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2 Corinthians 1 - The God of all Comfort

What words come to mind when you think of God? Make sure the word 'comfort' is on your list!


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2 Corinthians 1 (ESV)

  • 1 Paul, an apostle

    • of Christ Jesus

    • by the will of God,

  • and Timothy our brother,

  • To

    • the church of God

      • that is at Corinth,

    • with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

    • 2 Grace

  • to you

    • and peace

  • from

    • God our Father

    • and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

  • 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.

7 Our hope for you is unshaken,

  • for we know

    • that as you share in our sufferings,

    • you will also share in our comfort.

  • 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.

    • For we were so utterly burdened

      • beyond our strength

      • that we despaired of life itself.

      • 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.

    • But that was to make us rely

      • not on ourselves

      • but on God

        • who raises the dead.

          • 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril,

          • and he will deliver us.

        • On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

  • 11 You also must help us

    • by prayer,

    • so that many will give thanks

      • on our behalf

      • for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

  • 12 For our boast is this,

    • the testimony of our conscience,

    • that we behaved in the world

      • with

        • simplicity

        • and godly sincerity,

      • not

        • by earthly wisdom

        • but by the grace of God,

    • and supremely so toward you.

  • 3 For we are not writing to you

    • anything other than what you read and understand

    • and I hope

      • you will fully understand—

      • 14 just as you did partially understand us—

    • that on the day of our Lord Jesus

      • you will boast of us

      • as we will boast of you.

  • 15 Because I was sure of this,

    • I wanted to come to you first,

    • so that you might have a second experience of grace.

    • 16 I wanted to visit you

      • on my way to Macedonia,

      • and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.

    • 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this?

      • Do I make my plans according to the flesh,

      • ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?

  • 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.

    • 19 For the Son of God,

      • Jesus Christ,

        • whom we proclaimed among you,

          • Silvanus and Timothy and I,

      • was not Yes and No,

        • but in him it is always Yes.

        • 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.

    • That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

  • 21 And it is God who establishes us

    • with you

    • in Christ,

    • and has anointed us,

    • 22 and who has also

      • put his seal on us

      • and given us

        • his Spirit

        • in our hearts

        • as a guarantee.

  • 23 But I call God to witness against me—

    • it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.

    • 24 Not that

      • we lord it over your faith,

      • but we work with you

        • for your joy,

        • for you stand firm in your faith.


2 Corinthians 1 Summary


Like other letters, Paul begins 2nd Corinthians with a doxology - words of glory to God. Here it picks two significant attributes of God to focus upon:

  1. God is the Father of compassion

  2. and the God of all comfort.

We are to model this compassion to others, and it's in sharing in Christ's sufferings that we experience God's comfort.


The Bible contains thousands of God's promises (anywhere between 4,000 - 9,000 depending on who's counting system gets used). But all of those promises get answered with one Word: CHRIST (v20).


Even promises God has made, for example, to make all things new again, that have not yet materialized still can be considered fulfilled. Remember, God exists outside of time & space, so things which are in the future for us are experienced in an eternal present for Him.


This is why Paul reminds us that we can be comforted by this compassionate omnipresent (present in all times and places at once) God.



Dig Deeper


v20 - For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen / Ἀμὴν / אָמֵן to God for his glory.

This little four letter word we use so often is actually a Greek word that comes straight into English without translation (and the Greeks took it straight from ancient Hebrew). It's pronounced the same in all three languages, and it simply means 'so be it.'


This certainly adds to the power of our prayers, doesn't it! It's not just a signal that we can open our eyes again because the prayer is over, rather it's a way of claiming the promises of God through our participation in Christ.



AAA Prayer:

  • ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: the Father of mercies and God of all comfort

  • ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: You can align your life with one simple word each time you pray when you know what the word Amen means.

  • ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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