Riches

So, sometime ago, I started to ponder on a verse of Scripture. It’s one of those verses that tends to came into focus every now and again. It is commonly used as the basis for the teachings of prosperity and material advancement.

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.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV)

So the teaching typically goes thus; Christ was rich, and he became poor so that we can be rich. And by ‘rich’, the teaching insinuates that the Bible means wealth after the order of this world.

The picture here is that of cars, big houses, a living and breathing bank account, and material increase to be reckoned with. Quite frankly, it makes sense – I mean, who doesn’t want to be rich? However, was that really what the Apostle was trying to communicate?

I think not.

If you read the chapter closely and in context, a very different sense emerges. Firstly, we see that the chapter has as its focus the physiology of giving. The Apostle Paul was presenting giving not as an act, but as an expression of Grace. That seems to standout in the very first verse of the chapter.

He further spends the next verses bearing witness to the way and manner this grace of giving was expressed in the Macedonian churches. In verse 2, he mentions how they gave in great trial of affliction; how they gave in deep poverty; how they gave in the full magnitude of their ability to give.

This was not because the Apostles preached a fantastic message on giving, but rather they functioned according to the working of a grace in them. This Grace had an inner working that came with it. We see this in verse 5: they gave their own selves to the Lord.

One might ask, what is the difference between this inner working and the consecration of the believer? And that’s a valid question. However it should be pointed out that, in the consecration of the believer, the only reference point is God. There is no other frame of reference. But in this instance, the Apostle adds, …and to us, by the will of God.

It is an extension of the consecrated life.

It was this grace of giving that he exhorted the Corinthian church to see it that they abound in also. This brings us to our verse of interest. He says:

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.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV)

Do we now see the crux of the matter? This grace of giving finds its origin in Christ Jesus. This was, in a sense, what He expressed when He cast aside the excellent glory that was his (his being rich in context), to become a mere man (his being poor) so that we through this act of His humanity will become rich (partners and participants of his glory, become the children of God). This the Apostle presents also as proof that experience of giving manifested by the Macedonian churches is a tributary of the Grace of our lord Jesus Christ. A reality that Jesus himself expressed.

Therefore, we see that this grace is a grace that calls us into a giving that is profitable and beneficial to others without reservations and restrictions, because we have given ourselves to God and to His body by His will. For Christ was not hindered by the prospect of being poor if it meant riches for us.

This will be our desire, if we come to ‘know’ this grace of our Lord Jesus .