Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Corinthians 1:5

"For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ." — 2 Corinthians 1:5 (ASV)

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us. This means we are called to experience the same sufferings Christ endured; we are called to suffer in His cause and in promoting the same objective. The sufferings they endured were in the cause of Christ and His gospel. They were endured while striving to advance the same objective Christ sought to promote and were substantially of the same nature. These sufferings arose from opposition, contempt, persecution, trial, and deprivation, and were the same as those the Lord Jesus Himself was subjected to during His entire public life. . Thus Peter says in 1 Peter 4:13 that Christians were partakers of Christ's sufferings.

So our consolation also abounds by Christ. By means of Christ, or through Christ, consolation is abundantly imparted to us. Paul regarded the Lord Jesus as the source of consolation and felt that the comfort He imparted, or which was imparted through Him, was more than sufficient to outweigh all the trials Paul endured in His cause. The comforts Paul derived from Christ were, undoubtedly, those that arose from His presence, His supporting grace, His love shed abroad in the heart, the success He gave to His gospel, and the hope of reward held out to Paul by the Redeemer as the result of all Paul's sufferings. And it may be observed as a universal truth, that if we suffer in the cause of Christ—if we are persecuted, oppressed, and slandered on His account—He will take care that our hearts will be filled with consolation.