Though Rich, He Became Poor

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
2 Corinthians 8 (click the link)


KEY VERSES:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
The church in Jerusalem was in desperate need of financial support. Persecution, famine and food shortages, double taxation, and overpopulation were just a few of the things that led to their financial crisis. The situation was most likely aggravated by the church's voluntary pooling of assets in the early years of this existence (Acts 2:44-46; 4:32-37). On top of this, the Jerusalem church was considered the "mother church" and it undoubtedly felt the need to support the itinerant activities of its members and to extend hospitality to visitors from other churches. Because of the great need, the Apostle Paul and his companions spent close to 10 years soliciting funds in support of the Jerusalem church.

Apparently the Corinthian church was the first church not only to give but to desire to do so (verse 10). Paul's advice at the time was that each person should set aside a sum of money each week in keeping with his or her income. In this way, the church in Corinth would have a significant sum of income to contribute to the relief fund (1 Corithians 16:1-4). Somewhere along the way, however, the collection effort in Corinth fell by the wayside. In chapters 8-9 of this letter, Paul attempts to motivate the Corinthians to finish what they had pledged.

There are many guidelines and principles for Christian giving in these two chapters. But in reading this today, Paul's statement in verse 9 grabbed my heart.

………

Christ's humbling is what Paul holds up as an example of what it means to give. There was a time when Jesus was rich. He was not rich on earth, though he sometimes stayed with rich people. He had friends and neighbors who were rich; some who followed him were rich, but he himself had nothing at all. 

But, according to this verse, once Jesus was rich. When was that? On the night of his betrayal and arrest, Jesus prays to the Father (recorded in John 17). As part of that prayer, Jesus says: “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5)?

I do not know if Paul was aware of this prayer or not, but that is a very wonderfully insightful verse indicating that Jesus recalled a time when he was rich, when everything in the universe belonged to him. All the hosts of heaven bowed down in continuous worship of his name, and hundreds of thousands were ready to run at his bidding. He owned it all, everything was his, but he gave it up voluntarily. He deliberately impoverished himself. As Paul put it in his letter to the Philippians:  

Though he was God,

he did not think of equality with God

as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;

he took the humble position of a slave

and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form,

he humbled himself in obedience to God… (2:6-8)

Remember how he constantly borrowed everything? He had nothing of his own. He borrowed food, clothing, a coin to give an illustration, a donkey to enter into the city of Jerusalem, and he finally had to borrow a tomb in which to be laid. There was one occasion when it says the disciples all went to their own homes, but he went to the Mount of Olives. He had no home to go to, no place to lay his head.

 

Why did he do this? Why did he become poor? Paul's reminder is, in order that we might be rich. Have you thought about how rich the Lord has made you? Just the other day, in the midst of all the tumult that we see reported in the international scene, I was thinking what a terrible thing it would be to have to live today without the Lord. Would you like to do that, now that you have known him? Would you like to give up all the joy, all the peace, all the sense of forgiveness, all the lifting of the load of guilt? Would you give up the sense of his presence, of a power source available to you for whatever you need, of a continual supply of joy and gladness and restoration, of the continual enrichment of your life?

 

How rich Jesus has made us! He became poor in order that we might be rich. When you think about that, how wrong it seems to withhold our gifts from those who are in need around us. How can we clutch our affluence to ourselves when our brothers and sisters are in need?

 

 

APPLICATION:

Jesus is our priceless Treasure. Are we learning to worship him with all that we are and own? What may we be withholding from him this day?

 

 

PRAYER:

Thank you, Father, for the example of Jesus, who became poor that we might become rich. May we, by your grace, learn to extend that same grace to those around us who are in need.

 

 

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom and, for the first time in my life, I'm experiencing joy at the thought of Christmas shopping. Kate and I have been making Christmas wish lists for our foster kids on Amazon, and I'm growing more and more excited at the thought of seeing the kids' faces light up as they open their gifts. If we don't get ahold of ourselves, we might end up becoming poor so that our little rug rats can become rich in presents.