"Our Weakness, God's Strength, and the Gospel" by Joel Michaels [LEFC Sermon Notes]

"Our Weakness, God's Strength, and the Gospel"

Joel Michaels

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

As the apostle Paul starts into Ch.4 of his 2nd letter to the Corinthian church, he paints a picture of what it is like to be an apostle, or in our day a missionary or to make it a little more personal, a Christian telling others about Jesus Christ.  We need to spread the Gospel to our family, our friends, our

neighbors, coworkers and on down the line.  If we don't have a burden for others, we made need to check our relationship with Christ.  It's not easy to do, tell others about Jesus, but maybe this passage will help you and me to have some courage and realize God is with us in the work.

Paul speaks the Truth, so here we go.  

Follow along in your Bible as I read  2 Corinthians 4:7-18.

Let's look at vs 7 and the phrase “ But we have this treasure.”

Paul was an apostle and a missionary out starting churches, but Paul had the thing that it took to start these churches, a treasure.  We need to know what this “treasure” was.  To find out jump back to vs. 5-6 in this same chapter.  

What is the treasure?  It's the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is the “treasure “ Paul is giving out. It is the treasure that is in Paul.  People need the Gospel treasure to become Christians and when you have Christians you have a church.  That is how it works.

So that is the treasure.  Jesus Christ and the Gospel of salvation.  Make a note of that.

A question for you: What do you keep a treasure in?  A vault? A safe? A treasure chest on a deserted island with a big X marking the spot?  Those things make sense.  Maybe not the deserted island.  Something safe and secure and strong.  Locked up.

What does Paul say God keeps his treasure in?  Look at vs. 7 again.   A jar of clay, a human.  

Genesis 2:7 “ the Lord formed man from the dust of the earth”

Paul is a jar of clay, so were the other apostles, so are our missionaries, so is our pastor, and you and me.

Think about a jar of clay.  It's not something we would keep a treasure in.  A jar of clay is weak, brittle and fragile.  If it has a lid it can't be locked.  If you drop it, it breaks.

Let me ask you another question:

Who told you about the good news of Jesus Christ?  Who passed the treasure on to you?  Were they super humans or just regular people, who were Christians?  Did they have frailties, faults, maybe an illness that held them back physically?  I can answer that question for you, yes they did. They are or were jars of clay.

So at this point you may be asking:

  

Why would God do that? Why would God put this treasure in a jar of clay, a weak, frail human.

Why would God leave this important thing up to people like Paul, Peter, Timothy or our missionaries?  They get sick, they have bad days, they get down.

Why would he leave it up to us?  There are lots of days I feel broke and fractured.  I'm not the best of anything, the best dad, the best husband, not the best technician at work, and not the best Christian.

So why would God put his treasure in us, in me?  The crazy thing is, he did.  God's thoughts and his will are on a so much higher plane than ours, what doesn't make sense to us is his perfect plan.

Read vs. 7 again.

God chose to make it this way to show us and everybody else, it's not about the container the treasure is in, but the treasure itself and God's all surpassing power.  It is God who made the light to shine.  It is Jesus Christ, God the Son, who saved us from our sin.  Remember that treasure from vs' 5 and 6.  It is for His glory.

When humans have earthly treasure, something of value, it typically comes with power and pride.  We hold it to ourselves.  In God's wisdom he wasn't having that, so his treasure is in a jar of clay.

Another note for you.

God shows his power through our frailty and weakness.  I was thinking something else, jars of clay can't be locked, there is no point, you could just smash the jar.  They are made to hold something until you need it.  A cookie jar is made to give out cookies.  We have this jar of clay, all are different, but they are made to give out the treasure God put in them.  It begs the question.  What are we doing with the treasure? Are we giving it out?  A question I wrestle with.  Am I telling people about Jesus?

Now if it was left up to us.  This work of giving out the Gospel from this jar of clay, we would crack.  We would break and fall apart from the stress.  Remember how in vs 7 this was to show God's power.  It is God who holds it all together.  His strength, his power hold the jar together, after all He made it.    He kept Paul together, He keeps our missionaries together, He will keep us in one piece.  So, His treasure, the Gospel will continue to spread through this world, his power is moving it along from Paul right on down the line.

Look what God does for Paul, this jar of clay in vs 8-9.

Does the work of an apostle sound easy?  Is it easy to be a witness for Jesus, to tell people the Gospel?

Not usually.  Sometimes it's severe hardship.  Paul knew something about that, read 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, in this same letter.  Sometimes with us it's not hardship or persecution,  it's just us not wanting to offend, maybe scared, or worried about what people will think.  God will give the strength and the courage.   

The struggles of being a Gospel spreading Christian are real.  You may have experienced struggles yourself, if not read some biographies about missionaries or gospel workers.  It is a burden for the lost and a trust in God's provision that motivates.

It is God that keeps His workers in one piece. It is his plan to show His power. It is His strength not ours. 

I don't care how tough we think we are, we will crack.  Only God prevents it and does it faithfully.  We don't need to wonder if He might help us to give out the treasure.  He will help us.  God chose weak vessels to give out His treasure to other weak vessels.

The point here is God holds us together to to do the work he has called us to do, that is to tell people about Jesus.

I need to bring this to a close but I want you to see a few more things like vs 15. 

Friends, Paul is not around anymore, maybe the person who gave you the treasure, who told you about the Savior, is not around anymore, but grace is reaching more and more people.  It does because it is through these jars of clay that God shows His power, and His glory and this treasure that He wants out in the world goes forth.

 

A few points for you to think on.

-We are weak jars of clay, but God is exceedingly powerful

-We have a treasure to give, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

-It's all about God's power and glory.

Lets read vs 16-18 to close.

We press on. We fix our eyes on the eternal.

Read More

“The Wonder Of It All” [Matt's Messages]

“The Wonder Of It All”
December 22, 2019
2 Corinthians 9:15

Just for a second, imagine being Mary that night after Jesus was born.

Skip past giving birth. Some of you know what that is like. Many of us will never know.

But imagine being there after giving birth.

And knowing yourself that it was a great miracle. Because you are a virgin. And a angel told you all of this was going to happen.

And you’ve swaddled the baby boy in cloths and placed Him in a manger because there was no room for you in the inn.

And then these shepherds show up with an astonishing story about a skyfull of terrifying angels singing gloria in exclesis deo, “Glory to God in the highest.” And then they’ve sought ought you and your little boy. And then after finding you both, they run out into the countryside to spread the amazing word of what they had been told about this little child.

Imagine being Mary.

What does she do then? After all that?

What do you do when all of that has been thrust upon you?

You wonder at it, don’t you?

Luke chapter 2, verse 19 says that “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

She pondered them in her heart.

She turned them over and over again and considered them and wondered what did they mean.

There is a popular Christmas song called, “Mary, Did You Know?” and basically the answer to that question is “Yes.” She did know.

The angel told her.
She heard it with her own ears.

And if you read her song, traditionally called The Magnificat, you can tell that she did know what was happening to her. She predicted it a lot of it herself. She was a true prophet and an amazing theologian.

Mary did know.

But she pondered.

She turned these things over and over and over again in her mind and heart.

Because who could know what was going to happen?

Not really. Even if you did know intellectually, how could you understand what you did know? How could you comprehend this story?

Because nothing like this had ever happened before or would ever happen ever again!

It was totally unique and strange and fantastic and marvelous and...wonderful.

O the Wonder of It All!

Just like Mary we need to take some time and ponder these things in our hearts.

That’s one of the benefits of holding a holiday of Christmas.

Just stopping and thinking about the wonder of the incarnation.

Have you taken time yet to stop...and to ponder this season what has happened that God became Man?

I think that’s what the Apostle Paul did when he erupted in praise in 2 Corinthians 9:15. He pulls “a Mary” and ponders just how amazing is the gift of Jesus Christ.

In the context of this letter, Paul is writing to encourage the believers at Corinth to participate in a missions love offering that was intended to go to aid the poor and suffering believers in Jerusalem.

They were taking up an offering and sending the money with the missionaries to help those other Christians in need.

And Paul was sure that they were going to participate, and he gave them some good reasons for it.

The biggest reason? God had been so gracious to them. They should be gracious to others.

God had been generous to them. They should be generous with others.

You know how just about every week, the guy who prays for the offering here says something like, “In this offering, Lord, we’re giving back just a small portion of what you’ve given to us.”

And that’s exactly right. Because God has been so good to us, we can be so generous to others.

That’s one of the reasons why we give gifts to each other at Christmas. To remind each other of the greatest gift that was every given to us.

And that’s where Paul goes with this last verse of chapter 9.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

The key word is...“indescribable.”

Which I looked up in the dictionary, and it means, “You can’t describe it.”

Which does not mean that we shouldn’t try. There are words to describe God’s gift, but there aren’t enough words to do it justice. Does that make sense?

The King James Version has “unspeakable gift.” Which might give you the idea that it’s forbidden to talk about this gift. Speak not of this gift!

And that’s clearly not what Paul means.

But the King James also might give you the idea that there just aren’t words to use.

It’s unspeakably good.

The ESV, the English Standard Version says, “inexpressible” gift.

You almost get the idea from the ESV that you not only run out of words to describe this gift, but you run out of words all together.

Have you ever been left speechless at a gift?

A few years ago, I bought Heather a plane ticket to got Europe and visit her sister.

And she had no idea it was coming.

And on Christmas, when she opened up the gift, she just started crying and shaking her head.

My kids were worried there was bad news in that envelope!

“What is it?”

And she still couldn’t say.

Because it was just so good.

I’ll probably never top that one. And I probably shouldn’t try.

The Wonder Of It All!

Just think about this gift of Jesus Christ.

By the way, can gift be a Person?

We got a great gift on Tuesday when we went to the Pittsburgh Airport, and there was Robin Joy Mitchell!

Certainly a person can be a gift.

And the greatest gift ever is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Now, don’t miss those two alternatives at the end of that verse.

“Perish” or have “eternal life.”

Those are the two opposite realities hanging over every single human being.

And the default destination is perishing.

That’s where we are all headed unless something diverts our path.

Thankfully, God’s indescribable gift is just such a thing to divert our paths.

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son...”

And He didn’t just give Him to walk with us but to die for us.

A new friend of mine said on social media this week, “Our treason is the reason for the season” (Tim M. Shorey).

Jesus came because we were hellbent on our rebellion and needing a Savior.

And so He came.
And so He lived.
And so He died.
And so He lived again!
And so He ascended.
And so He is coming again.

Because the Father gave Him.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The Wonder Of It All!

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

The New Living Translation paraphrases our verse, “Thank God for his Son–a gift too wonderful for words!”

Does God’s gift leave you speechless?

If it doesn’t, why not?

I know that we talk about it all of the time.

One of the downsides of having a holiday every single year is that we can kind of get this on repeat like a broken record, just looping the same recycled thoughts every year.

Mary, Joseph, Angels, Shepherds, Manger, Wisemen.
Mary, Joseph, Angels, Shepherds, Manger, Wisemen.
Mary, Joseph, Angels, Shepherds, Manger, Wisemen.

But this is incredible stuff.

Don’t let it get “old hat” with you.

What do you need to do to cultivate a sense of wonder over God’s indescribable gift?

O, the wonder of it all.

On Wednesday night, I asked the kids what do you do when someone hands you an awesome gift? There are two main things.

The first is to receive it.

To take that gift and make it yours.

Have you done that with God’s indescribable gift?

The Bible says that not every does.

It says, Jesus “was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. [Jesus] came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him [who received the indescribable gift!], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...” (John 1:11-12).

Have you done that?

If you have, what’s the second you do after you receive a truly great gift?

You say “Thank you.”

Which is what the Apostle Paul was saying in 2 Corinthians 9:15.

Thanks be to God...
Thanks be to God...
Thanks be to God...

"...for his indescribable gift!”

Read More

[Matt's Messages] "Going Public"

“Going Public”* 
A Baptismal Message for Jamie Johnston
May 21, 2017  ::  2 Corinthians 5:17

In just a few moments, Jamie Johnston is going to go public with her faith in Jesus Christ.

Because that’s one of the things that baptism means and does.

Baptism is a public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ, a statement to the world that the one being baptized believes in Jesus and has been saved from their sins by Jesus and what Jesus did for them on the Cross. And they are now publicly identifying themselves as a follower of Jesus.

Going public.

It’s kind of like when an athlete signs onto a team. You know what I’m saying? They have one of those signing ceremonies? College athletes. Professional athletes.

They sit behind that desk and they sign on the dotted line. Everybody’s smiling.

And then maybe they get a team jersey and they hold it up for the camera.

It’s a press conference.

And that’s the moment when they publicly join the team.

The military does something like that, too. They take an oath.

There’s a ceremony. They raise their right hand.

And they join up. They, too, get an uniform.

Or like a wedding ceremony.

The bride and groom stand before witnesses and they exchange promises and, n our culture, they exchange rings.

They go public with their covenant with one another.

Everybody might have known already that they loved one another and were committed to one another, but this ceremony makes it official.

And water baptism, for the Christian, has a very similar effect.

Baptism is the God-ordained way of going public with your faith.

Baptism is the God-ordained way of identifying yourself with Jesus Christ.

And that’s what Jamie is doing this morning and our church family is pleased to be a part of.

Now, there are other good ways of going public with your faith.

You can walk an aisle at an evangelistic meeting.
You can post something on your social media account about your love for Jesus.
You can stick a bumper sticker on your car or take out a billboard!

But water baptism is not just a good way of going public with your faith, it’s God’s good way of going public with your faith.

Read the book of Acts. The pattern is clear. The gospel gets preached. People believe and get saved. And then they get baptized.

The gospel gets preached. People believe and get saved. And then they get baptized.

Over and over again.

Followers of Jesus Christ go public with their faith through water baptism.

Now, water baptism is just a picture. It is an outward symbol of an inner reality.

I often liken it to a wedding ring. This gold band on my finger does not make me married to Heather Joy. Our public ceremony didn’t make me married to Heather Joy.

My covenantal relationship with Heather Joy makes me married to her (Praise the Lord!), and this ring symbolizes our marriage to the watching world.

It says, “I am hers. And she is mine. We are on the same team. We are the team. Exclusively.”

Water baptism is a public symbol, as well.

It doesn’t DO anything by itself (it’s not magic), but it SAYS lots of things.

And I think that this little verse shows us at least two.

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Now, you can tell from the word “therefore” that this verse is part of a larger context, a larger argument. Paul is actually talking about ministry in this section. And this verse fits into that larger argument as an explanation of how Paul goes about his apostolic ministry.

But we don’t have time this morning to develop the larger argument. We’ve got a dunking to do here!

So we’ll save that for another day. Here we’re just going to look at this one sentence and see what it tells us about being a Christian (and therefore what Christian baptism signifies, what it says to the world).

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

#1. BAPTISM IS GOING PUBLIC ABOUT BEING “IN CHRIST.”

“In Christ.”

“In Christ” is the Apostle Paul’s favorite phrase to describe what it means to be a Christian. At least 80 times in Paul’s letters, Paul uses the phrase, “in Christ.”

“In Christ” is the Apostle Paul’s shorthand description of being identified with Christ.  Our position in Christ, the benefits and blessings of being in Christ, the inclusion we have in Christ’s righteousness, Christ’s standing with the Father, Christ’s holiness, and so on.

“In Christ” is Paul’s way of signifying our UNION WITH CHRIST in His death and resurrection. Our vital, living union with Christ.

Remember Romans 6 when Paul says, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

Baptism signifies being “In Christ.”

Are you in Christ? Have you been joined to Jesus Christ by faith? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and the gaining of eternal life?

Are you in vital union with Jesus Christ? Are you “in Christ?”

There is no more important question to have answered!

Jamie has answered that question. In a few moments, she will share the story she shared in her baptism interview. That she has come to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is now “in Christ.” And going public about it in baptism.

How about you?  Are you “in Christ?”

There is no more important question to have answered!

You are either in Christ or OUTSIDE of Christ.

And that is the scariest place to be in the whole universe.

If you are in Christ, have you gone public with your faith through water baptism?

That’s what water baptism portrays, being in Christ.

Going down in the water symbolizes your union with Christ in His death and burial.  Coming up out of the water symbolizes your union with Christ in His resurrection.

Baptism is a God-given picture that signifies to the world that you are in Christ.

And 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

#2. BAPTISM IS GOING PUBLIC ABOUT BEING “A NEW CREATION.”

In all real Christians, God has done a new work of creation!

And just as God created everything we see and feel and touch and smell in this creation, He has also done a work of New Creation–He has brought about a decisive change inside of the new Christian.

We often call that new work of creation: regeneration. Being “born again.” Being given new spiritual life, a new heart, a new life–fit for the world to come.

Water baptism symbolizes a “New Creation.”

“The old has gone, the new has come!”

Now, that almost sounds like a new Christian is not at all like they used to be. They are perfect, they never sin, they have arrived, the old has gone[!], the new has come[!].  If that’s true, then Jamie is not ready yet to be baptized because she is not perfect yet. And neither is her pastor!

But I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. Paul knows that Christians have not yet arrived. He says that very thing about himself in multiple places.

What Paul is saying is that something new has happened that is decisive for this person.

Being “in Christ” means that God has started something dramatic and unstoppable in this person’s heart and made them a New Creation. And the Old Slave-Driver of Sin and the Old Required Allegiance to the Prince of this World are out in their penalty and position and power in our lives. And the new master of righteousness and allegiance to the true Lord of the universe has begun.

That’s what Christian baptism signifies.

I like how the New Living Translation puts it. It paraphrases v.17 like this, “What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!”

And that’s why people should get baptized sooner rather than later in their Christian life. Baptism is not for mature Christians. It’s for new Christians.

Christians that have become a New Creation.

Christian baptism is going public about being In Christ and being a New Creation.

And this is God’s work.  V.18 begins, “All this is from God.”

God is the One who includes us IN CHRIST through our faith.

God is the One who creates a NEW CREATION in us that says good-bye to the old and in with the new.

And our response to God’s work is to live it out.

We are to believe that we are “In Christ” with all of the blessings and benefits and privileges that go along with that.

And we are to live as New Creations. We are to live new lives.

In the first few centuries of the Christian Church, baptismal candidates did this very dramatically.

Here’s what the book The Mark of the Jesus says about baptism in the early church:

When...the time for baptism...arrived, the candidate would be called upon to renounce the Devil and all his pomp. Facing westward, the direction in which the sun went down, he would exclaim, ‘I renounce thee, O Satan, and all they works!’Then he would deliberately spit three times in the direction of darkness, signifying a complete break with the power of evil and all their former claim on his life. Next, turning towards the sunrise, he would say, ‘And I embrace Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ!’ This would be followed by immersion... (The Mark of Jesus, pg. 33-34).

The old has gone, the new has come!

That’s going public!

That’s what Jamie is about to do. She is spitting in Satan’s face and symbolizing through her baptism that she is in Christ a, new Creation.

Again, Jamie’s baptism does not make her a Christian.

I see lots of people wearing black and gold jerseys. That does not make them a Pittsburgh Steeler, right?

Just putting on the jersey doesn’t put you on the team.

But if you are on the team, you put on the jersey.

If you are married, you put on the ring.

If you are a Christian, you go public with Christianity and tell the world that you identify with Jesus.

“I am His and He is mine.

He has saved me through His death and resurrection.

And now I’m telling the world by getting baptized.”

There is a little word in the Greek of verse 17 that doesn’t get translated into the English of the NIV. I think it’s there in the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.

But the old King James has an English word for it and the English Standard Version has it, too.

It’s the word, “Behold.”

Behold.

Look!

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, [LOOK!] the new has come!”

It’s right there to see.
It’s real.
It’s public.

Look what God has done.

****

* The title of this message reflects my great debt to Bobby Jamieson's book Going Public: Why Baptism Is Required for Church Membership which I found really helpful for thinking about the ordinance of baptism. While ultimately unpersuaded by his thesis in regards to baptism and membership (and sticking to an EFCA approach to this practice), I was significantly sharpened in my theology and practice of baptism. I highly recommend it and will use this language of "going public" from here on.

Read More

[Matt's Messages] "He Became Poor"

“He Became Poor”

December 23, 2012

2 Corinthians 8:9 

Christmas is Tuesday!  Arguably, the greatest celebration that America has each year.  Billions and billions of dollars spent preparing for this grand holiday.  Hours and hours of preparation–decorations, shopping, parties, open houses, and special worship services like this morning’s.

Let me ask you a question this morning:  What are you celebrating this Christmas?

I’ll tell you what I’m celebrating.  I am celebrating poverty.

Poverty.

Thankfully, not my own poverty.  But the poverty of Jesus Christ.

I think the meaning of Christmas can be summed up in that one word:

Poverty.

The Apostle Paul sums up the meaning of Christmas with that word nestled in one short verse snuggled in the middle of 2 Corinthians chapter 8.  It’s verse 9 if you want to follow along with me this morning. 

“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.”

Three things I want you to take home with you from this morning’s message.

#1.  What Jesus Did. #2. Why Jesus Did It.  And #3. What difference that makes.

#1.  What Did Jesus Do?

Very simple:  THOUGH HE WAS RICH, HE BECAME POOR.

That’s what Jesus did.  He took on poverty.

You’ve heard, I’m sure, of RAGS to RICHES?

Jesus went from RICHES to RAGS.

Question: How Rich Was Jesus?

Jesus was the Son of God!  Jesus was God the Song.

Jesus had all the privileges and wealth and rights and honor and glory of God Himself.

He was fabulously rich. He was unimaginably rich.  He was infinitely rich!

Every angel in heaven jumped at His command.

Every speck of sand on the seashore bowed in allegiance to His Will.

The wealth of heaven and earth was in His treasury.  

Bill Gates is a homeless pauper compared to Jesus!

Unfettered worship of every being in heaven was His unalienable right!

As the second person of the Trinity, Jesus was unimaginably rich in every way.

...But He Became Poor.

How poor did Jesus become?

First, He became a poor human.

He was God, but He condescended to become a man.

More than that, He became a baby.

He took on infant flesh.

That, my friends, is poverty. To go from Sovereign God over the Universe to helpless little nursling human, like little Copper Crumrine, is a long distance to travel.

Have you ever thought about becoming a cockroach?  I didn’t think so.

The difference between you and I and cockroaches in degree and kind is infinitely less than the difference between God becoming a human baby.  Let me say that again.

The difference between you and I and cockroaches in degree and kind is infinitely less than the difference between God becoming a human baby.

God the Son condescended to become a human like you and me.

He became poor.

And He was born in a poor family.

He was born in a stable because there was no room in the inn.

He was placed in a feeding trough because they didn’t own a bed for him.

The King of Glory was laid in the equivalent of a doggie dish.

He became poor.

His family was so poverty stricken that when they presented the little baby at the temple, they took a pair of small birds–the least acceptable offering in the Law for the poorest families in Israel.

When He became a man, He did not buy a house.

I own a house.  But my Lord did not have a place to call home.

He became poor.

For a few years of ministry, Jesus lived off of the support of wealthy friends.  But He had no money of His own.  

He became poor.

Philippians 2 says, Jesus was “in very nature God, [but] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped [held onto], but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself [even further!] and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!”

Ultimately, that’s how poor Jesus became. He died the dishonorable death of a traitor on a cruel instrument of torture.

He became poor.

He had life in Himself, and yet He poured it out and died.

Though He was unimaginably rich, He became unimaginably poor.

That’s what Jesus did.

- Have you thought at all about His descent this Christmas?

- Have you thought at all about His condescension?

- Have you thought about His humility?

God became Man, became a sin-bearer, became a dying, heaving bloody mess of a man on a Cross.

He became poor.

...Why?

That’s the second thing I want you to think about this morning and talk today about around the dinner table.

Why Did Jesus Do It?

Paul says in this verse, “...though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor...”

“for your sakes...”

He did it for you!

“...though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor...”

How?

“so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

#2. FOR YOUR SAKES, SO THAT YOU MIGHT BECOME RICH.

Jesus poverty was the means by which your and my richness comes.

How poor are we?

You and I are sinners.  Rebels to the core.  We are by nature, anti-God. His natural enemies.  Natural Born Sinners.

And because of our sin, we are absolutely bankrupt.  We have nothing to offer to God.  We have no moral or spiritual richness on our own.

In and of ourselves, we are totally poor.

The Bible says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...”

We are not just poor.  You and I, through our sins, have gotten ourselves completely and hopelessly in debt.

But...Jesus Christ in His becoming poor, in His wrapping himself in poor human flesh and in His taking on our sinful bankruptcy in His flesh upon the Cross...in His poverty makes us rich when we trust in Him!

That’s the gospel, brothers and sisters and friends.

Christmas is about Good Friday.

Christmas is about Christ Jesus’ poverty ON OUR BEHALF.

His life for our sin.

His poverty for our riches.

The Cross of Jesus Christ purchases unimaginable wealth for believers like you and me.

Think about it!

Though we deserve Hell, we gain Heaven!

Though we deserve condemnation, we get pardon and forgiveness.

Though we deserve wrath, we get love!

Though we deserve blame, we get glory!

Though we deserve banishment, we get God’s presence!

Though we were poor, in His poverty, we get riches untold!

All because he became poor.

This is the greatest news in all the world.

It’s what we should think about when we hear the word “Christmas.”

#3.  WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

So What? What Should We Do About It?

Three points of application:

#1.  Get Rich Quick!

If you are here today, and you don’t know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ like this, if you don’t have richness in Christ, then today can be the day of your salvation.

You need His riches.  And He has done all the work. All you do is receive it!

Get Rich Quick.

Repent of your sin.  That means turn from it.  Agree with God in your heart that you are a sinner, you have been running from God, that you do need rescuing.

And Trust in Jesus Christ and His CrossWork. Tell God in prayer that you want Jesus to be your Lord and your Rescuer.  To provide you with the spiritual wealth His death secured.

Right now.  Don’t delay.  Don’t leave here this morning without becoming rich where it counts–towards God.

Because, “though he was rich, yet for your [sake] he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Today.  Let this Christmas be your first Christmas as a Christ-follower.

#2.  Give Generously!  

This little verse is in the middle of a greater context about how Christians should give generously and out of love for those in need.  And this little verse is a vital part of the argument. 

If the Son of God would give so much for us, how should we act for those who have need?

Give Generously.  “It is better to give than to receive.”

How about reminding yourself of that around the Christmas Tree with all the presents with your name on them?

Let this Christmas be a time of sacrificial giving.  Of acts of love.  Of meeting human needs around the world and across the street.

Don’t stop giving now that Christmas is here. Use this to remind you to give all year round.

And to share Christ with those who need Him most.

You and I have spiritual wealth to offer people if we would share the Lord with them.  

They could go from RAGS to RICHES because of your sacrificial love.

Give of yourself generously.

BECAUSE, “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.

Pass it on.

And #3.  Magnify the Grace of Our Lord this Christmas!

Make this Christmas about worshiping the one who became poor for you.

Ephesians 1 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ...in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

Praise be to Him this Christmastime!

“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.”

That’s why I’m celebrating poverty this Christmas.

Because that’s what Christmas is all about.

Let’s praise Him for His glorious grace!

Read More