This verse, as we have said before, was given to reinforce the spirit of generosity among the Corinthian people. It comes in the context of that collection Paul was seeking to take up on behalf of the needy in Jerusalem. Paul reminds his listeners of the gospel to evoke within them the kind of liberality that ought to characterize a Christian people.
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II Corinthians 8:9
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And, as we have said before, he puts the gospel in financial terms.
This morning, my goal is not to speak of your pocketbooks. But to dwell with you upon the gospel. |
Our goal is simply to remember Christ and the great salvation we have in him. The purpose today is not to get you persuade you to give, but simply that you may “know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I have to admit, I probably won’t be telling you anything new. You are probably in the same position as the Corinthians to whom Paul wrote when he said, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But as is true of Christmas, it is simply to re-aquaint ourselves with it and fully appreciate God’s grace to us in Christ.
That we might do so, let us consider the four points of our passage: that Christ was rich, that he became poor, we were poor, but have become rich.
We will never fully appreciate God’s grace to us unless we grasp the dpeths to which Christ did condescend in his humiliation. This passage helps us to do this when it says that “though he was rich, he became poor.” Christ will not be fully understood until we grasp how rich he was.
I. How rich was he?
Forbes Magazine says that Bill Gates is America’s richest man. His net worth is over 90 billion dollars. I can’t even begin to comprehend that much money. Let me try to break it down a little though. If you start at the year Christ was born and gave away 20 million dollars each year, you would still have 50 billion dollars left over today. (That’s a lot of money!)
But that is nothing compared to how rich Christ was. Christ owns everything! Every dollar, every euro, every yen, is his, not to mention everything else. The Bible says that Christ owns the cattle on a thousand hills. That’s the Bible’s way of saying “That’s pocket change.”
But his possessions are just one small part of Christ’s richness. He’s also rich in power.
In this day an age we often hear about executive power. In our own government we are seeing the powers of the president extended and often abused. This has been a great evil in a nation that has emphasized the limitations of governmental power.
But even as this may be in our own nation, other nations in history have not typically had such limitations. Kings and authorities wielded what might be called “absolute” power. By that they meant they could do almost anything they wanted. If they wanted to go to war, they would merely have to give the say so. And legions of men would be summonsed from their homes and sent to distant realms for battle.
Or, if they wanted more ships for their fleet or perhaps a great structure built, there was not much that kept them from carrying out such desires. Taxes would be collected. Workers would be conscripted. All the land would essentially bend at his command.
Such is the act of tyrants and trouble makers, of course. But as grand as it may appear, these are paltry exertions of human muscle. They do not even begin to match the power of God. Christ was rich in that he holds sway over all things. The nations are but a drop in the bucket to him. He makes kingdoms to rise and he brings them to nothing. He holds the key to life and death itself. By his word all things were created.
Jesus was rich in possessions and he was rich in power. But he was also, if you think about it, rich just by virtue of his position.
He is the Son of God! It is one thing to say that he had control of everything, but you have to remember that he also had the adoration of everything. In heaven, he was the center of attention. The angels sang to him. They fell down before him. They served him—whatever he asked they would do. Even here below, the creation worshipped him. The Bible says that the trees clap their hands and the oceans frolic before him. The mountains quake with fear before him. The animal kingdom looks to him to receive their food and are glad when he does.
So you see, it was as we sang earlier “Thou who wast rich beyond all measure…” And it was beyond measure. Even my feeble attempts to explain and illustrate it does not even begin do it justice.
We could go on to talk about the richness of his knowledge (He is infinite in wisdom and understanding). We could relate the riches of his love (again, it is infinite, and it is supremely seen in the interrelations of the Godhead). We could not have time to render the full splender of his riches. What we might do is consider the riches of his grace. For that is what our passage does when it says, “but for our sakes becamest poor.” Let’s turn our attention to that aspect of this verse.
II. How poor did he become?
To use the words of that song again, “Thrones for a manger did surrender, sapphire paved courts for cattle stall.”
You will remember that when he condescended, Christ did forfeit all His possessions. The King of Creation wasn’t to be found living in the lap of luxury. He was not born in a palace or temple, but rather in a cave which was being used as a stable.
You probably would have found him next to a pile of dung!
“Oh Matt, that is crude! Don’t talk that way!” No. You don’t understand. You are conditioned by all those cute-sie little Hallmark cards. You may think that Jesus’ stable was heated and sterile. But I got news for you: stables stink.
Jesus gave up all his possessions. Yes they were still his, but he gave up the right to govern and use them. You know that when Mary and Joseph went to the temple to offer a sacrifice, they didn’t give the ram they were supposed to give. They couldn’t afford it. They had to give a couple of doves.
But you know after Jesus grew up he was pretty well off, wasn’t he? Not really. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man [had] no where to lay his head.” The only thing he owned was, literally, the shirt on his own back! And even that was stripped from him at the end of his life. He even had to borrow someone else’s grave!
He gave up all his possessions, and he chose not to exercise his power.
From time to time we see his power in his earthly life. He could read men’s hearts. He could speak of things to come. He could impart divine healing. But for the most part, he was quite reserved when it comes to his power. He could have turned the stones into bread when he was in the desert. But he didn’t. He could have trampled the men who captured him and battered him with ceaseless blows. But he didn’t. He could have come down off the cross and been restored to perfect glory. But he did not. He chose to experience hunger. He chose to be beaten. He let himself bleed, suffocate, and die like an impotent criminal.
To be sure, we recognize that Christ, being divine, had unlimited power. Worlds and realms were at his disposal. But there is a real sense in which Jesus was the epitome of weakness. In becoming man and coming to earth, he laid aside the rights to invoke those powers.
And he lost his position. I don’t think I need to expand on this one. You know it. “He came to his own, but his own did not receive him.” He was once exalted by angels, but now his own kindred—the objects of his greatest affection—mocked him and mistreated him. They gave him no respect whatsoever. He had no standing in the world.
So destitute was he in this regard that he lost even his very life. He was deemed to be of such disrepute among men that they put him to be unworthy of life itself. And so they crucified him and put him to death.
I’ve been paying $3 for gas lately. Because of that I’ve been thinking about how I could become a bit more economical. I actually wondered if it would be cheaper to get a horse. I thought, “Maybe those Amish people have something going here.” I could get a horse for those “round town” trips. I could take it to work in the morning. If I needed to run out and get a loaf of bread, I wouldn’t have to spend that money on gas. But the other day I got behind an Amish buggy going down Center St. I couldn’t pass him because of the traffic, so I had to follow him all the way down the street. It didn’t take me long to think “NO WAY!” I couldn’t stand how slow he was going! All I wanted to do was pass the guy and be on my way!
I have gotten pretty used to my luxuries. I don’t know if I could give up my car for a horse anymore.
And if you think about it, part of Christ’s poverty was the misery he experienced. It is one thing to grow up in poverty. You are used to it. It is your normal way of life. It might be hard, but it is the only thing you know.
But if you have experienced luxury and you were accustomed to great riches, that experience of poverty is much more difficult. Someone who has much and then loses it, suffers quite a bit more than someone who has had nothing all along.
How hard it must have been for Jesus. He was used to riches, “but for your sake he became poor.”
That’s where you are to fill in your name, “for your sake.” He became poor for my sake! He became poor for your sake. He became poor for our sake! What did he give up?! He gave up EVERYTHING, for us, for you, for me?!
But for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. His pain was our gain.
III. How poor are we?
You might not feel all that poor, but we really are. We Americans got it all. I was just thinking last night, “We’ve got running water.” You know how privileged we are to be able to take a shower right in our own homes? Who in the world has ever been able to do that? Back in ancient Rome they had bath houses, but they didn’t have showers in their own homes.
But we are poor. Every one of us is poor. The Bible tells us that we are bankrupt. Spiritually speaking, we are completely destitute.
Sin has brought us into a desperate estate. The Bible tells us that we have lost all righteousness and have mounted up a severe sin-debt against God.
Not long ago the United States National Debt rolled passed 20 TRILLION dollars. Now if you had a hard time comprehending the amount of money Bill Gates makes in a year, try and wrap your mind around this one. As a matter of fact, if Bill Gates donated his salary to the federal government, he could pay off the national debt in just under 250 years (and that of course is if the national debt were to stop today. It would of course take much longer if the US spending were to continue at its precipitous speed).
Needless to say, there’s no hope of seeing that thing turn around. But this phenomena no where compares to the debt we have incurred against God.
Each day we sin repeatedly in thought, word, and deed. Movement by moment our sins mount up. We also compound our sin by add to the aggravation of them. To be sure, sins committed in worship are much worse than those committed in your home. It is one thing to let your thoughts run amiss at home, but when you are here and involved in sacred worship—where your mind ought to be thoroughly enraptured with the living God. This is evil upon evil. It is doubly aggravating to the Most High God. Since it vexes Him all that much more, your debt against Him—as it were— takes that much more of an abysmal leap.
This is not to mention that even one sin (no matter how small it may be) is in reality no small matter. God is infinite, and any sin against Him is deemed infinitely evil.
Thus, your poverty far supersedes the limits of the national debt. And if you see yourself in this light, you will realize that your are incredibly poor.
And when we think of those in financial straits, we understand that creditors can come calling. They end up taking what they can. You by your debts must forfeit the goods you possess. You may even be sentenced to servitude or prison.
This is the state of every man who has not come unto Christ. He has forfeited his right to every good things. And when God comes to call forth his debts, the man loses all. Every grace he enjoys is stripped from him and He is cast into the prison house of hell forever.
But this is not how it is with you who have trusted in Christ. The Christian is not in such a state. Our text says that you through His poverty have become rich.
IV. How rich have you become?
Your debt has been paid. The price tag of every possible sin has been paid in full by the blood of Jesus Christ. He suffered and died, and by His supreme nature put forth the full balance.
But this is not all. Christ also grants you his righteousness. The full merit of good works which he accumulated through his life is bestowed upon you that you might have eternal life.
This too is another priceless gem that is now yours. You are rich in life. Because of Christ’s poverty you are endowed with eternal life. Days without number have been given to you in the age to come.
To be sure, you possess an entire kingdom. He gives to you a crown of righteousness because you have been made a son of the Most High. You are a child of the king.
Billy Sunday was a famous evangelist in the early 20th century. He tells the story of a time when he was standing in front of a bank in Chicago. Sweeping into the parking lot came a band new automobile. It was a French made car and he supposed that it cost $10-15,000 (a lot of money back then). Out stepped a frail sort of a man. He had a large fair head and lustrous blue eyes. He asked, “who is that?” The people around him said that it was J. Ogden Armour, the head of the pork-packing trust.” Then he saw a another man walking down the street. He was a slight man who looked like he might be swept away with a gust of wind. Sunday asked, “Who is that?” They replied, “That is Marshall Field, Jr. The son of the famous retailer, Marshal Field. He is heir to over 1 million dollars. Down the street Sunday spotted another man. Sunday noticed that there was quite a hubbub about this man, so he asked, “Who is that?” His associates responded by saying, “That is Robert T. Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln.”
Sunday was so impressed with these men that he saw that day. He thought how great it must be to be a son of such great people. But then he thought, “Yes, that would be great all right. But I am a son of God through faith in Christ! And I am an heir to his entire kingdom.”
My friends, Bill Gates looks like a poor pauper compared to you. All his assets, his bank accounts, his investments don’t even begin to compare to the wealth we have in Christ. Truly, you have become rich.
I have to admit, I probably won’t be telling you anything new. You are probably in the same position as the Corinthians to whom Paul wrote when he said, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But as is true of Christmas, it is simply to re-aquaint ourselves with it and fully appreciate God’s grace to us in Christ.
That we might do so, let us consider the four points of our passage: that Christ was rich, that he became poor, we were poor, but have become rich.
We will never fully appreciate God’s grace to us unless we grasp the dpeths to which Christ did condescend in his humiliation. This passage helps us to do this when it says that “though he was rich, he became poor.” Christ will not be fully understood until we grasp how rich he was.
I. How rich was he?
Forbes Magazine says that Bill Gates is America’s richest man. His net worth is over 90 billion dollars. I can’t even begin to comprehend that much money. Let me try to break it down a little though. If you start at the year Christ was born and gave away 20 million dollars each year, you would still have 50 billion dollars left over today. (That’s a lot of money!)
But that is nothing compared to how rich Christ was. Christ owns everything! Every dollar, every euro, every yen, is his, not to mention everything else. The Bible says that Christ owns the cattle on a thousand hills. That’s the Bible’s way of saying “That’s pocket change.”
But his possessions are just one small part of Christ’s richness. He’s also rich in power.
In this day an age we often hear about executive power. In our own government we are seeing the powers of the president extended and often abused. This has been a great evil in a nation that has emphasized the limitations of governmental power.
But even as this may be in our own nation, other nations in history have not typically had such limitations. Kings and authorities wielded what might be called “absolute” power. By that they meant they could do almost anything they wanted. If they wanted to go to war, they would merely have to give the say so. And legions of men would be summonsed from their homes and sent to distant realms for battle.
Or, if they wanted more ships for their fleet or perhaps a great structure built, there was not much that kept them from carrying out such desires. Taxes would be collected. Workers would be conscripted. All the land would essentially bend at his command.
Such is the act of tyrants and trouble makers, of course. But as grand as it may appear, these are paltry exertions of human muscle. They do not even begin to match the power of God. Christ was rich in that he holds sway over all things. The nations are but a drop in the bucket to him. He makes kingdoms to rise and he brings them to nothing. He holds the key to life and death itself. By his word all things were created.
Jesus was rich in possessions and he was rich in power. But he was also, if you think about it, rich just by virtue of his position.
He is the Son of God! It is one thing to say that he had control of everything, but you have to remember that he also had the adoration of everything. In heaven, he was the center of attention. The angels sang to him. They fell down before him. They served him—whatever he asked they would do. Even here below, the creation worshipped him. The Bible says that the trees clap their hands and the oceans frolic before him. The mountains quake with fear before him. The animal kingdom looks to him to receive their food and are glad when he does.
So you see, it was as we sang earlier “Thou who wast rich beyond all measure…” And it was beyond measure. Even my feeble attempts to explain and illustrate it does not even begin do it justice.
We could go on to talk about the richness of his knowledge (He is infinite in wisdom and understanding). We could relate the riches of his love (again, it is infinite, and it is supremely seen in the interrelations of the Godhead). We could not have time to render the full splender of his riches. What we might do is consider the riches of his grace. For that is what our passage does when it says, “but for our sakes becamest poor.” Let’s turn our attention to that aspect of this verse.
II. How poor did he become?
To use the words of that song again, “Thrones for a manger did surrender, sapphire paved courts for cattle stall.”
You will remember that when he condescended, Christ did forfeit all His possessions. The King of Creation wasn’t to be found living in the lap of luxury. He was not born in a palace or temple, but rather in a cave which was being used as a stable.
You probably would have found him next to a pile of dung!
“Oh Matt, that is crude! Don’t talk that way!” No. You don’t understand. You are conditioned by all those cute-sie little Hallmark cards. You may think that Jesus’ stable was heated and sterile. But I got news for you: stables stink.
Jesus gave up all his possessions. Yes they were still his, but he gave up the right to govern and use them. You know that when Mary and Joseph went to the temple to offer a sacrifice, they didn’t give the ram they were supposed to give. They couldn’t afford it. They had to give a couple of doves.
But you know after Jesus grew up he was pretty well off, wasn’t he? Not really. “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man [had] no where to lay his head.” The only thing he owned was, literally, the shirt on his own back! And even that was stripped from him at the end of his life. He even had to borrow someone else’s grave!
He gave up all his possessions, and he chose not to exercise his power.
From time to time we see his power in his earthly life. He could read men’s hearts. He could speak of things to come. He could impart divine healing. But for the most part, he was quite reserved when it comes to his power. He could have turned the stones into bread when he was in the desert. But he didn’t. He could have trampled the men who captured him and battered him with ceaseless blows. But he didn’t. He could have come down off the cross and been restored to perfect glory. But he did not. He chose to experience hunger. He chose to be beaten. He let himself bleed, suffocate, and die like an impotent criminal.
To be sure, we recognize that Christ, being divine, had unlimited power. Worlds and realms were at his disposal. But there is a real sense in which Jesus was the epitome of weakness. In becoming man and coming to earth, he laid aside the rights to invoke those powers.
And he lost his position. I don’t think I need to expand on this one. You know it. “He came to his own, but his own did not receive him.” He was once exalted by angels, but now his own kindred—the objects of his greatest affection—mocked him and mistreated him. They gave him no respect whatsoever. He had no standing in the world.
So destitute was he in this regard that he lost even his very life. He was deemed to be of such disrepute among men that they put him to be unworthy of life itself. And so they crucified him and put him to death.
I’ve been paying $3 for gas lately. Because of that I’ve been thinking about how I could become a bit more economical. I actually wondered if it would be cheaper to get a horse. I thought, “Maybe those Amish people have something going here.” I could get a horse for those “round town” trips. I could take it to work in the morning. If I needed to run out and get a loaf of bread, I wouldn’t have to spend that money on gas. But the other day I got behind an Amish buggy going down Center St. I couldn’t pass him because of the traffic, so I had to follow him all the way down the street. It didn’t take me long to think “NO WAY!” I couldn’t stand how slow he was going! All I wanted to do was pass the guy and be on my way!
I have gotten pretty used to my luxuries. I don’t know if I could give up my car for a horse anymore.
And if you think about it, part of Christ’s poverty was the misery he experienced. It is one thing to grow up in poverty. You are used to it. It is your normal way of life. It might be hard, but it is the only thing you know.
But if you have experienced luxury and you were accustomed to great riches, that experience of poverty is much more difficult. Someone who has much and then loses it, suffers quite a bit more than someone who has had nothing all along.
How hard it must have been for Jesus. He was used to riches, “but for your sake he became poor.”
That’s where you are to fill in your name, “for your sake.” He became poor for my sake! He became poor for your sake. He became poor for our sake! What did he give up?! He gave up EVERYTHING, for us, for you, for me?!
But for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. His pain was our gain.
III. How poor are we?
You might not feel all that poor, but we really are. We Americans got it all. I was just thinking last night, “We’ve got running water.” You know how privileged we are to be able to take a shower right in our own homes? Who in the world has ever been able to do that? Back in ancient Rome they had bath houses, but they didn’t have showers in their own homes.
But we are poor. Every one of us is poor. The Bible tells us that we are bankrupt. Spiritually speaking, we are completely destitute.
Sin has brought us into a desperate estate. The Bible tells us that we have lost all righteousness and have mounted up a severe sin-debt against God.
Not long ago the United States National Debt rolled passed 20 TRILLION dollars. Now if you had a hard time comprehending the amount of money Bill Gates makes in a year, try and wrap your mind around this one. As a matter of fact, if Bill Gates donated his salary to the federal government, he could pay off the national debt in just under 250 years (and that of course is if the national debt were to stop today. It would of course take much longer if the US spending were to continue at its precipitous speed).
Needless to say, there’s no hope of seeing that thing turn around. But this phenomena no where compares to the debt we have incurred against God.
Each day we sin repeatedly in thought, word, and deed. Movement by moment our sins mount up. We also compound our sin by add to the aggravation of them. To be sure, sins committed in worship are much worse than those committed in your home. It is one thing to let your thoughts run amiss at home, but when you are here and involved in sacred worship—where your mind ought to be thoroughly enraptured with the living God. This is evil upon evil. It is doubly aggravating to the Most High God. Since it vexes Him all that much more, your debt against Him—as it were— takes that much more of an abysmal leap.
This is not to mention that even one sin (no matter how small it may be) is in reality no small matter. God is infinite, and any sin against Him is deemed infinitely evil.
Thus, your poverty far supersedes the limits of the national debt. And if you see yourself in this light, you will realize that your are incredibly poor.
And when we think of those in financial straits, we understand that creditors can come calling. They end up taking what they can. You by your debts must forfeit the goods you possess. You may even be sentenced to servitude or prison.
This is the state of every man who has not come unto Christ. He has forfeited his right to every good things. And when God comes to call forth his debts, the man loses all. Every grace he enjoys is stripped from him and He is cast into the prison house of hell forever.
But this is not how it is with you who have trusted in Christ. The Christian is not in such a state. Our text says that you through His poverty have become rich.
IV. How rich have you become?
Your debt has been paid. The price tag of every possible sin has been paid in full by the blood of Jesus Christ. He suffered and died, and by His supreme nature put forth the full balance.
But this is not all. Christ also grants you his righteousness. The full merit of good works which he accumulated through his life is bestowed upon you that you might have eternal life.
This too is another priceless gem that is now yours. You are rich in life. Because of Christ’s poverty you are endowed with eternal life. Days without number have been given to you in the age to come.
To be sure, you possess an entire kingdom. He gives to you a crown of righteousness because you have been made a son of the Most High. You are a child of the king.
Billy Sunday was a famous evangelist in the early 20th century. He tells the story of a time when he was standing in front of a bank in Chicago. Sweeping into the parking lot came a band new automobile. It was a French made car and he supposed that it cost $10-15,000 (a lot of money back then). Out stepped a frail sort of a man. He had a large fair head and lustrous blue eyes. He asked, “who is that?” The people around him said that it was J. Ogden Armour, the head of the pork-packing trust.” Then he saw a another man walking down the street. He was a slight man who looked like he might be swept away with a gust of wind. Sunday asked, “Who is that?” They replied, “That is Marshall Field, Jr. The son of the famous retailer, Marshal Field. He is heir to over 1 million dollars. Down the street Sunday spotted another man. Sunday noticed that there was quite a hubbub about this man, so he asked, “Who is that?” His associates responded by saying, “That is Robert T. Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln.”
Sunday was so impressed with these men that he saw that day. He thought how great it must be to be a son of such great people. But then he thought, “Yes, that would be great all right. But I am a son of God through faith in Christ! And I am an heir to his entire kingdom.”
My friends, Bill Gates looks like a poor pauper compared to you. All his assets, his bank accounts, his investments don’t even begin to compare to the wealth we have in Christ. Truly, you have become rich.