2nd Corinthians

Theme = Suffering

Suffering truly is a theme that is quite prominent throughout the book of 2nd Corinthians but is not necessarily a bad thing. This is the most important part of this theme’s recurrence in this the second epistle that we have of Paul’s correspondence with the church at Corinth. The church saw Paul’s suffering as a weak point… making them doubt Paul’s authority given by God. Paul approaches this letter from in both the beginning and end to dispel the doubts they have about God’s authority and clarify that suffering isn’t a bad thing. The beauty of this theme throughout this epistle is that Paul is able to constantly bring attention back to Christ and his work on the cross to show the church that suffering is actually a vital part of the Christian life and that it isn’t something to be feared. Suffering is actually a testimony to those following Christ because it identifies his adopted children with his own suffering and makes them distinctly separate from the world. Throughout the epistle suffering is not just something that is what believers are left to put up with but God promises to comfort and deliver those who belong to him in the midst of suffering. This is why I wanted to follow this theme throughout the book, to see the many ways in which God says that he provide for those who are suffering. God’s character is revealed through the way Paul describes how God has interacted him through his suffering… laying himself as an example for the Corinthians to see that God’s values are different than man’s. They had lost sight of who God is as they lost sight of who Paul claimed to be. God is portrayed as comforter… as deliverer… as powerful to overcome… and most importantly Christ is portrayed as hero for he suffered to bring reconciliation between God and man. Paul’s constant emphasis on God’s power and sufficiency amidst suffering makes this message of Christ’s suffering even the more potent. In Christ’s victory on the cross, truly suffering for the sake of man, he has given the gift of eternal comfort… making the difficulties of the present life truly inconsequential in light of the unending hope of heaven through faith in God’s revealed grace.

To the Corinthians they saw Paul in a skewed perspective, knowing that he had established the church there and seemed genuine. In this epistle Paul uses this theme of suffering to open their eyes up to an eternal perspective that God has graced him with, for they were lost in the present trying to find life and peace and joy in the things of the world. At the end of the epistle they would see through Paul’s irony that his suffering is for their sakes… that they would see the truth of Christ. It is because of Paul’s suffering that they even ever received the message of the gospel. This truth would sink into their hearts, producing a gratitude for suffering… constantly being bombarded with the reality that Christ’s suffering is what gave them hope and justification, not to mention Paul’s endurance to bring the message to them. Their pride would be melting by Paul’s constant emphasis on suffering, seeing that the afflictions of the present age truly don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. In fact they owe everything that they have been given by God through suffering. The world around them is seeking to destroy them and the only real love and hope that even exists is through this wonderful gospel… a gospel that is only possible through sacrifice, through enduring in suffering for Christ’s sake.

In the present age that we now live in our situation is not too terribly different than that of the Corinthians. Everyone, even believers in Christ, is afraid to suffer. Nobody wants to endure pain, for the present generation has failed to trust that anything good can come from sacrifice. This is the suffering that God has for those who believe upon Christ. They no longer belong to themselves but belong to him to be used for his good pleasure. His good pleasure often leads to them being identified with Christ in suffering, in sacrificing themselves that more people would see the amazing grace that Christ has purchased on the cross. This verse beautifully sums up the message of suffering in 2 Corinthians, verse 4:17 “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…”