Morning By Morning #359

Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.

2 Corinthians 8:9

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

The Lord Jesus was eternally rich, glorious, and exalted, but “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.” Just as a rich saint cannot have true oneness with his poor brothers unless he ministers to their needs from his substance, the same is true of the head and its members. In other words, it would have been impossible for our Divine Lord to have fellowship with us unless He gave of His own abundant wealth and became poor to make us rich. If He had remained upon His throne of glory and we had continued in the ruins of mankind’s fall without receiving His salvation, communion would have been impossible for both sides. Except through God’s covenant of grace, it is as impossible for fallen man to communicate with God as it is to have “harmony…between Christ and Belial” (2 Cor. 6:15).

Thus, in order for communion to be provided, it was necessary for our rich Brother to bestow His estate upon His poor relatives, and because our righteous Savior gave His sinful brothers of His own perfection, we who are the poor and guilty have received “from the fullness of his grace…one blessing after another” (John 1:16). The result of this giving and receiving, with One descending from the heights of heaven and others ascending from the depths of earth, is the ability to embrace one another in genuine heartfelt fellowship. Our poverty must be enriched by Christ, in whom are found infinite treasures, before we can experience true communion. And our guilt must lose itself in Christ’s imputed and imparted righteousness before our soul can walk in fellowship and purity. Jesus must clothe His people in His own garments or He cannot allow them to enter His palace in heaven, and He must wash them in His own blood or else they will remain too defiled for the embrace of His fellowship.

O believer, “this is love” (1 John 4:10)! “For your sakes [the Lord Jesus] became poor” that He might lift you up into communion with Himself.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

The context of today’s verse has to do with Paul encouraging the church in Corinth to generously give to the Lord’s work. The verse preceding our text says, “I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others” (2 Cor. 8:8). Yet the obvious comparison they are to make is not with others in their church but with the generosity of the Lord, for Paul continues, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (v. 9). Who of us fares well in that comparison!

Yet Paul keeps on encouraging us by later saying,

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

2 Corinthians 9:6 – 9

Lord, thank You for Jesus who became poor “to make grace abound”!