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 ble to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
HELPS WORD STUDIES ON MERCIES -
3628 oiktirmós – properly, compassion (pity), i.e. deep feeling about someone's difficulty or misfortune (TDNT, 1:159).
3628 /oiktirmós ("visceral compassions") is used of the deep feelings God has for all of us, and powerfully shows and shares in those following Him.
COMFORT -
Cognate: 3874 paráklēsis – properly, a call (urging), done by someone "close beside," i.e. a personal exhortation that delivers the "evidence that stands up in God's court."
[3874 (paráklēsis) is cognate with 3875 /paráklētos ("legal advocate") and thus has legal overtones.]
3874 (paráklēsis) is an "intimate call" that someone personally gives to deliver God's verdict, i.e. "the close-call" that reveals how the Lord weighs in the relevant facts (evidence). 3874 /paráklēsis ("holy urging") is used of the Lord directly motivating and inspiring believers to carry out His plan, delivering His particular message to someone else. The core-meaning of 3874 /paráklēsis ("personal urging") is shaped by the individual context, so it can refer to: exhortation, warning, encouragement (comfort), etc.
Knowing and understanding the very nature of our Father is the one thing that leads us into life. We live our lives meeting opportunities to learn who He is through all the circumstances and challenges we encounter. This is SO THAT we may be that same, sweet fragrance of life to others.
Mercy is seen when God gives to us something we do not deserve. While God sits as the righteous judge his desire is to give mercy. Jesus was the provision of God in his righteous judgment to give mankind mercy. We owed a debt we could not pay and Jesus has made the way for us to now draw near. God dispenses judgment from a mercy seat, desiring mercy above judgment. The Bible tells us God is rich in mercy and that mercy is new to us every day. This is the heart of God and it is this motivation that extends to us the comfort we need in all our afflictions.
Jesus said if I don’t go I can’t send another comforter, helper, who will abide with us forever, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. It is this descriptive of the Holy Spirit that we find all that is given to us by Him. The God of all comfort brings to us through the Comforter all we have need to comfort us in all our afflictions.
He helps us SO THAT….what we have seen and learned, received from Him can be given to others in their afflictions.
This very nature of the Father is to be ours. Extending mercy that exalts above judgment, we are to be touched with the feelings of others infirmities. When we are moved with compassion, we extend a hand to comfort others in their time of need.
Freely, we have received His mercy, freely we give. May this day afford us new opportunities, to see and receive, spend and be spent, all for His glory.