NOTES for Co2 1:1-11

“Before I believed in God, everything in my life was terrible. My wife left me, and I lost my job. But after He entered my life, everything changed. I have a wonderful relationship with my wife, I really enjoy my work, and my health is excellent. Of course, I have minor problems sometimes, but with the Lord we resolve them very quickly. I am very grateful to Him for this...” Have you never heard testimonies like this? Although in form they differ little from an advertisement for a weight-loss product, they are usually given by people who are naïve but sincere. Besides, it is quite natural that for some Christians, joining the Church really does lead to improved relationships in the family and at work, is it not? The problem is that for those hearing such a testimony Christ can become a kind of means of “making one’s life more successful,” and the very first trouble along the way may turn them away from God and the Church forever.

And Paul? For what does he thank God? The Lord comforts “us in all our affliction,” and “just as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our consolation abounds through Christ.” For Paul, sharing in Christ’s Resurrection is inseparably linked with sharing in His sufferings; this thought passes from one of his epistles to another. The world lies in evil, and although the victory over evil has already been won, we cannot count on bliss in this life. Christian joy, the joy of having experienced God’s love, is nothing like earthly pleasure. Together with Paul, we place our hope “in God who raises the dead,” and we believe in the power of the prayers of our brothers and sisters. Let us remember that, having received consolation in our afflictions, we are called to bring the same consolation to all those “who are in any affliction.”