Let us read a verse; 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” Though Jesus was rich, for my sake He became poor. The context in which this verse is in respect to spiritual wealth. The beginning of this chapter talks about the Macedonian Christians who even in their affliction had joy and even through their poverty there overflowed the wealth of their liberality. We can learn this from these Christians that in spite of our difficulties, we have to humble ourselves and have a heart of giving to others. Jesus also showed us this way of sacrificing ourselves to give to others. Jesus who was rich made himself poor for us. Jesus had the great wealth of having God the Father and all of heaven for himself. But He gave all that up when He came to earth as a man to save us. We also may have many things in abundance, but let us seek to use them for helping others in the church.
We all know the story of Ruth. This story is a picture of how Christ redeemed each of us. Ruth was a Moabite woman – a nation which was born from sin. After her sons and husband dies, Naomi was in a poor and helpless state. Naomi asked her daughter in laws to go back to their people. In Ruth 1:14 we see that Ruth decided to stay with her mother-in-law. Later we see how Boaz redeemed Ruth. Boaz had a very compassionate heart and was ready to redeem a heathen woman. This is the picture of Christ redeeming us. In Mathew 1 we read that Jesus chose this family line to be born into.
Jesus didn’t have anything on this earth. He emptied himself taking the form of a bond servant when He was on the earth. He gave up all heavenly privileges to this lowly state so that He could redeem us. In Revelation 1 we see that God gave revelation of the things to come to John – a disciple who considered himself as a bond servant. In Ephesians 1:3-14 we read of the many spiritual blessings that can be ours through redemption. What a great wealth we have received. Let us take this example of giving to the church.
In Revelation we read the message to the 7 churches. Of these 7 churches, God was happy with only 2 churches –Smyrna and Philadelphia. In Revelation 3:17 we see the church, though everything was okay with them, they didn’t know the truth about themselves. The church in Laodicea was lukewarm even after hearing a lot from the Lord. This is a strong warning for us also! When we hear the word let us examine ourselves so that we don’t go to a state where we are so backslidden that we can’t even realize it. We need to be humble in spirit and always be aware of our condition so that we may remain poor in spirit.
Jesus gave up His all so that we may be part of His body. Let us give our all for the brothers and sisters that God has given us. May God bless us all.
