TEXT:

‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God’ – 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

THOUGHT:

When I first became a Christian, a popular hymn we used to sings with gusto was “All to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all”. We will make it much easier to do just that if we continually remind ourselves that God has given His “all” to us in the first place. Reading 2 Corinthians recently I was struck by the number of times “All” appears, six times in the first two chapters. These will become the focus for Today’s Teaching.

• With All the Saints who are in All Achaia – 1:1

Under Roman rule, Greece was divided into two provinces, Macedonia and Achaia. Achaia had prominent cities such as Corinth, Athens and Olympia and was an area the Apostle Paul evangelised extensively. Christianity is inclusive, not exclusive or elitist. Whatever your age, background, colour or locality, a Christian is called a saint. Some denominations only use this term for a special few, but the Bible does not make that distinction. We are not trying to be a Christian, we are one if our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore we are a saint. Some church services continually use wording like “miserable sinners” for the congregation to repeat. This tends to pull people down into guilt and condemnation but the Bible lifts the Christian up into righteousness and justification through what Christ has done for them. So it is not a matter of boasting when Christians are called saints!

• And God of All comfort – 1:3

This world’s view of God, including some Christian’s is the total opposite. They see Him as the God of all disaster, trouble, sickness and judgment. Insurance companies call disasters, “An act of God”. The Bible declares Him to be the God of all comfort. He wants to comfort you! We will communicate to others our experience of God, so God wants that experience to be the correct one. Paul and his team went through much persecution and trouble but never saw God as the author of it, but the comfort in it. They experienced adversity because they were preaching the Gospel, the good news about God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Who comforts us in All our tribulation – 1:4

Life is not always easy. For some it can be problem after problem and tragedy after tragedy. Not the kind of world God created or intended, but what the world has become since leaving God out of it. Jesus promised, ‘In the world you will have tribulation’ – John 16:33. God’s purpose when we experience tribulation is to be the present help in our time of trouble, so that once helped we can help others. It’s all too easy to end up selfish, only thinking about ourselves, forgetting that God blesses us to be a blessing to others. The truth about “Footprints” reminds us that when there were only one set of footprints in the sand, it was then that God was carrying us!

• All the Promises of God in Him are Yes – 1:20

The promises are as true today as when they were first given. They have not been superseded by inferior promises. Those of the Old Testament have been replaced by better promises for those who are in Christ – Hebrews 8:6. Find the promise and if you are in Christ, then you can claim it. Come in faith and ask God for it, because Christ is in you, no other reason than that.

• Whether you are obedient in All things – 2:9

The church had promised they would deal with a matter and Paul wrote to check that it was not just words, when action was needed. Temptation and life’s circumstances will put us to the test. How we will react when the pressure is on? It is no good boasting that we have not succumbed to one kind of sin, if we are disobedient concerning another. The Book of James is very challenging over this and exhorts Christians to display the practical outworking of their faith in everyday life in a way that glorifies God.

Having just celebrated Easter, I am reminded that, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all’ – Isaiah 53:6. If you do not have a peace in your heart that your sins are all forgiven, then act on this promise and you too will become a saint!