to extend mercy to those in misery and distress. It is the mercy (and ultimately grace) of the Father to send His only Son to the Cross to pay the penalty for our sin: that is, the grace God has extended to us that we may with be Him forever through His Son. This is so that we would not suffer the eternal misery and distress in Hell away from the Father. Jesus recounts what the Father says:

Matthew 9:13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

And Paul say in Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:4–6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Comfort in All Affliction

After these, Paul talks of the comfort we have with God. He starts by saying that our God is a:

“...God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction...”

Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church of the affliction and suffering he has experienced, and he invites the Corinthian church to remember his suffering in their own suffering. In this, then, Paul can speak of the comfort he as received from God and so show that they can receive the same comfort from God in their suffering.

God comforts us in all our afflictions. But I should note that it does not say that God saves us from all affliction. It is not as if we will never go through suffering. For example, Jesus says:

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

But the scripture does say that God will be a comfort to us in all our afflictions. Whenever we go through suffering, God is with us and comforting us. And ultimately, in Christ Jesus, we have peace, that is, ultimate comfort.

2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,

God has also given us many scriptures to comfort us! Let us look at just a few.

Psalm 42:11 “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

Psalm 46:1–11 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”

I could spend the rest of our time just saying scripture after scripture. God is so good and faithful to give us so much in His Word to comfort us!

Being a Comfort to Others

And if we are comforted, we are to comfort others.

“...so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction...”

Our lives as Christians is not one of just receiving good things from God. We are to share and give as well. The Christian life is one of outpouring of ourselves to others, especially those of the faith. Jesus says:

Luke 6:38 “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.””

Paul modeled this himself.

Ephesians 6:21–22 “So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.”

We encourage and comfort one another by speaking to each other the words of life that are in the Scriptures.

1 Thessalonians 5:9–11 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

Sharing in Christ’s Sufferings

Paul concludes his introduction in his letter:

“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings”

We share in Christ’s sufferings when we suffer for Christ. That is, for the Gospel. Thus, we suffer when we live in a world that is against us at every turn. Do we not mourn when we see the evil that is in the world today? When we actively share the Gospel, are we not suffering when those to whom we share reject what can heal them? Paul shared of his own suffering frequently:

Romans 8:16–17 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

Philippians 3:8–10 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”

Colossians 1:24 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,”

So:

In the refining of silver, the metal must endure the heat of the fire in order to be purified and made valuable. Just so, we are called to share in Christ's sufferings as a means of being refined and made more like Him.

Comfort of Christ

And finally:

“so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too”

If we suffer, then we will be comforted. And it will be through Christ that we have comfort. The Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, indwells in us to provide the comfort we need in all of our suffering!

Romans 5:3–5 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

And, finally, I will leave you with this as an encouragement:

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”