2 Corinthians 1 - Brandon Hatmaker - "So That"
Monday, July 7th
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
There is a huge "So that" found in this passage. We are shown compassion and are comforted so that others may find comfort. In that comfort is found salvation, endurance, and hope. Even our comfort is not about us. Maybe this is why Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be "grasped" but instead left His comfort, exchanged it for skin, and offered His comfort to us.
Here's how Paul put it in his letter to the Philippians :
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! - Philippians 2:5-8
Our comfort should be found in the fact that our salvation was never about something we can do, earn, attain, or deserve on our own. It is a gift of life from God and through Jesus. It was His sacrifice of comfort with us in mind. It almost seems counterintuitive that it would do so, but this should bring us the greatest comfort imaginable. It takes the pressure off. This truth alone allows us to live in peace before God and in the freedom of the Cross. Once again, thank you, Jesus.
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"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort." - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
ReplyDeleteI've had these verses underlined in my Bible for a long time now. The single black-inked line underscores a reminder that my past is not my own. Every addiction I have battled, every crucible that I've gone through, every scar on my soul is there for His purposes. There are big stories in these scars...and it's taken me a long time to realize that it's not OK to hide them - because when you pretend that you've never suffered, you can't really encourage those who are suffering.
It's amazing when you allow the cross to do a transformative work in your life - when you really experience freedom and abounding grace - you start to see that God starts bringing people near that are going or have gone through the same battles you have. The word says we are to be mutually encouraged by each other...and that God uses all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes. All of these verses just play so powerfully off of each other here...
These underlined verses are God's reminder to me that I cannot be selfish with my suffering. That I can't bury my past. That doesn't mean that I must constantly relive it or be burdened by guilt over it - but rather that I should start to see it through the redemptive lens of Christ - and as a result, not only praise God for the work he's done in restoring a broken man, but to allow Him to use that redemptive testimony to further his work and be there for a broken and hurting world in the same way he was there for me.
Mike. I so appreciate your words. I think you hit it on the head when you said, "when you pretend that you've never suffered, you can't really encourage those who are suffering."
ReplyDeleteI taught on God's empathy last night at ANC as a part of a sermon on baptism. In it, I was humbled by the reality of how many problems I cannot solve for others or even speak from experience in helping them heal. However, I was encouraged and reminded of the places where I can. And to see those areas as gifts of our journey.
When I was in college I was a football player. We went to a small private college where as football players we were sort of like oddities. We were on the outside of campus society. Don't get me wrong, we didn't do a whole lot to change the way people looked at us. I sort of felt like people were looking at us a mission field. You know, "I am going into the mission field and taking Jesus to the football team." It was hard for me to connect with these type of people. They didn't know what I was going through. They had no idea how much my world was blown apart by a torn up knee. I heard a saying once, "They won't care what you know until they know you care." I didn't care what those college people knew because I didn't know they cared for me as a person. I think it is the same with suffering. We can connect with people who are going through suffering if we will be honest with them and admitt we have suffered too.
ReplyDelete