He Became Poor – July 9, 2021

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

He Became Poor

In ancient Greece and Rome, there were rich people who would use their wealth for the good of the whole community. They would, for example, pay for public baths to be built since very few people had plumbing in their homes. Yes, the wealthy people might use those baths themselves, but they were mostly for other people.

The word used for what those rich people did was “grace.” From their wealth, they did something they didn’t have to do, not really for their own benefit, but for the whole community. Even if people in the community didn’t deserve the gift, they still got to take advantage of it.

Jesus was rich. As God, he had every advantage. Jesus could have spent eternity being worshiped by the angels. Instead, he took on human flesh, put himself under the law, suffered ridicule, and even went to death on a cross. He chose not to use many of his advantages as God. He made himself poor.

Jesus didn’t do all of that for himself. He did it for the benefit of the whole world. And since you are in the world, you can rest assured that he did it for you. Don’t worry that you don’t deserve it. The point of grace is that he did it for you even though you don’t deserve it.

Now you are rich! You have forgiveness for all your sins and the promise of life after death. You have the comfort of knowing that the God of the universe cares about you.

And with all of your newfound wealth, you can afford to be generous.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for becoming poor to make me rich. Amen.