Thou Who Wast Rich - Christmas Eve 2024

Amen. Please take your seats.

And if you would, please take your Bibles.

Let's open them up this evening to the book of 2 Corinthians.

The book of 2 Corinthians. Our text this evening is just one verse.

It's chapter 8, verse 9 of the book of 2 Corinthians,

but it's packed full of truth and meaning for us to unpack this evening.

If you would, I always encourage our people to have a Bible open in front of you.

I know it's just one verse tonight, but I'd love for you to be able to see with your eyes

as you hear with your ears from the truth of God's Word tonight.

And if you have come here this evening and you don't have a Bible at all,

please take one of those around you home with you as our early Christmas gift to you.

It's heavy on our hearts that each one of you would have a copy of God's Word

and take that home with you.

2 Corinthians 8, verse 9 says this.

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.

Father, would you take the next few moments as we open up your Word together

and would you just change eternity even for one soul in this room tonight?

And God, we ask that you would move each one of us to awe and wonder

as we consider and think on Christ and who he is and what he's done

and the glory of Christmas.

Father, would you be honored and glorified in all that we do?

We ask in Christ's name. Amen.

Well, just a couple weeks ago, I was working at a coffee shop.

Sometimes I like to go and get a good cup of coffee

and think and type and write and study.

And I made the mistake of eavesdropping on a couple of women having a conversation.

Ordinarily, I promise you I try not to listen in,

but this was hard to avoid.

I had taken my headphones out.

I was packing up, getting ready to leave,

and the conversation was loud enough for everybody in the room to hear what was happening.

One lady was complaining to the other lady loudly

about a holiday office Christmas party that she had recently been to.

For one, I think strikes number one and two for her was that the party was dry,

and that was an issue for her.

But also, for another, they had played a white elephant gift exchange,

and as is usually the case with a white elephant gift exchange,

there's maybe one, maybe two really, really, really good gifts,

and everything else is garbage.

And everybody wants to fight and trade and exchange

and use their steels to get one of those one or two gifts,

and then everybody else leaves and goes home disappointed.

Well, this woman, in her mind at least,

had brought something really good and worth holding on to.

She had come there with her treasure,

but she was complaining that she had left with somebody else's trash.

And as I listened to them talk and listened to her complain,

I thought, you know what, this lady has no idea just how Christ-like she is right now.

And she may not realize it,

and apart from the complaining,

but she was a picture,

an image of the message of Christmas

and what Christ has come to do.

Jesus has come bringing his treasure

in exchange for our trash.

And the message that we hear tonight

from the book of 2 Corinthians and Paul,

it teaches us that at the very heart of this story of Christmas

is God's plan

to exchange the treasures of heaven,

to exchange our sin for Christ's righteousness.

He gets us,

and we get him.

It's the most unfair gift exchange in the history of gift exchanges.

We get his righteousness,

and he gets our sin.

We get his riches,

and he gets our poverty.

It's a terribly unfair exchange,

but this is what Christ came to do.

And so let's see it in our passage tonight,

and we'll see it in three parts this evening.

We'll see who he is,

who Jesus is,

what Jesus has come to do,

and why it matters for us this Christmas.

Who is he?

What has he done,

and why does it matter?

First, here at Christmas,

we need to remember who he is,

and it's almost too easy to miss this.

As we think about the baby in the manger,

this little child born to the Virgin Mary,

this helpless and weak infant.

By all appearances,

he's just an ordinary child.

We set up manger scenes at Christmas.

We see him laid there in a manger.

We see him surrounded by the animals.

It's easy to miss the glory of who this child is.

Well, Paul here in 2 Corinthians,

he gives us three truths about who Jesus is.

Three descriptions here in this one verse.

He says,

First, this child is the Lord.

For you know the grace of our Lord,

Jesus Christ.

Jesus is Lord.

Meaning, he is the one that owns everything.

Meaning, he has all authority and all power.

He is the king of heaven and earth.

This baby in the manger is God in the flesh.

He is Lord.

Our problem,

whether we realize this or not,

is that we want to be Lord.

We wrestle with Christ

and want to kick him off of the throne

and establish ourselves on the throne of our life.

We want to be in charge.

We want to call the shots.

We want to do what we want to do

and nobody can tell us otherwise.

We want to be Lord of our lives.

But Paul tells us here that this child,

Jesus, truly is Lord.

And as Lord,

he is owed all glory

and all honor

and all praise

and all respect

and all submission

and all obedience.

He is owed everything that you have.

There is a reason that when the wise men came to visit Mary and Joseph,

they see the child

and Matthew says they fall down

and they worshipped him.

Why?

It is because they knew that this was no ordinary child.

This child is the Lord.

Not only this.

Paul says,

this child is the Christ.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You should know Christ is not Jesus' last name.

Christ is a title.

It means anointed one.

It means Messiah.

And by calling Jesus the Christ,

what he is doing is he is showing that Jesus is the one

that all of the Old Testament

has been leading up to

for years and years and years and years.

The entire Old Testament

is leaning forward in anticipation

of when will the Christ come.

Paul says this child, Jesus,

he is the one that was promised

in Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

to Eve, the seed of the woman

who will crush the head of the serpent.

This child, Jesus,

is the promised son of Abraham

who will be a blessing to the nations.

This child, Jesus,

is the promised son of David

who will be king

and reign forevermore.

This child, Jesus,

is the head and the guarantor

of a new and perfect, better covenant

who will write the law of God on our hearts.

He will be our God

and we will be his people.

Every promise of God

is kept in Christ.

And as such,

this child, by right,

third description,

is rich

beyond our wildest imagination.

Paul says,

he was rich.

Now, that's a strange way

to describe a newborn baby,

isn't it?

If a baby is born

into a wealthy family,

you might say,

well, now he's rich

or he will be very rich.

Well, Paul says,

he was rich

before the moment

he was born.

This child in the manger

is rich in eternity

before the moment

when he comes

and takes on human flesh.

Why?

Because this child in the manger

is God eternal

in the flesh.

This child is the eternal

Son of God.

By right,

he is the heir

of all the glories of heaven.

And by right,

he has enjoyed

for all of eternity

all the privileges

and all the pleasures

of knowing God

in communion

and relationship

for all of eternity.

He by right

rules over all things.

He created all things.

All things exist for him.

He owns everything.

You think of the richest person

you know.

It's just but a fraction

of the richness

of Christ.

This is how Paul describes him.

The eternal

Son of God.

But yet,

second,

look at what he's done.

Paul says,

this King of glory,

this God,

this Messiah,

though he was rich,

yet,

for your sake,

he became

poor.

This is at the very heart

of the gospel message.

If you want to understand

the message of the gospel,

we need to understand

this,

that the eternal

Son of God,

though he was rich,

he set aside

his right,

he humbled himself,

and he became

man.

the eternal

word of God,

the one through whom

all things were made,

he stepped down

into his creation

in order to

redeem it.

He wrapped himself

up with human

limitations.

I mean,

think about it.

God eternal,

who has no beginning,

now has a birthday

in Jesus Christ.

God omnipresent,

who's everywhere,

in all places,

at all times,

is now located

in a manger

in Bethlehem.

God omnipotent,

who's all powerful,

who's stronger

than any imaginal thing,

is now wrapped up

in human weakness

as a child

who can cry

and feel pain

and who eventually

will grow

and will die.

God omniscient,

who knows all things,

will grow

in wisdom

and in stature.

He'll learn,

he'll develop

like you and I.

He was rich,

and yet,

he became

poor.

We've been walking

through the book

of Philippians

together on Sunday mornings.

In Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

it says it like this.

Paul says,

Though he was

in the form of God,

he did not count

equality with God

a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself

by taking the form

of a servant,

being born

in the likeness

of men,

and being found

in human form.

He humbled himself

by becoming obedient

to the point of death,

even death

on a cross.

Therefore,

God has highly

exalted him

and bestowed on him

the name

that is above

every name,

so that at the name

of Jesus

every knee should bow

in heaven

and on earth

and under the earth,

and every tongue

confess that Jesus

Christ is Lord

to the glory

of God

the Father.

Friends,

we should marvel

at this fact.

We should be in awe

at this.

that God

has become

a servant.

That he who is rich

has become poor.

This is what we see

in the manger.

We see God himself

wrapped up

in the weakness

of human flesh.

He stepped into

the mess

of this broken

and fallen creation

in order to redeem it.

He didn't have

to become weak.

He became weak

because we are weak.

He didn't have

to become poor.

He became poor

because we are poor.

He did not have

to step into our mess,

but he came

because he loves sinners

and he wants

to redeem

what's broken.

We sang one of our,

one of my favorite

Christmas hymns

just a minute ago.

I love the line

that we sang

from Hark the Herald Angels

sing,

Mild he lays

his glory by,

Born that man

no more may die.

Born to raise

the sons of earth.

Born to give them

second birth.

This is why

he's come.

When we see

this child

in the manger

and we see

the weakness

and we see

the lowliness

and we see

the humbleness

of it all,

we ought to marvel

because this is

God

setting aside

his riches

and glory

to come

for our

sake.

So third,

why does it matter

for us?

Why does it matter

for you?

Maybe you've heard

this before

and this is all

familiar information

for you.

Maybe you just

don't really understand

or see what difference

it makes for your life.

Just look again

to 2 Corinthians 8

2 Corinthians 8:9

verse 9

and see what Paul says.

He says,

he became poor

so that you

by his poverty

might become

rich.

Would it make

a difference for you

for your life

if I told you

you could be rich

tomorrow?

If I told you

that tomorrow morning

and you're stocking

you got 10 million dollars,

would that make

a difference for you?

How about

100 million?

A million,

million.

The highest number

you could possibly imagine.

If I told you

you could have

all the money

in the world,

would that make

a difference

for your life?

Friend,

Paul says,

Christ

who owns

all

who is truly

rich

came to offer

and to give

sinners

who are poor

true

riches.

What does it mean

to be truly rich,

church?

Those who know

God

are truly rich.

Those who have

had their sins

forgiven

are truly rich.

Those who no longer

carry this burden

of sin

and shame

and guilt

on their back,

that is what it means

to be truly rich.

Those who have

the joy

and peace

of knowing

the source

and the fountain

of everlasting life

and light,

that's what it means

to be truly rich.

Those who have

been united

to God

and united

to one another

and brothers

and sisters

in a church family,

that's what it means

to be truly rich.

Those who have

the guarantee

of the Holy Spirit

in us

and all the fruits

that He bears

in our life,

life,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

gentleness,

faithfulness,

self-control,

that's what it means

to be truly rich.

I used to be

the poorest man

on earth.

I still don't have

much money.

But you are looking,

nobody in this room

is richer than me.

By the grace of God,

He who was rich

for my sake

became poor

so that I

by His poverty

might become rich.

He was born of man

that we might be born

of God.

He stooped low

that we might be raised up.

He became like us

that we might become

like Him.

He died

that we might live.

He became sin for us

so that in Him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

He became poor

so that in Him

we might become

truly rich.

John Calvin

says it like this.

He says,

This is the wondrous exchange

made by His

boundless goodness.

Having become with us

the Son of Man,

He has made us

with Himself

sons of God.

By His own descent

to the earth,

He has prepared

our ascent

to heaven.

Having received

our mortality,

He has bestowed

on us His immortality.

Having undertaken

our weakness,

He has made us

strong in His strength.

Having submitted

to our poverty,

He has transferred

to us His riches.

Having taken upon

Himself the burden

of unrighteousness

with which we were

oppressed,

He has clothed us

with His righteousness.

Does this sound

like a fair exchange

to you?

It's not.

I'll give you

another quote.

R.G. Lee,

he says it like this.

He describes the glory

and the mystery

of the incarnation

as the deep descent

of Christ.

I love this quote.

Listen to this.

From the heights

of glory

to the depths

of shame.

From the wonders

of heaven

to the wickedness

of earth.

From exaltation

to humiliation.

From the throne

to the tree.

From dignity

to debasement.

From worship

to wrath.

From the halls

of heaven

to the nails

of earth.

From coronation

to the curse.

From the glory

place

to the gory

place.

In Bethlehem,

humility and glory

in their extremes

were joined,

born in a stable,

cradled in a cattle

trough,

wrapped in swaddling

clothes of poverty.

No room for Him

who made all rooms.

No place for Him

who made

and knows all places.

Oh,

the deep humiliation

of the Creator

to be born

of the creature.

But,

in His descent

was the dawn

of mercy.

Because we

cannot ascend

to Him,

He descends

to us.

this is what

we celebrate

at Christmas.

Christ

has come

down

to us

to bring

sinners like us

who cannot

climb our way

to God

to bring us

back up

to Him.

Are you rich

this Christmas?

friends,

friend,

do not leave

here

without knowing

for certain

that Christ

has exchanged

the glories

of His riches

for your poverty.

Do not leave

here this evening

without knowing

for certain

that tomorrow

morning when you

wake up on

Christmas morning

that you are

reconciled with

the Holy God

by faith in Christ.

This is totally

unfair,

but it's a gift

of God's grace.

Do you know

the grace

of our Lord

Jesus Christ?

Though He was rich,

yet for your sake

He became poor

so that you

by His poverty

might become

rich.

This verse

inspired one of

my favorite

Christmas hymns.

We didn't sing it

tonight.

Our church has

sung it before.

It's not one of

the more popular

ones, okay?

I realize that.

It's called

Thou Who Was Rich

Beyond All Splendor.

It goes like this.

Thou Who Was Rich

Beyond All Splendor

All for love's sake

becameest poor.

Thrones for a manger

didst surrender.

Sapphire paved

courts for stable

floor.

Thou Who Was Rich

Beyond All Splendor

All for love's sake

becameest poor.

Thou Who Art God

Beyond All Praising

All for love's sake

becameest man.

Stooping so low,

but sinners raising

heavenward by

Thine eternal plan.

Thou Who Art God

Beyond All Praising

all for love's sake

becameest man.

Thou Who Art Love

Beyond All Telling

Savior and King

we worship Thee.

Emmanuel

within us dwelling.

Make us what Thou

wouldst have us be.

Thou Who Art Love

Beyond All Telling

Savior and King

we worship Thee.

Let's pray.

Father,

we worship Thee

this evening.

And we worship You,

Father,

for Your glorious

plan of salvation.

We worship You,

Christ,

for coming.

We worship You,

Christ,

for setting aside

Your glory in heaven

and coming down

in weakness

and in frailty.

Father,

You didn't have

to do this.

Christ,

You didn't have

to do this.

And yet,

out of love's sake

for sinners like me.

You came.

We praise You

for this,

Lord.

We pray that You

would be honored.

We pray our hearts

would be fixed on You

this Christmas.

We pray You would be

exalted.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.