Opus 2013-145: Studies: Blessed

Paul begins his letters with a formula that is consistent with letters of his culture.  In Romans culture you started with your name and a greeting, gave a prayer and some kind of thanksgiving.  In the third verse of II Corinthians Paul gets to the thanksgiving.

(2 Corinthians 1:3 KJV)  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

I have always wondered how we, as mere humans, can “bless” God.  After all, isn’t He the one who blesses us? 

But we can bless Him if we understand what the word means.  “Blessed” in the Greek is the root word for our English “eulogy”.  The eulogy is the part of a funeral where we say all the nice things about the departed.  It is a compound word.  The first part means “good.”  The second means “speak” or “words.” 

The ultimate eulogy is “He is Risen!  He is risen, indeed.”  By such simple acts of praise and worship we call to mind the essential truth of the gospel, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

So speak well of God.  You can do that by praising who He is.  You can do that by proclaiming what He has done.

I guess you can do it by living in such a way that you bring honor to His name.

homo unius libri