Title: God of Love and Peace
Contents
about:blank
22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.
23. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24. And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind, cattle, creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kind. And it was so.
25. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and God saw that it was good.
26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over all that creeps on the earth.
27. God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
------------------------------------------------------------ ----------
5. Test yourselves and prove yourselves whether you are in the faith, do you not know for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, otherwise you are rejected.
6. I hope that you will know that we are not forsaken.
7. We beseech God that you do nothing evil, not that we are righteous, but that, though we are outcasts, you may do good.
8. We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.
9. When we are weak, you rejoice in your strength, and for this you ask for it, that you may be made whole.
10. Therefore, while I am away, I am writing this so that when I come face to face with you, the Lord will not overthrow you, but build you up, so as not to be harsh, according to the authority he has given me.
11. Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made whole, be comforted, be of one mind, be at peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
12. All the saints greet you
13. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Content
Title: God of Love and Peace
Text: Numbers 6:22-27, 2 Corinthians 13:5-13
The apostle Paul, speaking of the third visit to the church in Corinth, is a warning group. “Every word shall be confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses… If I go back, I will not forgive” (2 Corinthians 13:1,2). It reminds us of the second official epistle, 1 Corinthians. Paul, who was waiting for Titus in anticipation of the response of the letter sent from Ephesus (1 Corinthians) around A.D. 55, receives a report from Titus in Macedonia (Philippi) (2 Corinthians 7:6). It is because of the result that the Corinthians who received and read 1 Corinthians are being transformed (2 Corinthians 7:7-16). He reveals the difference between 'the sorrow according to God's will' and 'the sorrow of the world' (2 Corinthians 7:10). Nevertheless, not all the problems of the Corinthian church were solved. So, in the New Testament text (2 Corinthians 13:5-13), ahead of the third visit, Paul puts his wishes, hopes, and blessings for the Corinthian church at the end of his letter.
First, I ask the Corinthians to look back on themselves. ‘Test yourselves whether you are in the faith, and prove yourselves. Do you not know for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?’ (v. 5). This means that each member of the church should examine his or her faith. This is an exhortation to ‘Is each of the saints really standing right in the truth?’ (verse 8). Second, He commands us to achieve the perfection of the church in Corinth. “Your perfection…so that when you come face to face, you will not be overthrown, according to the authority the Lord has given you to build you up, not to destroy” (verse 9). It speaks of the third hope (verse 11). Hope is on God's side, not on the human side. “The God of love and peace will be with you” (Immanuel). When we follow His presence, we organize our sentences thinking about the work of grace that will be accomplished.
It is considering our role in the work of salvation that God has promised and is fulfilling. Of course, it is the consideration of love. It is a loving consideration that enables us to participate in the work you do for us. It makes me think of the benediction of the Old Testament (Numbers 6:22-27). The story of 'I want...I want...I want' contains an adaptation to the work that God wants to do (Ezekiel 36:37). This is the blessing He gave to Abraham, the father of faith (Genesis 12:2-3), and to Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15). You said what you wanted to do, and you were commanded to participate in it. “So they shall bless the children of Israel in my name, and I will bless them” (verse 27). The ‘God of love and peace’ is a loving consideration that teaches us to bless each other and to love one another (John 13:34).