December 21, 2008 Providence MADE RICH THROUGH HIS POVERTY: ABOUNDING IN CHRIST 2 Corinthians 8:6-9 INTRODUCTION: When we prepare for Christmas celebrations, we face a couple of big concerns every year: who we will exchange gifts with and how we will afford it! This year most people are cutting back on how much they intend to spend because of concerns about the economy, but they still have to figure out what to do about the gift exchange. What if your idea about cutting back does not match their idea? What if their gift for you is far more extravagant than yours for them? Frankly, it presents the opportunity for some significant embarrassment! About the time we begin to get overly worried about such things, someone steps in to remind us what the real reason for Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And so we attempt to reorient our thinking and reflect on what God has done in sending His Son so that by faith inn Him we might have the gift of eternal life. Then it hits us again talk about an unbalanced gift exchange! God gives us His Son and through Him, forgiveness and eternal life in all of its abundance and fullness. Jesus made that purpose clear: John 10:10 I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly. What can we possibly give in exchange for the gift He has given us? The extravagance of His love and the greatness of His gift cannot be matched by anything we can offer in return. That is until we understand that He asks for just one thing that we give Him our lives, all that we are and all that we have is given to Him! THESIS: When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, in return we receive the full abundance of His life in us as He become rich in everything that matters most for now and eternity. I. WHAT MOTIVATED GOD TO GIVE US LIFE IN ABUNDANCE? --What would motivate God, the Almighty Lord, to send His only Son into a world that has been hostile toward Him since creation? A. WHAT WE CANNOT KNOW --Motives of others are easily assigned but seldom known. 1. No one can discern with certainty the motives of another. --More often than not, we impose our own motives on others when trying to figure out theirs and tell more about ourselves than them when we pretend to speak with authority about what motivates them. 2. No one can speak for or instruct God with any sense of what is on His mind. Romans 11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? --Therefore, it is not prudent to speak with any confidence on what motivated God to give us new life in Christ. B. WHAT WE DO KNOW --Yet, what we cannot know with absolute certainty, we can say with some confidence based on what the other person says this being the case with what God has said about what motivates Him to reach out to us with an offer of everlasting life.
1. Two Common Misunderstandings --We do know that there are broad misunderstandings of what motivated God to send His Son for us, two in particular that have widespread acceptance that could not be more wrong. a. Our Inherent Worth --Due to an over-estimation of our own value as human beings, we often hear the idea suggested that God loved us because of how valuable we are to Him. --Without making too much of how unworthy we actually are, even a surface reading of the Bible shows the absurdity of this idea because of the unworthiness of the human race due to our sin. --We have no claim in a relationship with Him at all based on our personal merit because any merit we could have had was lost when sin entered the picture. b. He Needs Us --Another suggestion, more preposterous than the first, is that somehow God needs us and cannot be fulfilled apart from us. --In other words, God is not sufficient in Himself and needs the people He created to complete Him and give Him the contentment He lacks otherwise. --This reason only demonstrates a total failure to comprehend the character of God, the Almighty, Self-sufficient Lord who has no needs and does whatever He pleases without depending upon anything or anything else. Psa. 115:3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Psa. 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all it contains. --So what we can know is that God did not initiate a costly relationship with us because He had to do so we can determine that that is not what motivated Him. 2. Two schools of thought --As we said earlier, we cannot know with certainty what motivated God to send His Son as a gift of life for us, but we do see that there are two possiblities worthy of consideration as we reflect on what an amazing gift Jesus Christ really is. a. His Glory Motivates Him --We do know that everything God does, He does for the glory of His name so it stands to reason that when He sent His Son into the world, that also was done for His glory. NOTE: Some have dared suggest that God must have some ego needs to demand that He be glorified in all things. The truth of the matter is that if He did anything that glorified anything other than Himself, He would be guilty of bringing the glory to another and thereby be guilty of idolatry. He explains that He will not share His glory with anything or anyone else and it would be horribly wrong to do so! All creation exists to glorify the only One worthy to be glorified and so we can surmise that when He sent Jesus Christ into the world, that act was connected with His commitment to the glory of His name in all things.
--If He commands us to glorify in every word or deed (1 Cor 10:31), it makes sense that He already does that and so sending Jesus Christ was an act which arose from His passion for the glory of His name to be known in all the earth. b. His Love Motivates Him --Others insist that it was not His passion for His glory, but the compelling power of His love which prompted Him to send His Son. --And who can argue against that? Motivated by His eternal love and desiring to lavish that love upon us, God did indeed send Jesus Christ because of His love for us. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. --Whether you prefer to think of His glory or His love as the chief motivation for sending Christ as His gift of life to us, or if there are other reasons known only to the mind of God Himself what we can know for certain is that God gave His only Son for us. --What can we say in the presence of such an extraordinary gift, except that nothing we can ever give in return can possibly match that amazing generosity and grace!! II. WHAT EXCHANGE DID CHRIST MAKE POSSIBLE FOR US? --Knowing this, God has sent His Son to make the matchless exchange He gives His life to us and in exchange we give our life to Him. --How did He accomplish that and what did this gift cost Him? 2 Cor. 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. --Three issues need exploration if we are to grasp what Christ has done and what He offers us: His infinite riches, His deliberate poverty and the transfer of His riches to us. A. THE INFINITE RICHES OF CHRIST --Our frame of reference for wealth is admittedly bound by the little we know about what bounty and abundance looks like all bound by what has been created and what we have determined to have value. ILLUS. In today s dollars, the wealthiest man we know about would have to be John D. Rockefeller, whose wealth is legendary, estimated at over $300 billion down the top ten to number ten wealthiest, Caesar Basil of Roman (Byzantine) Empire who accumulated over $170 billion. Any way you look at it, those were wealthy men! --But there is where our reference points fail us as we consider the infinite riches of Christ, an immeasurable wealth unchallenged by any earthly standard. 1. Ownership --If you want to get some perspective, you could take the top ten wealthiest people who ever lived and their riches taken together fall into the column of holdings controlled by Jesus Christ because all things are His. --That concept is so alien to our experience that we cannot begin to comprehend that Christ has always owned all things and always will.
Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created by Him and for Him. 2. Authority --As owner and master of all things, Jesus Christ also has the authority to rule over all things. Matt. 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. --He never has to ask, never needs permission, to do whatever He pleases because what He wants is always best, always good, always right. --We cannot even imagine what that would be like. 3. Power to Create --Whatever He thinks about doing, He has the power to do, whether to create what has never been or to act in any manner He chooses. --That power belongs to Him alone, and how rich He is can only be measured in what He has already done, but must also include all that He could do should it be in His mind. 4. Splendor/Majesty --As Christ is described, He reigns in majestic splendor from His eternal and glorious throne. --We usually associate the regal splendor of a King on His throne with the wealth and bounty of great riches. --Before He left His throne to come into the world, Jesus Christ held the position of absolute sovereignty He alone can claim. B. THE DELIBERATE POVERTY OF CHRIST --I tell you all of that to set up the unfathomable contrast between His riches and His deliberate choice to leave that all behind and become poor for our sake. 2 Cor. 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. 1. Became Flesh -- For your sake, he became poor seems like such a simple statement until we realize the height from which He descended, the riches He yielded, to assume a poverty-stricken place among a lost and broken people. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. --Enter here the Christmas story: A humble father and mother a poor carpenter and his young wife, not a person of worldly wealth or position
A lowly entrance to the world normal human birth with nine months in the womb, a mother s labor and the trauma of childbirth (no anesthesia or drugs to ease the process) An impoverished place of birth a charity shelter in a cave/barn with a feed trough, or manger, for a cradle A trip into exile instead of home a refugee for the first years of His life seeking sanctuary in Egypt from the murderous Herod A childhood as a common laborer no place of privilege or ease for Jesus, but work alongside Joseph in the building industry --We could go on and mention His adult ministry during which time He had no home of His own but traveled constantly in His ministry talk about the attacks on His character, the exhaustion from the demands placed on Him, and eventually the suffering He endured at the hands of evil people who hated the holy and righteous Son of God! --So when we say He became flesh and lived among the human race in the world He spoke into being, yes, this was an act of grace and love of which the world is not worthy. 2. Became Poor --All the rights, resources and riches that belonged to Him by virtue of His deity, He laid aside in a deliberate act of love and mercy. --He knew that He could continue as He had for eternity and no one in heaven or earth could ever question His right to do so, but for our sake, He chose poverty so that He might offer us a share of His unlimited bounty. Phil. 2:6-7 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 3. Became Sin --What makes the human experience any more impoverished than the life-draining presence of sin? 2 Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. --Although He could have kept His distance from our sin and remained in the place of perfect holiness on His throne, He chose to take our sin on Himself and accept the punishment we deserved. 4. Became Our Sacrifice --And so, the One for whom sacrifices were once made by the High Priest in the holy place of the tabernacle and temple, now lowered Himself to become the Sacrifice. --The lamb which had no advocate and no appeal, no means and no might, was now represented by Jesus Christ as He became as poor as a lamb for our sake. C. THE TRANSFERRED RICHES OF CHRIST 2 Cor. 8:9 yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. --Christ did not simply give up His riches because there was anything wrong with His wealth, but because in laying His own aside, He could then transfer all of what is His to everyone who believes in Him and trusts in His name.
--When we give our lives to Christ, He transfers His eternal riches to us. 1. We Became Rich in Christ Himself Ephesians 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, --We put on Christ, clothed in Him and His perfect righteousness so that we are viewed by His Father in the same light as the Son is seen. --The splendor and glory that are His will one day be ours in full measure and even now are ours in part through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. 2. We Became Rich through His Inheritance --In a number of places in the Bible, we are told about the riches that are ours through our inheritance of new life in Christ. --Let me simply mention a few of those: a. Understanding Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, b. Glory Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, c. Grace Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 2:7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. d. Kindness, forbearance, patience Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? CONCLUSION: So you tell me is what you are giving Jesus Christ for Christmas even close to the magnitude of the gift of His riches He is giving you? When we are embarrassed by the disparity between the gifts we give other people and what they have given us, take that embarrassment up several notches and consider what Christ has given to us compared to what we have given to Him. He was willing to endure poverty so that He could give us everything. What will you give of yourself to Christ so that He has everything you are and all that you have? This Christmas, if you will give yourself to Him, He assures you that He will give Himself to you. What wondrous love is this? What depth of grace and mercy? What extravagance He pours out on us so that we might be made rich through Him!
December 21, 2008 Providence Baptist Church David Horner, 2008 Sermon outlines are copyrighted in the event of future publication. They may be used for preaching and teaching purposes but may not be published or sold.