Bible Study Treat

Ever since my mom started taking the Biblical Exegesis class by Denny Petrillo and Michael Hite, she has been all excited about marking key words.  I often see her with her Bible open, pad of paper close by, Bible-marking pens and colored pencils on hand, searching for recurring words like one digging for treasure.  Happily for me, she likes to compare notes.  Just yesterday she shared one of her discoveries with me, and because it’s too good to keep to myself, I’m going to share it with you, too.

In 2 Corinthians, the word “God” appears about 75 times, but the phrase “of God” appears some 32 times.  According to the World English Dictionary, the simple definition for the word “of” means “indicating possession, origin, or association.”  With that in mind, notice some of the words attached to our phrase “of God” in 2 Corinthians:

• In 1:1, the “WILL of God” and the “CHURCH of God”
• In 1:12, the “GRACE of God”
• In 1:19, the “SON of God”
• In 1:20, the “PROMISES of God” and the “GLORY of God”
• In 2:17, the “WORD of God” and the “SIGHT of God”
• In 4:2, the “SIGHT of God”
• In 4:6, the “GLORY of God”
• In 4:7, the “POWER will be of God”
• In 4:15, the “GLORY of God”
• In 5:21, the “RIGHTEOUSNESS of God”
• In 6:1, the “GRACE of God”
• In 6:4, the “SERVANTS of God”
• In 6:7, the “POWER of God”
• In 6:16, the “TEMPLE of God”
• In 7:1, the “FEAR of God”
• In 7:9, the “WILL of God”
• In 7:10, the “WILL of God”
• In 7:12, the “SIGHT of God”
• In 8:1, the “GRACE of God”
• In 8:5, the “WILL of God”
• In 9:14, the “GRACE of God”
• In 10:5, the “KNOWLEDGE of God”
• In 11:7, the “GOSPEL of God”
• In 12:19, the “SIGHT of God”
• In 13:4, the “POWER of God” and again the “POWER of God”
• In 13:14, the “LOVE of God”

Are you rubbing your hands together with anticipation?  This information is a great starting point for studying some big concepts that belong to/ originated with God.  It’s GOD’S grace, GOD’S temple, GOD’S gospel, GOD’S will.  So what does He have to say about them?  For instance, one glimpse at the verse that mentions the “knowledge of God” shows that it trumps every argument devised by man.  My mom pointed out that the specific phrases that recur the most are “will of God,” “grace of God,” “sight of God,” and “power of God,” each appearing 4 times.  I can’t wait to take a closer look at the passages surrounding those phrases to see what I can learn!

On a personal note, my mom has experienced some hardships, and still does.  I’m grateful anew for the ability of the “POWER of God” to bring joy and purpose to the lives of all His children (2 Cor. 6:4-10).  My mom thought it was interesting that the “love of God” was saved for the very last verse of the letter, which seems like an appropriate verse to end with here.  “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14).

Prayer for Today- Help me, dear Lord, to be an eager student of Your Word all my life.  And thank You for my mom!

Author: Kathy Pollard

I'm a Christian woman, happily married to my best friend, Neal. We have 3 grown sons, Gary, Dale, and Carl, and 3 sweet daughters-in-law, Chelsea, Janelle, and Emily. Neal preaches for the Lehman Ave. church of Christ in Bowling Green, KY. We love the Lord and His church! View all posts by Kathy Pollard