2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ. These words fathom a depth of human experience which can only be touched by those who seek in the life of Christ the key to the mystery of pain. There is a suffering which is common to man, and there is in respect of such suffering consolation in God. But there is a suffering which belongs to life under its highest conditions and which the mere man of the world never tastes, but for which there is a Divine joy which is equally beyond his range. I. THE NATURE OF THE SUFFERING WHICH IS TO BE REGARDED AS A SHARING OF THE SUFFERING OF THE LORD. Among the elements which enter into it are — 1. The spectacle of the misery of mankind. On earth Christ wept as He beheld it, and the Christian is also bound to feel the pressure of its burden. 2. The deadly nature of evil. We cannot cheat ourselves into the belief that it does not much matter, that God is good and will make it all right at last. Sin is to be looked at in the light of Calvary. That teaches how terrible it is to the eye of God, how deadly in the heart of man. 3. The resistance of the will of the flesh to the best efforts and influences; its determination to reject the things that heal and save. It was this that made Christ the Man of Sorrows (Luke 13:34). To see a man perish within reach of rescue is one of the most piteous of spectacles. Imagine, then, what the world must be to Christ as He says, "Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life." This burden the disciple of Christ has ever pressing upon him as he fulfils his ministry in a scornful world. 4. The future eternal destiny. The thought pressed as a constant burden on the heart of Christ. It was this that drove Paul into barbarous lands, if he might save a soul from death. The fellowship of the Redeemer's tears is no unknown experience to the disciple. II. HOW OUR CONSOLATION ABOUNDETH IN CHRIST. If we are called to share the suffering, we are called also to share the consolation. There was a joy set before Christ for which He endured the Cross, etc. — the joy of a sure redemption of humanity. These are some of the elements of the joy. 1. The God of all power and might has taken up the burden and wills the redemption of the world. God has come forth in Christ to undertake in person the recovery of our race. In working and suffering for man we have the assurance that God is with us. We see Mammon or Moloch on the throne, but it cannot be for ever. With all the vantage strength of His Godhead, Christ is working at the problem of man's salvation. When we feel saddened by the burden of human misery let us rest on the thought, "God is in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself." 2. There is a joy in the fulfilment of a self-sacrificing ministry which is more like heavenly rapture than any other experience which is within our reach. Unselfish work, inspired by the love of Christ, is the soul's gymnastic culture. To sow the seed of the kingdom is the present joy of a lifetime. No man who has known it would part with it to be a crowned king. The certainty of the issue (Isaiah 55:10-13). (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.WEB: For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. |
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