Sermon
Suffering and Glory: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Redemption Church - Twin Cities
Speaker: Drew Stevenson
September 28, 2025 · 33 min
SufferingGod's SovereigntyHopeJesus / Christology2 Corinthians 1:1–72 Corinthians 1:8–112 Corinthians 4:17
Summary
Paul establishes that God is both all-good and all-powerful, and therefore designed Christian suffering not as punishment but as discipline with redemptive purpose. Believers should expect deep suffering alongside God's comfort, understanding that their pain participates in Christ's sufferings and prepares them for eternal glory.
Highlights
God never gives you more than He can deliver you from. God's design for the world is not that we as Christians would avoid suffering, but that like our Savior, we would suffer deeply and be delivered from the suffering in this life and ultimately in heaven with Jesus forever.
Christian means follower of Christ, and Christ experienced deep and excruciating suffering. That means that as we follow Christ on the road to obedience, we ought to expect an abundance of suffering, but not a hopelessness in that suffering, but instead the peace of God that surpasses understanding.
The suffering that you're experiencing is actually preparing you for the eternal weight of glory. Your life is like a vapor here. One of the best things about eternity is we will remember what it was like to carry the burdens of life, and with a snap of his finger, Jesus is going to lift them.