THE ENRICHING POVERTY OF JESUS CHRIST
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 25, 2021 under 2021 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; April 25, 2021 from 2 Corinthians 8:7-9
Theme: God desires for us to be ‘givers’ to His cause who have first given ourselves to Him.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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Did you know that the Lord Jesus wrote some letters? We have them in our Bible.
They’re found in the first two chapters of the Book of Revelation. There are seven of them; and they were dictated by Him and sent to seven churches. One of those churches was in the ancient city of Smyrna. It was a church that was suffering terrible hardship and persecution for Him. And in His letter to them, He said something surprising. You could easily miss it. But it’s truly a tremendously significant thing. He told them, “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty …” And then, almost as an aside, He added “… (but you are rich) …” (Revelation 2:9).
Now; the Christians who read that must have thought, “Really? We don’t feel very rich. In fact, it feels like we are suffering horrible hardship and poverty every single day.” But the person who was telling them that they were rich was none other than the Son of God Himself. He would know the truth of the matter better than anyone else. And, in spite of the circumstances, they were under right then, He assured them that they truly were wealthy in riches that no amount of suffering could ever take away from them. One day, they would see for themselves how rich they truly were.
Jesus knew this; because He was the one who had made them rich.
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I was reminded of that as I was studying this morning’s passage from 2 Corinthians 8. The apostle Paul had written to a group of Christians in Corinth. He was encouraging them to make a donation to a relief effort that was meant to help suffering Christians in Jerusalem. Several churches were getting involved. In verses 1-6, he told them about some churches in particular;
Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well (2 Corinthians 8:1-6).
Apparently, the churches in Macedonia gave so much that they had put themselves into a condition of need. But they were glad to do it. They did it as unto the Lord. And then, he told the Corinthian readers;
But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.
I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (vv. 7-9).
The Corinthians—like the Smyrnean Christians—may not have known it; but they were actually very rich. If only those ancient Corinthian Christians had understood how much Jesus gave of Himself for them—and how immeasurably rich He had made them by His own poverty—then they would have gladly and freely given of themselves to help their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ.
This was something that the Macedonian Christians had learned. Paul wrote in verse 5 that “they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” They could do this because of what Jesus had done for them. Jesus gave His all for them and became poor for their sakes. And so, these Macedonians also give their all—and even become poor for the sake of their brothers and sisters in Christ—confident that they were already made infinitely rich in Jesus.
This is a passage, then, that is teaching a very important and practical lesson to you and me. In a lesser sense, it’s certainly teaching us that—out of love for Jesus—we should be willing to give of our resources to help our brothers and sisters in need and to support the Lord’s work. But this comes after a far greater principle—one that touches on the whole of what it means to live the Christian life. It teaches us that because Jesus gave His entire self—and even became poor—in order to share all the glory of His eternal riches with us, we ought to give our entire self to Him. When that happens, we will be glad to give of ourselves in any lesser way that the Lord calls us to give.
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Now; it would be very important—in the times in which we’re living—to clarify what is meant by the idea that, through Jesus’ poverty, we have been made “rich”.
There is an erroneous form of teaching—often referred to as ‘the prosperity gospel’—that would hold to the idea that the riches being spoken of are material in nature. It equates ‘prosperity of the soul’ with the idea of prosperity in material things. Many advocates of this teaching have persuaded people to give their money to them with the promise that the giver would be blessed with material riches ‘a hundredfold’ in return. It has led to a lot of people becoming disillusioned with the Christian faith.
It’s true that God sometimes blesses His people with material wealth. When He sees fit to do so, it’s so that they can use that material wealth to the service of His cause. But the ‘riches’ being spoken of in this passage are not material nature. After all, those suffering Christians in the ancient city of Smyrna were in a deep condition of poverty and hardship. They had little or nothing in the way of material possessions. And yet the Son of God told them that, in spite of their poverty, they were truly ‘rich’.
The riches being spoken of then—as can clearly be seen from this passage—are of a spiritual and eternal nature. They are the spiritual riches that are ours through a relationship with Jesus. They involve a share in the eternal inheritance that is His in glory through His Father; and they also involve the gifts that enable us to live victoriously for Him during our time on earth.
And so, with this in mind, let’s look first at verse 9; where we’re told that …
1. JESUS BECAME POOR TO MAKE US RICH.
Paul wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich”.
If I were to make a list of the key verses of Scripture on the message of the gospel, this would be one that I would include. We’re told much in it about our Savior Jesus Christ. We’re told, for example, that before He became “poor”, Jesus was rich. This speaks of His eternal pre-existence as the glorious Son of God—the second Person of the Triune Godhead. He once prayed to the Father, in John 17—just before going to the cross—and asked that the Father would glorify Him with the glory He had with the Father “before the world was” (John 17:5).
What was this glory of His like? It would be hard for us—in our present state of being—to even imagine. But we know for sure that it involved the glory that He shared together with the Father; and this would mean that all of the glory of God the Father, in the heavenly realms, was also His. He had complete sovereign authority over all of creation. All of the heavenly angels of God in glory worshiped before Him and did His bidding. He never needed to ask for anything, because all things were already His. He dwelt in realms of infinite power and glory and majesty as Lord and Master of it all.
But though He was rich beyond description—in order to redeem us from our sins—He set that glory all aside for a time and became poor for us. This speaks of His incarnation. Though He had all the rights and privileges of full deity, He willingly emptied Himself of those rights and privileges; and—without ever setting aside His deity—He assumed full humanity to Himself, and was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, and was born into this fallen world as one of us. The apostle Paul spoke of this in Philippians 2, when he wrote;
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8).
And let’s be sure that we understand: He didn’t leave the glory of heaven simply to become one of us. He went much further than that. He also lowered Himself down so low as to suffer the horrible and shameful death of the cross for us—bearing the curse of our sin on Himself and paying the death penalty in our place! Never has anyone so rich become so poor as the glorious Son of God became for you and me!
But there’s more still. Paul went on to say that Jesus did all of this “that you through His poverty might become rich”. This speaks of His eternal union with us. The same bond of love, that united us to Himself in order for Him to die for our sins and redeem us to Himself, also keeps us eternally joined to Him so that we can share in His eternal riches with Him. As the apostle Peter put it;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).
That’s the reason why the thing that Jesus had said of those ancient Christians in Smyrna can also be said of us who believe on Him: that in Him, we are truly rich! As Paul said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich”
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So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; this means that …
2. WE NOW ABOUND IN THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE.
In verse 7, Paul wrote; “But as you abound in everything …” And indeed, we do. Thanks to Jesus, that is now our present condition. We are truly rich in the spiritual and eternal riches of Christ.
Let me share a few passages of Scripture that affirm this to us. In 1 Corinthians 1:4-7, Paul wrote to these very same Corinthian believers and told them;
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ … (1 Corinthians 1:4-7).
In Chapter 3, he told them;
Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (3:21-23).
In Ephesians 1:3, he started off his letter to those believers by telling them;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
In Colossians 2, he affirmed that this is because the believer is united to Jesus Himself; saying,
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:9-10).
The apostle Peter affirmed the same thing too. He wrote to a group of suffering Jewish Christians and told them;
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:2-4).
I wouldn’t dare to say that we ‘abound’ in all spiritual blessings, dear brothers and sisters, unless God’s word had already said it. And Paul here affirms it. It is true! We may not have much in the way of earthly riches; but that doesn’t matter. God’s word declares to us that, because Jesus became poor for us, we now abound in every spiritual blessing—and will throughout eternity! We truly are rich in a treasure that is greater and more enduring than any earthly treasure could be.
Now; in verse 7, Paul mentions some of those spiritual blessings. He doesn’t mention them all, of course. He only mentions five. But it seems to me that he specifically mentions these five because they’re related to the encouragement that he was passing on to them to be partners in the relief effort. He wrote, “But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.”
Because of their relationship to Jesus, Paul said that they ‘abound in faith’. Faith is one of the gifts that God gives us by His grace—not only faith to believe on Jesus and be saved, but also faith to grow in Him and obey Him in daily life, and even the faith to give. Whatever He calls us to do, we can trust Him and do—because we ‘abound in faith’. They also abound ‘in speech’, which most likely is a reference to the revealed word of God—spoken and written down. And they also abound ‘in knowledge’; which is the spiritual insight and guidance that comes from that written word of Scripture that is empowered in their lives by the Holy Spirit. They’re told that they abound ‘in all diligence’; which is the enabling grace of God to do whatever He commands us to do—and to do it with eagerness and swiftness and thoroughness. And finally, they abound ‘in love’; that is, in love for Paul and the other ministers who are commanding them—and it may also be in the sense that they abound in the love of those ministers for them. And it’s because of the fact that they ‘abounded’ in these riches that Paul urged them to also abound in the gracious act of giving toward the care of the Jewish Christians who needed their help.
Dear brothers and sisters; these riches are of far greater value than any earthly material wealth could ever be. Do you realize that this means that—because of the riches of Christ that are ours—we can now do anything that God calls us to do?—and that we can now go wherever He commands us to go?—and that we can now be whatever He calls us to be?—and that we can now change in whatever way He calls us to change?—and that we can now give of ourselves freely in whatever way He calls us to give?—and that we can now serve in whatever capacity that He calls us to serve? We are now sharers together with Jesus in all the riches of His eternal riches and endless resources. Can there be any greater wealth than that?
All earthly riches will one day fade away and be gone. But praise God that we truly abound in all things in Christ!
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And so; with all that in mind, Paul urged his fellow Christians to serve and minister in the relief effort for the Jewish believers. As verse 8 shows us …
3. WE HAVE THE INNER MOTIVATION TO GIVE.
Notice that Paul says, “I speak not by commandment …” He doesn’t exercise his authority as an apostle to command the Corinthians to give—although he could have done so. Instead, he appealed to the inward motivation of their heart—as people who had been made rich by the self-sacrificial poverty of the Lord Jesus. Paul didn’t want their act of giving to be a matter of grudging duty, but rather to come from an overflow of grateful love.
By the way, that’s the way it should be in God’s household. It’s a good thing to give in church. Many of us tithe regularly. And it’s something that God blesses. But no one should ever be compelled to give. No one should ever be made to do so in an unwilling and resentful way. It shouldn’t be done in a hurry because of being made to feel pressure. Paul put it this way later on in 2 Corinthians 9:5-7;
Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver (9:5-7).
Dear brothers and sisters; I say this as the pastor! If you can’t give from a grateful heart of love to God—from out of a sense of your deep wealth in Jesus Christ—then don’t give! The Lord isn’t desperate for your money. He’d much rather have you; and He wouldn’t want your gift if He couldn’t have you first. But if your heart moves you to give from out of sincere love and gratitude to Jesus—and with a confidence of His love and provision—then give abundantly and give joyfully. That’s the kind of giving that pleases Him.
Paul said that he didn’t want the Corinthians to give out of compulsion. He said, “but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others.” He lifted up the example of the Macedonians to them; which was a great motivation to them. He said of the Macedonians, in verse 3, that “according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing …” And that was an example that he wanted the Corinthians to follow.
But he pointed to an even greater example—that of the Lord Jesus; who though He was rich, willingly became poor for those Corinthians so that they, through His poverty, might become rich.
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Dear brothers and sisters; Jesus gave of Himself for us to the point of becoming poor, and all so that we might be made rich by Him. And now, that’s what we are. We are truly rich. We abound in every spiritual blessing in Christ. We have everything that we will ever need—not only for life, but also for godliness. And we will forever enjoy with Jesus the fullness of His eternal inheritance in His Father’s presence in glory.
Let’s let the reality of this grip our hearts. Let’s let it move us to give ourselves completely to Him in return. And if we do—then we will gladly and willingly and freely give anything of ourselves that He asks us to give.
Isn’t that basically what the Christian life is about?
EA
