Daily Bread - NOV/29/07

2 Corinthians 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich for your sake He became poor so that by His poverty you might become rich.

If we want to understand how God has made us rich then we have to understand the riches of God that are in Christ Jesus. How was Jesus rich before He laid aside all of His wealth to become our sin offering? When we consider God's wealth then we must reach beyond everything that anyone has because God owns it all. God is rich in love and in every other attribute of goodness that can be thought of and more. All of the treasures of heaven and the earth are His possessions and He knows where every one of them is.

We must also consider the situation of the Macedonians and understand the context that Paul is speaking to them in. The Macedonians had made themselves poor by giving of their material goods to the gospel (2 Corinthians 8:2-3). However, Paul is making it known that through the miracle supply of God's grace they are about to receive an abundance of what they have given (2 Corinthians 9:5-8). Paul encouraged the Macedonians again in the Epistle to the Philippians and reminded them in the same context that God would supply their needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). We may rightly conclude then that material things are definitely a part of the riches that Paul is referring to in this passage.

There have been those who would want to limit the riches that we have in Christ Jesus to spiritual riches. However, they failed to realize that through the benefit of spiritual riches we come to have every other area of our lives enriched as well. Through the prosperity of our souls we are also enriched in health and in material goods (3 John 2; Matthew 6:33; Mark 10:29-30). The notion that God is not interested in material wealth is foreign to the God of the Bible. From the very beginning God lavishly supplied Adam and Eve with a garden paradise rich in material goods. Unfortunately, many pagan ideas were incorporated into Christianity over the centuries that attributed a mystical and spiritual benefit to poverty. These religions - that have some of their counterparts in modern-day Hinduism and Buddhism - think that a desire for material things is evil and restrains the mystical development of the spirit. Those who would attempt to limit this passage to Neoplatonic and metaphorical interpretations are actually violating the context of Paul's message in order to remain true to their philosophy of the superior spiritual attributes of poverty. These concepts and ideas are entirely foreign to the way God has presented Himself and His will for our lives in the Bible. It is God who makes us rich and adds no sorrow with it (Psalms 112:3; Genesis 13:2; 14:23; 36:7; 1 Samuel 2:7; 1 Chronicles 29:12, 28; 2 Chronicles 1:12; 9:22; Proverbs 3:16; 8:18; 10:4, 15; 10:22; 22:4).

We share in the riches of Christ Jesus as heirs and coheirs together with Him (Romans 8:17, 29; John 1:12; Galatians 3:29). We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings and given an unlimited provision to ask what we will and He will do it (Ephesians 1:3; John 15:16). We know that He is providing for our needs according to His riches in glory. We also know that asking God for material prosperity is one of the prayers of the Bible (Psalms 118:25). To think that God is not going to resource us to accomplish the things that He has purposed for us to do in this life is nonsense. If we take just one of the many things on the list of responsibilities that God has given to us then we must recognize that material provision becomes an essential part of our purpose. For example, if we see a brother or sister in need we are supposed to open up our purse and meet that need (1 John 3:16-20). Well, what if there is nothing in our purse? We are called to take care of the orphans, the widows, the poor, the needy, the ministry, and the advancement of the gospel throughout the world. Certainly, we don't have to think too long and we realize this takes lots of material provision.

Be blessed,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org