He Became Poor (12-24-11)

Luke 2:7 - "And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

The idea that the eternal God would step out of His eternal glory and riches and become the lowest of men is a thought that is almost incomprehensible. Jesus could have been born in a palace, He could have been born to a king or an emperor, and even that would have been an immeasurable step downward. But He went beyond that. He became the lowest and poorest of men. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says - "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 through His poverty might become rich." This fact is illustrated in the humble birth of our Lord in a manger in Bethlehem, but this idea is communicated just as clearly in the days shortly following His birth. We're told this in Luke 2:21-24 - "And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” In the book of Leviticus when God gives the laws concerning the offerings following the birth of child He says "she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one year old lamb for a burnt offering." but then He says "But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons." And this is the passage that is here quoted. The family into which Jesus was born was too poor to even afford a lamb for an offering. God emptied the storehouse of heaven when He sent Jesus to the earth. All the riches of God were poured out upon mankind through the person of Jesus Christ. This is what Paul says of Him in Ephesians 3:8 - "To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ." And in Romans chapter eight he argues the point, that since God has already poured out all the riches of heaven on us through His Son, it's ridiculous to suppose that we will be lacking anything. Romans 8:32 - "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?"

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 through His poverty might become rich."