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 by his poverty might become rich.

Through His poverty to our wealth? Dat don’t make no sense!

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

When I think of riches, automatically I resort to the number of greenbacks I possess or to the value of my estate. Such a poverty driven way of thinking of riches!

When Paul is teaching the Corinthians, he is speaking to a congregation that surely had the same problem. Paul uses this settled mindset and twists it back to correct thinking. He is the excellent teacher, taking his students from where they currently think to a better place, a better focus, a better understanding of reality.

This is the intent of many of the paradoxes we see in the Word, for as the Lord or His apostle provides a paradox, it first off, at least for me, arrests my thinking and causes me to consider what the message is really intended to be.

We must remember that our thoughts are not necessarily correct in our current condition, even if we have been walking with the Lord for decades. 

For this paradox, Paul is comparing the original state of Jesus prior to the incarnation, in that He was rich. To say that simply is somewhat of an understatement. Yes – He was rich for He was of the Godhead, creator and owner of everything. Yes – He was rich, but as my first reaction to assign things to this “richness”, this may have been the very intent Paul had to grab the Corinthians attention.

Paul uses this to return to the gospel, to explain that the riches were not merely physical things, but spiritual things. 

Many in the modern church use this verse to adulterate the blessings God has provided through the Savior, denigrating them to merely gold and houses. The richness Jesus willingly gave up was far greater.

He accepted a sinner’s death, so we might have the Savior’s life. He accepted a criminals fate so we might have a righteous standing. He suffered through complete isolation from the Father so we might have Him with us always.

His richness that He gave up has nothing to do with physical wealth. As believers, we are rich, but not in the worldly sense. No our richness is in knowing the True God and His Son Jesus Christ. 

Does knowing the Lord satisfy you? Is this verse still a paradox? Reconsider what true richness is!

---

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

Come join us at Considering the Bible