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.
This
verse does not refer to earthly riches; of course, Jesus did not come to earth
to give us material wealth but to share the richness of His Father in Heaven.
We cannot touch, taste, smell, or handle these rich things. They're difficult
to recognize even when we experience them, but they are beautiful things like
happiness, joy, peace, and love.
Jesus Himself overflowed with all these
things. As the Epistle to the Hebrews says, “in bringing many sons and
daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom
everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect
through what he suffered.” (Hebrews
2:10). Yes, Jesus possessed all these things in Himself. His life was joyful
even if it brought Him many sorrows. It was a life where He could rest
peacefully in the knowledge that the Father loved Him and held Him safely in
His arms through the most devastating experiences, through tremendous
criticism, misunderstanding, and hatred. When Jesus sacrificed his earthly life
on the Cross of Calvary, he died so that we might have all those riches and become
His inheritors.
Today, however, many people are like the
old gold prospector, looking for material wealth yet needing to look deeper at
the riches that Jesus holds out to all who surrender to Him. Too many people
need to look more closely at Jesus to see who He is, and will always be and the
answer to all we have longed for. Too many people miss God's best in store for
us when it is right under our noses.
This story made me think not just about
the old gold prospector and what he missed but also about his son, the one who
inherited all his earthly riches. It makes us wonder if the son of the old gold
prospector ever gave much thought to his dad and all the struggles, he went
through those many years so his son could have a prosperous life. We also
wonder if the son truly appreciated the value of his inheritance and used it
for the good of others.
What about us and our inheritance from
Jesus? Have we thought just what it cost Jesus for you and I to have such an
inheritance? The Epistle to the Hebrews states, (Hebrews 2:10) It was
fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make
the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
Jesus
died on the Cross so that we could be filled with all the fullness of God and
be at home with him for eternity. As
the old hymn "There is a Green Field Far Away" puts it: "He died
that we might be forgiven; he died to make us good so we might
finally go to Heaven, saved by His precious blood”.
Do we really appreciate the
immensity of that sacrifice, and the immensity of the riches it opens to us.
Yet it is our inheritance.
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