The heart-stirring message of 2 Corinthians 8:9 reads, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." What a compelling message! This verse tells us that Jesus was rich, and at the same time it points out that those who follow Him are truly rich through Him. Let’s take a closer look.

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" – This statement is in a context that deals with the apostle Paul exhorting the saints in Corinth to get with it and get their promised contribution ready. The churches of Macedonia, which were made up of brethren in "deep poverty" (8:2), had given liberally (8:1-5). Now Paul by the Holy Spirit uses another wonderful example to spur the Corinthian Christians on to action: the example of Jesus. By His grace – His kindness or favor that humanity did not deserve and could never earn, Jesus made an amazing sacrifice so that all men could become rich. While we may often think of the grace of our heavenly Father, the New Testament also speaks of the grace of the Christ, as we read in 2 Corinthians 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all."

"He was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor" – Do you see the two facts contained in this statement? Fact #1: Jesus "was rich." When was that? Not when He lived in the home of Joseph and Mary. Every indication is that they were not people of great wealth in terms of material riches. When they dedicated Jesus to the Lord, they offered birds instead of a lamb (Luke 2:22-24; Leviticus 12:6-8). Those that could afford it would offer a lamb. Those that could not, offered fowl like Joseph and Mary did. When was the Christ rich? Not during the years of His preaching. Jesus Himself said, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Luke 9:58). Before His public ministry He worked as a carpenter (Mark 6:3), and during His short ministry He was dependant upon those that loved Him and "ministered unto him of their substance" (Luke 8:3). So, when was our Lord rich? He was wealthy in terms of His relationship with the Father before the foundation of the world.

Fact #2: "He became poor." When? When He came to this world of sorrow and sin, humbling Himself and taking on the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7,8). By coming to this earth, He willingly took a position in the flesh that made Him temporarily lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9). In the flesh He went through every form of temptation (Hebrews 4:14,15) and, as all humans must, passed through physical death (Hebrews 9:27). Did Jesus do all of this for Self? Did He come to earth for His own personal glory? Absolutely not. Our text declares that He did it for someone else. He had others in mind when He temporarily forfeited the glory and riches of heaven and intentionally became poor instead. Just for whom would He take such a great step? Answer: For you and me, but not for us only. Yea, "And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).

Why did the Savior heaven leave

And come to earth below,

Where men His grace would not receive? Because He loved me so.

"That ye through his poverty might be rich" – Here again we see the motivation for our Lord’s coming to earth and offering Himself as a sacrifice. All that He did, He did for us. Why? Because He wants us to be rich! The Rich One became the Poor One in order that poor ones might become rich ones. Let that thought sink down in your heart: the Rich One became the Poor One, that poor ones (spiritually bankrupt ones – that’s you and me without Jesus!) might be blessed in a spiritual sense. And, what blessings we have in and through our Redeemer! Every one of us that is in the Lord should count him/herself rich because:

Through Him we receive the benefits of God’s rich love (Ephesians 2:4).

In Him we are part of the wonderful family of God (1 Timothy 3:15), the great brotherhood of God’s people (1 Peter 2:17). Through Him we are rewarded in this life with fathers, mothers, brethren, houses, lands, etc. hundred fold (Mark 10:29).

In Him we have all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).

Through Him we are people of hope that anticipate an inheritance that is out of this world, reserved in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:3,4).

In the first century the church in the city of Smyrna faced some tough times. However, Jesus’ words of comfort must have meant a lot to them: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich) . . ." (Revelation 2:9). So, which were the saints in Smyrna, poor or wealthy? From a financial standpoint, they were poor; but from a spiritual point of view they were wealthy beyond measure. Why? Because they had all spiritual blessings in the Lord! Brothers and sisters, from time to time we may wonder how we are going to have enough money to pay our bills and provide for our loved ones. There may never come a time in our whole lives that we will count ourselves as being rich in this world’s goods. But if we walk faithfully with the Lord and have Him as our advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1), we are rich indeed!

Thanks be to the Godhead for the wonderful scheme of redemption. Thanks be to the Father for sending His Son to die for our sins. Thanks be to the Son for His willingness to give up His wealthy state in order to make us rich. Thanks be to the Spirit for revealing the gospel of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13). We are so blessed! And not because we deserve it or because God is in debt to us. By God’s grace we are rich through the poverty of Jesus. May we never take for granted all that had to be done and sacrificed in order to make our spiritual wealth in the Christ a reality.

-- Roger D. Campbell