Glorious Riches of Christ

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich”
(2 Corinthians 8:9).

. FOR YOU KNOW THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

A. Grace is God's undeserved, unmerited goodness to us.
1. By grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, is a gift of God.
a. Nothing I could do to deserve salvation. I really deserve judgment of God.
b. Nothing I could do to merit salvation. All the works in the world can not save
me.
c. I am saved by the grace of God.
2. By grace He has redeemed me from my slavery to satan.
a. I was once held in the bondage of sin, but through grace, Jesus paid the price to
give me my freedom. In Ephesians 1:7 Paul speaks of our redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of our sins through the richness of His grace.
3. Paul told the Ephesians that in the ages to come He will be showing to us the
exceeding riches of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus.
B. Paul said that they knew the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Do you know the grace of our Lord?
II. HOW WAS THIS GRACE MANIFESTED TO US?
A. Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor.
1. There is no measure by which His riches can be measured.
2. Jesus is the eternal God, He was before all things, He was exalted and
worshipped by all of the angels.
3. He left all of this glory and the riches that are related to it to redeem you.
B. It was for your sake that He became poor.
1. He was born in another man's stable.
2. His parents offered a turtledove as an offering after His birth which was the
offering of the poor. Those who could afford it were to offer a lamb.
3. He did not have the money to pay the taxes, and had to send Peter to catch a
fish.
4. He had no place to lay His head. "The foxes have their holes, the birds have
their nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head."
5. He made His grand entry on another man's donkey.
6. He was buried in a borrowed tomb.
7. He was in the world and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him
not.
C. He gave Himself to be treated poorly.
1. He said in Isaiah 50:6 "I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them
that pulled out My beard: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."
2. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
3. He was scorned, mocked, derided, jeered, this holy Son of God.
.
a. He left all of the riches of glory to receive the hatred of rebelling mankind
against God.
b. He knew His destiny before he ever came to the earth. It was already foretold
in the holy scriptures, which meant that it was already preplanned.
e. He also knew that there were some men who would respond to His love and
would give their lives to Him and for Him. They would worship Him in Spirit and in
truth. For their sakes His grace was shown.
2. I could understand His coming to by force establish His righteous reign over the
earth, to destroy all of those who were continually rebelling against Him. Who
were destroying everything that was right and holy.
a. I understand fully the reasons for His second coming.
b. But to forsake those riches in glory to live in poverty and be abused, their is
only one word. GRACE
3. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
a. Because He loved you and was not willing to see you perish.
b. "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame."
c. He didn't have to do it. When Peter pulled out his sword to defend Jesus from
the arresting officers Jesus told him to put his sword away, that He at that
moment could have commanded 10 legions of angels to come and deliver Him.
d. He made a deliberate willful choice to show you His grace by redeeming you
from hell.
D. There is a verse in 2 Co. 5:21 that declares "He made Him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him."
GRACE
III. WHAT WAS HIS ULTIMATE PURPOSE? THAT YOU THROUGH HIS POVERTY
MIGHT BE RICH.
A. I think of the wonderful riches that I have through my relationship with Him.
1. I do not have to worry about what I am going to eat, or what I am going to
wear, He has promised to provide for all of my needs according to His riches in
glory by Christ Jesus.
2. My Father sees that the birds are fed, He will surely see that I am fed.
3. My Father sees that the fields are clothed with grass and flowers, He will surely
see that I am clothed.
B. Jesus spoke of the false riches of this world. He referred to them as the
deceitfulness of riches.
1. I heard this week that Bill Gates has now amassed 32 billion dollars. For what?
a. That is not true riches.
b. What if he should gain the whole world but lose his own soul?
2. He spoke of the true riches.
a. I am far richer than Bill Gates if he does not know Jesus as His Savior.
b. I would not change places with him for one second.
3. I read how a skeleton of a prospector was found in death valley. He had been
prospecting for gold in the Panniment Mountains. He had scratched out a note
evidently as he was dying that read "I died rich". He had a sack next to him that
was full of gold, but when it was examined by an expert it was discovered to be
iron pyrite or fools gold.
a. Many who are declaring, "I died rich" but they possess only fools gold.
b. Paul told Timothy to tell the rich in this world, not to trust in the uncertain
riches but in the living God.

That sentence sums up the great truth behind Jesus’ birth. Let’s examine this
verse to discover the ABC’s of Christmas.
  A — He Was Rich
This week I spent some time trying to decide who is the richest person I’ve ever
known.
While I was thinking about this, I decided to check the Forbes list of the 500
richest people in the world. Here’s the top ten from that list:
Bill Gates. Carlos Slim Helu Warren Buffet Amancio OrtegaLarry
EllisonCharles KochDavid KochChristy Walton Jim Walton Liliane
Bettencourt
After further perusing the entire list, I can report two things to you:
I am not on that list.
I don’t know anyone who is.
, there are several categories of richness. There is Average Rich: More money than
most people, but not incredibly wealthy.
Then there is Medium Rich: These are multi-millionaires.
Then there is Super Rich: These are the people you see on reality TV.

Finally, there is Incredibly Rich: The Average Rich fly first class.
The Medium Rich charter a jet.
The Super Rich own the jet.
The Incredibly Rich own the airline.
But Jesus Christ owns the skies. When the Bible says, “He was rich,” it is speaking
of what he had before he left heaven to come to earth. All the glory of God
radiates from him (Hebrews 1:3). \
All things were created through him (John 1:3).
All things hold together in him (Colossians 1:17).\
). He is the ruler of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5). Before he was born, he
was the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).
Consider his names: Alpha and Omega. Desire of All Nations. Firstborn from the
Dead. Master. Light of the World. Bread of Life. Water of Life. I Am. The Door. The
Way, the Truth, the Life. The Resurrection and the Life. Chief
Cornerstone. Captain of our Salvation. Lord of the Hosts of Heaven. Author and
Finisher of our Faith. Faithful and True Witness. Lion of the Tribe of Judah. King of
Kings. Lord of Lords. 

Here’s a Christmas verse that tells us the true identity of the babe in the
manger: “For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ
the Lord” (Luke 2:11).