Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know who you are? What God has called you to do with your life? I believe you can, and that it is indeed what God wants for each of us. You may, or may not be able to put a label on it as Paul could, when he affirmed that he was ”an apostle”. But there are certain things that, when you do them, your heart sings. You feel, ‘I was made for this.’ As someone I heard put it, you are in the ‘sweet spot’ of your calling. For Eric Liddle, it included running. In the film, ‘Chariots of Fire’, he says to his sister, ‘When I run, Jenny, I feel His pleasure.’ As a Christian Olympian, he ran for the glory of God. The will of God isn’t just about making preachers. (Although Liddle went on to also be a great missionary in China).

But being in the will of God does not guarantee you an easy life. In the background of 2 Corinthians there is much about Paul’s suffering. He was being scandalously attacked. In this letter he frequently defends himself against these accusations. He does so, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the gospel. If mud was thrown, he didn’t want any of it to land on the gospel message itself and tarnish it. This is why he is so vigorous in his defence.

‘One key word in 2 Corinthians is comfort (encouragement), used in one form or another twenty-nine times. Yet there are many references to suffering, too. In this very personal letter Paul opens his heart and shares his deepest joys and sorrows. After all, Christians are human and must be honest in expressing in expressing their feelings.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.756.

(Note: Some time after writing 1 Corinthians, Paul heard that the situation in Corinth had deteriorated. So he wrote a severe letter to the Corinthians, from Ephesus, and sent it with Titus (2 Corinthians 2:3-4). But this letter has now been lost. For that reason we refer to Paul’s third letter as ”2 Corinthians”.)