# HE BECAME POOR SO THAT WE MAY BE RICH ## Introduction I welcome you to this year Christmas service and pray that the joy of Christmas will be with you today in the name of Jesus. We thank God for making us see another Christmas. And if Jesus delays His second coming, may we enjoy more glorious Christmas in the name of Jesus. Amen. This morning I have prepared a short exhortation titled, He Became Poor so that We May Be Rich. The essence of this exhortation is to remind us again and again how privileged we are that Jesus came into the world. We have said it so often that the intervention of Jesus through His birth and Ministry on earth was motivated by the great love of God as we are told in John 3:16. We will look briefly at what the incarnation of Jesus means to Him and what it portends for us. Thereafter, I believe your heart should be full of eternal gratitude for this manner of love shown to you and me by our Lord and Saviour. ## Incarnation a Central Christian Doctrine There are many lovely strands in the story about the birth of Jesus Christ, mainly in the accounts of the gospels according to Matthew and Luke: the angelic visit to young Mary, the star that guided the Magi from the east, the unusual submission and obedience of Joseph, the shepherd on the field, the birth in the manger as there was no room in the inn, and so on and so forth. In the midst of these lovely stories, it is very easy to ignore the stunning reality that Christmas is really about the incarnation of Jesus. In the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we have God assume a human nature and became a man in the form of Jesus Christ. Together with the resurrection of Jesus, incarnation, that is God became flesh, is a central Christian doctrine. ## What is the implication of Incarnation for Jesus Paul in his second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 9, summarizes very clearly and simply the implications of incarnation for Jesus, or the cost of Christmas: *"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor...."* (2 Corinthians 8:9a). In effect, the birth of Jesus should remind us that our rich Saviour became poor for our sake. In what sense did Jesus become poor, you might ask? Jesus, as the second person in the Trinity, laid aside His position in heaven, a place where there is continuous praise and perpetual peace, and a place where the angels and heavenly hosts worship Him for a dying and corrupt world. To make matter more contrasting, even if the Lord of Lords will condescend to be with His creatures, you will expect the King of Kings to be born in the best facility there was at that time. Not so! Jesus was born in the lowliest place - a stable (where animals are kept) as there was no guest room available at the inn. He was so rich, yet for our sake He became poor and had to be born in a stable, "wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger": *"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them"* (Luke 2: 6-7). He was, and still is, being worshiped by angelic and heavenly hosts. Yet when He came to this world He was rejected, despised, hounded and killed him like a common criminal on a Cross. *"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!"* (Philippians 2:6-7). ## Why Did He Make Himself Poor? Jesus who is so rich in splendor and glory that we cannot even begin to describe His riches with human vocabulary, became poor simply 'for our sake.' This shows the extreme and intense love that God has for us, to say the least. When we look at the birth and mission of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ here on earth, we discover that everything he did is for us: - He left heaven so that you can go to heaven. - He taught His eternal truths so that you may not live in ignorance. - He performed miracles so that you can appropriate the power of God. - He was rejected so that you will never be rejected. - He was born in the lowliest place so that you can be born of the Holy Spirit. - He became a servant so that you can learn life's greatest lesson and a become saint. - He died on the Cross so that you can live with him eternity. ## What is the implication of incarnation for you? We now come to the second part of this spiritual 'simultaneous equation'. What is the implication of Christmas or incarnation for you? With what we have mentioned above, it becomes clear that the implication of the birth of Christ for you is...so that you through his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9b). This is a great and profound spiritual truth. Jesus Christ came into this world and became poor so that you can be rich through His poverty. So, one major lesson of Christmas is to make us realize the depth of the love of God; He will do anything and everything so that we might become rich. Brethren I do not want you to be ignorant of this spiritual fact. The richness being talked about here goes far beyond material wealth. True, Christ came so that we can have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10b). But the riches the Bible talks about here in this verse is deeper and more fulfilling than worldly possession of goods. ## Seven Benefits of Incarnation It comes as a result of the seven benefits God gives you as a result of incarnation or birth of Jesus: ### i. The benefit of Salvation: *"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him"* (1 John 4:9). ### ii. The benefit of eternal life: *"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"* (Rom.6:23). ### iii. The benefit of adoption: *"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him"* (1 John 3:1). ### iv. The benefit of Holy Spirit: *"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us"* (Romans 5:5). ### v. The benefit of righteousness: *"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!"* (Romans5:17-18). ### vi. The benefit of peace: *"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid"* (John 14:27). ### vii. The benefit of victory over death: *"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ"* (1 Cor15:56-57). ## Conclusion Children of God as we go home this Christmas day, I beseech you to reflect on the love of God that made the second person in the Trinity become poor just for your sake so that you may become rich. I want you to know that you are so privileged as you are part of the cast in the greatest story ever told. This is all because of God's love for you. Yes, in accordance with the inspired theme for our Church this last month of the year that is gradually coming to a close, we embarked on a 'Journey of Love' this advent season which ended yesterday. In reality, that 'Journey of Love' has been on for generations before us when baby Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem. The journey will continue for a long time to come if Jesus tarries His second coming. So, for all of us on this Christmas day, we have only stopped to briefly reflect and ponder on this wonderful love God has for us. Thereafter, the journey continues. Merry Christmas to you all and wishing you a prosperous New Year ahead. Amen.