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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
This is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men (and women) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:3-4)
Established
November 2008 Published weekly on Friday
2 Corinthians 1:3-11 Lesson
02
Welcome to Home
Bible Study©
For the word of God is living and active and sharper
than two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit,
of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the
heart (Hebrews
4:12).
The “word of God” here is the written or the
spoken word of God and not the books you find up and down the Religion section in your neighborhood
bookstore. The Bible is known as “the living word” because it accomplishes
God’s will here on earth (Isaiah 55:11), whether it is read, preached, or
studied. The Bible is unlike other
published books, whatever emotional or social effects they may produce, in that
it brings about lasting supernatural change within an individual, “ so faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans
10:17).
I’ve been teaching
the Bible for more than 20 years, yet I can still say I learn something new every
time I pick up this book to study it. Since
this works for me, I know it can work for you.
Thus my goal, and my prayer, is that each one of comes away from these
Bible lessons learning at least “one” new thing from God’s Word every week.
If you’re a true Believer,
God’s wonderful plan for your life has already happened in the spiritual
sense. Now it’s just waiting to take
place in the physical sense, therefore, “Stand
and consider the wonders of God” (Job 37:14b).
********
Why
does God allow suffering
Everyone
at one time or another has wondered or asked the question, “Why does God permit suffering?” Bad things happen to both the saved and the unsaved;
this is a fact (Matthew 5:45). Even if
you and your family escape tragedy or severe illness, there are still those burdens
or pressures in life to bear. Perhaps, you or someone you know is dealing
with one of more of these social ills: an
addiction, bullies, divorce, a job loss, insecurity, loneliness, physical
abuse, rejection (of some sort),
sexual abuse, etc. Let’s not leave
out the ultimate tragedy, which no one escapes, and that would be death.
We all enter this world with our
departure date already scheduled; we
just aren’t aware of how and when.
This
isn’t the way God planned it folks it came to be this way because the first man
exercised his free will or his
God-given ability to make choices. In
the beginning, God created a perfect world and made both the man and the woman perfect creations before placing them in it. The origin of suffering dates back to the
Garden of Eden experience after Adam willfully chose to disobey God’s single
commandment not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis
2, 3). Everything changed after that.
But
God didn’t change. No-siree; God is the
same yesterday, today, and tomorrow! I
mention this because people want to lay the blame for suffering at the feet of
God. They go on to say He doesn’t care
about us down here, since He allows suffering on this planet. My response to that mindset is those who have
this attitude should spend some time reading and studying this book before
making such a hasty and ignorant statement.
For it was in Jesus Christ that God showed his true attitude toward
human suffering. He once and for all
demonstrated He does care about us by sending His own Son to this earth not
just to visit but to die for the sins of every person who ever lived. Jesus lived; agonized, and died by the rules
of this life, the same ones we live and suffer by. He was fully God and fully Man. Therefore, God actually came in the flesh to
suffer right along with us. It was the
greatest example of God’s love possible.
Jesus Christ himself said it: “Greater love has
no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13; Romans 5:8).
Less
than 24 hours after saying this, Jesus, as God incarnate, gave up His life willingly.
He
literally suffered and died for all (2
Corinthians 5:15). He didn’t ask or
demand that people change, i.e. stop sinning before he went to the Cross to die. He died, in their place, while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). He removed every sin from every man, woman,
and child and made the way of salvation open for those who would believe the
gospel. The Apostle John witnessed the death
of God in the flesh. The sacrifice of
Jesus Christ exemplified love and John expressed it eloquently: “For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
In
the crucifixion, God put to rest, for all time, any notion that He doesn’t care
about us and the passage we’re currently studying indicates He means to comfort us during our suffering. We recently completed our study of the
resurrection of the dead at the Rapture.
In the future resurrection of the righteous, God will give each Believer
an immortal body and make their lives suffering-free.
Everyone who has suffered and is currently
suffering will suffer no more. Until
then, as long as humans live in a fallen world
and as long as we continue to make mistakes, there will be suffering.
What
are the causes of suffering
Sinful
people cause some suffering directly (addictions, anger, cheating, crime,
divorce, drugs, lying, etc.
Sin
causes suffering indirectly (because of sinful practices this world is corrupted, deteriorating,
painful, evil – Genesis 3:14-19, 4:1-15; Romans 8:20-27)
This
means God is NOT the cause of suffering; He is the author of good (James
1:13-17).
********
Please
open your Bible at 2 Corinthians 1:3
Our
Apostle Paul reveals four distinct purposes for those daily trials or pressures we all encounter as Believers and why in verses 3-11.
2 Corinthians 1
Let’s
look at verses 3-5:
Receiving God’s Comfort
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 will be able to comfort those who
are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God. For just as the sufferings of
Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through
Christ.
The
term comfort, Paraklesis, in the Greek language, (pronounced: par-ak’-lay-sis), Noun, Feminine; Strong’s
Greek #3874, and in its different forms is used ten times in this section; it’s
the key term throughout the entire passage.
It also appears in chapters 1-9 twenty-five times, therefore, we should
get a handle on its meaning before proceeding.
The word means to call
alongside. It was often used in a
judicial sense of an advocate; one who rendered legal aid, comfort, and
guidance. In this context it is used
in the sense of encouragement and consolation and it refers to God the
Father.
God
didn’t instigate suffering on this planet or in our lives, but since the fall
of man He wills for us to experience tribulation, i.e. Thlipsis or affliction, distress, and oppression so that we can know Him better.
Now, that concept may sound a bit off center to some folks, but if you
take the time to carefully consider it, you’ll come to understand the fact that
we could not truly appreciate Him as the “Father
of mercies and the God of all comfort” without being delivered from
our suffering. As Believers, following
Jesus Christ daily, we are called to
become acquainted with our Savior’s sufferings, so that we can experience the
blessing of His comfort: that I might know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the
dead (Philippian 3:10-11).
In
verses 3-11, our Apostle Paul is going to reveal four distinct purposes for
those daily trials or pressures we all encounter as Believers and
why.
In
verses 8-10, Paul wants these Corinthians to know (and us too) that when they
are burdened excessively they should
not rely on themselves or their own strength to deliver them out of it.
Trust in God’s Comfort
For we do not want
you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our
strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of
death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God
who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our
hope. And He will yet deliver us,
I
like to point out from time to time that the Bible doesn’t tell us everything
that we would like to know, but it does tell us EVERYTHING that we need to
know, AMEN. Here, Paul doesn’t give us
the details about the affliction(s)
he was facing in Ephesus, but from a reader’s perspective it certainly looks dire. It was some type or types of persecution and it
may have included an illness made worse by Paul’s missionary work. After some Bible review, I’ve found a few likely
possibilities:
Jewish
opposition or “wild beasts” in Ephesus (1 Cor 15:32)
Suffering
39 stripes after being brought before a Jewish court (2 Cor 11:24)
The
riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41)
A
particular persecution shortly before Paul left for Troas (Acts 20:19; 1 Cor
16:9)
Some
type of recurring illness (2 Cor 12:7-10)
In
the midst of these tribulations, Paul’s said, we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired
even of life; meaning, Paul and his co-workers feared for their lives. These threats were that great! But here’s the thing we need to take away
from this passage, especially when we find ourselves in the midst of some
tribulation that’s about to bring us to the brink of despair. Paul’s response, as well as his coworkers, to
this threat was not to trust
in ourselves, to weather the storms, a.k.a.
trials of life, but in God who raises the dead. It
was God who delivered us from so great a
peril of death, and will
deliver us, He on whom we have set
our hope.
You
see, God intends for us Believers to learn to lean on Him; to trust Him to
see us through our suffering. When we
reach the end of our rope, so to speak, we are more likely to recognize Him as
the only One whose Grace is sufficient for our every need (2 Corinthians
12:9-10). When a person reaches the
point where they express fear for their
very life, as did Paul, this betrays the fact that they are completely
overwhelmed. But in the midst of this
dread and uncertainty Paul and his co-workers found comfort when they trusted God for deliverance.
That
last sentence brings us to verses 1:4, 6-7.
Here we learn God comforts us so that we, in turn, will be able to
comfort those who are going through or have just come out of a similar trial.
God
Offers Believers Comfort
2 Corinthians 1
4: who comforts
us in all our afflictions so that we will be able to comfort those who
are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God.
6: But if are afflicted, it is for your comfort
and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is
effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer,
7: and our hope for
you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so
also you are sharers of our comfort.
And
then verse 11:
11: you also joining in helping us through your
prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the
favor bestowed on us through the prayers of
many.
Another
one of Gods plans for suffering includes other Believers. One important reason why God permits us to
experience affliction is that it prepares us to minister to others who are
undergoing similar difficulties in life.
Permit me to illustrate. My first
wife decided to end our marriage after 8 years. I tried to save the marriage,
but it takes two. Within
a few months after our divorce she re-married - hence the reason for our hasty divorce. If I had someone to talk to at that time who had
“been there;” someone who had experienced the same emotions I was dealing with regularly
such as deep sorrow, anger, and regret, I probably would have healed much
faster. Bottom line: I did get over the pain of divorce and now I
can help an individual who is struggling with the same affliction and needs comforting.
God
intends for every Believer to see affliction
and comfort as a means of
administering comfort to
those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are
comforted by God – for their comfort
and salvation. One of the ways we
can assist those who are suffering is by lifting them up to God in prayer
(v11).
Receiving
Comfort from Believers (See
the same verses as above).
One
thing life teaches us is this there’s always a flip-side. Since God intends to use Believers to
minister to others in their time of need, He also plans to use them to
encourage Believers when they are down (2 Corinthians 12:26). Here we find a sort of mutuality about the
issue of suffering. Although Paul’s
suffering was directed at the Corinthian Church’s lack of spiritual growth and
their worldliness, they contributed to his comfort by
praying for him: you also joining in helping us through your prayers. Paul
understood the value of intercessory prayer and was not shy about asking the
Corinthians, despite their numerous spiritual problems, to pray for him. Thus, these saints in Corinth were helping him
a great deal, when they prayed for him.
Tribulation
in this life always has a purpose – in fact, several purposes. Apart from suffering we could neither know
the fullness of God’s good Grace; learn to trust Him completely; or minister to
others in need as God desires.
There’s
a song called “Diamonds” by Hawk Nelson that will help me bring this lesson to
a close – perhaps you’re already familiar with it.
Here
and now I'm in the fire
In above my head
Being held under the pressure
Don't know what'll be left
But it's here in the ashes
I'm finding treasure
He's making diamonds, diamonds
Making diamonds out of dust
He is refining in His timing
He's making diamonds out of us
In above my head
Being held under the pressure
Don't know what'll be left
But it's here in the ashes
I'm finding treasure
He's making diamonds, diamonds
Making diamonds out of dust
He is refining in His timing
He's making diamonds out of us
I'll surrender to the power
Of being crushed by love
Till the beauty that was hidden
Isn't covered up
Oh it's not what I hoped for
It's something much better
He's making diamonds, diamonds
Making diamonds out of dust
He is refining in His timing
He's making diamonds out of us
Oh
the joy of the Lord
It will be my strength
When the pressure is on
He's making diamonds
He's making diamonds, diamonds
Making us rise up from the dust
He is refining in His timing
He's making diamonds out of dust
Making diamonds out of us
I won't be afraid to shine
I won't be afraid to shine
I won't be afraid to shine
Cause He's making diamonds out of dust
Making diamonds out of us
It will be my strength
When the pressure is on
He's making diamonds
He's making diamonds, diamonds
Making us rise up from the dust
He is refining in His timing
He's making diamonds out of dust
Making diamonds out of us
I won't be afraid to shine
I won't be afraid to shine
I won't be afraid to shine
Cause He's making diamonds out of dust
Making diamonds out of us
Aren’t
you constantly working with your children, trying to make them better than they
are? Well, God loves us too much to leave us the way He found us. Being a new creation in Christ Jesus means
the old sinful person you once were has gone you now have a renewed heart, but it also means you
have a renewed mind. The mind is actually the key to the
Believer’s life. The reason why
non-believers don’t respond to God’s truths is because they can’t understand
spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Therefore, we all need to accept the fact that God wants what’s best for
us and we need to accept the tribulations in life for what they are and turn
them into blessings; this is what the apostles did. Someone once said to me, “Take the lemons you receive in life and make
lemonade.” I rather like that expression
because it fits.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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