In today’s world there are many who do not know what it is like to have a father. Certainly, they had a biological father, but that doesn’t mean that he was around to raise them. Many today are raised by single moms and the concept of father is but a distant notion.
It is not like that with our heavenly Father.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 (NASB)
Not only is God the Father of our Savior, Jesus Christ, but He is the
Father of mercies.
The word mercies is from the Greek word oiktirmos which is defined by Thayer’s Greek Dictionary as:
1) compassion, pity, mercy
1a) bowels in which compassion resides, a heart of compassion
1b) emotions, longings, manifestations of pity
God is the Father of Compassion. Just as an earthly father causes a child to come into the world, God the Father is the source of compassion. You may feel compassion from someone toward you, but God is the original source of that compassion. And, He is the best at showing compassion. It is His nature for, as the scriptures say, God is love (1 John 4:8).
4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NASB)
In our scripture for today God is also called the
Father of all comfort.
Comfort is an easy word to grasp. It means to come along side someone and help them feel better. I want you to notice that He is not merely the God of comfort, but the God of ALL comfort. He is the source of any real comfort that you experience.
The Greek word used for comfort here is the same root as the word used for the Holy Spirit when He is referred to as the Comforter (John 14:16). What greater comfort could there be than knowing that in the midst of all of our problems here on this earth, we have the Comforter who is with us everywhere that we go providing direction, wisdom and the actual presence of God in us.
Praise be our wonderful God who is the
The Father of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
The Father of compassion,
The Father of ALL comfort and
THE Heavenly Father that loves us even now. Amen
