Monday, July 9, 2012

By His Poverty...

2 Corinthians 8:9

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 by His poverty might become rich.


In what currency was Jesus Christ rich?  Does He own the cattle on a 1,000 hills?  Yep.  But is that what Paul means here?  Nope.

If that were the case, you would interpret this verse as saying.  Jesus had a lot of money and possessions, but He gave those up so that you could have a lot of money and possessions.  That isn't right, is it?  Is financial freedom the fruit for which we should look to validate "real" discipleship?  Certainly not.

So what did Jesus give up that we might gain?  Intimacy with God.  Jesus lived forever in the presence of God the Father.  Yet, He came down to earth and left that privileged place of relationship in order to walk the mean streets of earth.  Why?  So that by His poverty we might become rich in intimacy with God. 

We were distanced from God by our sin.  Jesus was close to God because of His holiness.  Jesus came down from intimacy to grant intimacy to those far away.  He became our plight that we might inherit His privilege.

Quid pro quo.  This for that.  This weight of sin for that righteousness.  Praise God!

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