Jesus: Rich/Poor

	"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 8:9, "that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."
	Wow! Have you ever though about that?  Jesus, who was rich, became poor so that we, who were poor, could become rich.  Jesus was rich.  Just how rich are we talking about?
	"And He is the image of the invisible God," Colossians 1:15-16 describes, "the first-born of all creation.  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."
	Jesus is the first-born of all creation.  This doesn't mean that He is a created being.  The Jews referred to Jehovah as "the Firstborn of all creation" to signify His position as creator of all things.  Jesus is above all thrones.  "Rich" hardly does justice to His situation.
	"For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form," Paul notes in Colossians 2:9.
	Jesus is rich.  But He becomes poor.  How poor does Jesus become?
	"And she gave birth to her first-born son," Luke 2:7 records, "and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
	Jesus is not born in a warm hospital delivery room, and he is not snuggled into a warm, soft crib.  There is no room for Him in the inn.  So the Son of God is born in a stable and placed in a feeding trough borrowed from the animals.
	"The foxes have holes," Jesus tells a potential follower in Matthew 8:20, "and the birds of the air {have} nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
	Jesus has no home of His own.  He has no room of His own.  He has no bed of His own.  Throughout His life, Jesus perhaps has one item of any value, a tunic which has probably been given to Him by a follower.
	"The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus," we read in John 19:23-24, "took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and {also} the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.  They said therefore to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, {to decide} whose it shall be'; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, 'They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.'" 
	Jesus has only the clothes on His back.  These are stripped from Him and divided by the solders who crucify Him.
	And about the ninth hour," we find in Matthew 27:46, "Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?'"
	The poverty of Jesus sinks to the abyss of being forsaken by God.
	"And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth," Matthew 27:59-60 states, "and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away."
	The One who was above all thrones has to be placed in a borrowed tomb.
	"He was despised and forsaken of men," Isaiah 53:3-4 portrays centuries before the life of Jesus, "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."
	In birth, the Savior of the world is placed in a borrowed crib.  In life, He sleeps in a borrowed bed.  In death, He is placed in a borrowed tomb.  Though He was rich, Jesus became poor.

	Though Jesus was rich, He came poor.  He became poor that those of us who are poor might become rich.  Just how poor are we?
	"Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,'" Jesus cautions the Laodicean church in Revelation 3:17, "and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."
	Not only are we poor, but we are also wretched and miserable and blind and naked.  We are poor because we have turned our backs on God and earned for ourselves only the wages of sin.
	"For the wages of sin is death," Paul points out in Romans 6:23.
	Fortunately for us, Jesus becomes poor that we might be come rich.  And how rich might we become?
	"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again," Paul explains in Romans 8:15-17, "but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with {Him} in order that we may also be glorified with {Him.}"
	Jesus becomes poor so that we might become children of God and fellow heirs with Him. 
	"And {He did so} in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy," Romans 9:23 says of God.
	Jesus becomes poor so that we might experience the riches of God's glory.
	"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Romans 11:33 exclaims.  "How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!"
	Jesus becomes poor so that we might benefit from the riches of God's wisdom and knowledge.
	"In order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:7 notes.
	Jesus becomes poor so that we might be shown the riches of God's grace.
	"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus," Philippians 4:19 promises.
	Jesus becomes poor so that God might supply all our needs.
	"To me, the very least of all saints," Paul writes in Ephesians 3:8, "this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ."
	Jesus becomes poor so that we might receive unfathomable riches.
	"Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard," Paul quotes Isaiah  in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "and {which} have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him."
	Jesus, who is rich, becomes poor so that we, who are poor, might have riches which are greater than we could ever imagine.
	What are we going to do with this?  Well, we are going to do one of two things.
	"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter," we read in Hebrews 11:24-26, "choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward."
	Like Moses, we can recognize that the reproach of Christ is greater riches than anything the world has to offer.
	"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?" Paul wonders in Romans 2:4-10.  "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. {There will be} tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
	We can recognize that the reproach of Christ is greater riches than anything the world has to offer, or we can think lightly of the riches of God's kindness, forbearance and patience.  We do this by stubbornly refusing to obey the truth.
	Jesus, who was rich, became poor so that we, who were poor, might become rich.  But the reward is not automatic.  We must obey the truth in order to be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 Used by permission."