The ladies I was lunching with discussed their varied emotions at sending their sons off to college this year. Pride and loss wove through their words. Their sons were enjoying their independence and doing well. They were fulfilling their parents’ hopes of becoming godly men, but this achievement had not come without cost. A pang of sadness accompanied the moms’ joy because their relationships with their firstborns had forever changed.

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 (NASB). When we look at Christmas we see the joy and excitement of God becoming human. Jesus is fulfilling God’s plan established before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4). Yet, from the triune God’s viewpoint there was loss and sacrifice.

The pre-incarnate Jesus was rich. He came from heaven—a place so wonderful Paul described it as, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” (I Corinthians 2:9 NIV). He had almighty power. He spoke and worlds were created.

Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor:

• From almighty to helpless infant.
• From a throne in heaven to a manger in Bethlehem. He was so poor a group of women supplied His needs as He ministered to others. A fish supplied a coin to pay His taxes. Foxes had holes; birds had nests; He didn’t even have a bed (see Matthew 8:20).
• From omnipresence to the limits of human body.
• From never being hungry to being so hungry He was tempted to turn a stone into bread.
• From never knowing weariness to being so exhausted He could sleep through a raging storm.
• From being worshiped by angels to being scorned, slandered, and spat upon by men.
• From spotless to becoming sin on a cross.
• From Deity to suffering servant.
• From immortal to mortal.

Jesus became poor so we could become RICH. Next time we will look at how His poverty has made us rich. In the meantime let’s pause and remember what Christmas cost Christ. Please enjoy God With Us by Todd Agnew.

Merry Christmas,

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