How To Have A Rich Christmas/2 Cor 8:9
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Title for Peotone?: Heaven’s Fortunes, True Riches, ?? The RICHES of Christmas...
Outline:
KNOW the Grace of Jesus
a) Riches to Rags (Him)
“for your sake”
b) Rags to Riches (Us)
“by his poverty”
So What?
a) Claim Your Fortune/Inheritance
1) Thank God for Your Inheritance in Christ (1 Cor 15:57?) **2 Cor 9:15
Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
2) Consider Every Spiritual Blessing Given You in Christ (Eph 1:3, 1 Cor 3:21-22, **2 Cor 9:8-11)
3) Walk in Faith, Pleading All His Promises
All He has said, ASK Him to realize in your life.
2 Cor 9:8, 10, 11, 6
Give generously…reflecting his grace!
Consider the GRACE of Jesus! Behold the GRACE of Jesus! KNOW it! Intimate UNDERSTANDING!… grow in your knowledge, your perception, your understanding, your experience of this GRACE… KNOW it!
Tell them of this GRACE! this gracious BENEFICENCE, magnanimity; good-heartedness, generosity,
++++
Intro Peotone
Intro Singles***
Good evening FRIENDS,
Welcome - Singles Christmas Celebration
Christmas concert
Intro: name and leadership
Hiliting Orchard
How many of you call the Orchard your church home? (you regularly worship at one of our 6 campuses)
see hands...
2) Okay, how many Creekers do we have here? Willow Creek is your church home.
3) Holy Family Catholic Church?
4) What other churches are you a part of?
5) [No church?…]
Well, we are GLAD you have joined us here at The Orchard tonight for food, fellowship, and Christmas joy!
I have to say,
If you are looking for a church that simply loves Jesus and people,
a church that prays, reads, and preaches the Word of Christ,
and focuses everything on the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
then we would love to have you join us for worship,
starting even this Christmas Eve!
Across our 6 campuses we have multiple services,
Here at Barrington we have one Sat evening at 5pm.
Three on Sunday: 8am, 9:30am, and 11am
With that said, before we sing some carols together, with Candy and Robert leading us once again (We’re so grateful to have you and for you sharing your gifts with us!)
Would you STAND for the reading of these words from the Gospel of Luke chapter 2:1-7:
(READ)
The Word of our Lord Jesus Christ!
(transition to violin quick - during Candy’s initial words)
Music - 3 songs
Message
Would you pray with me once more before I share from God’s Word?
Prayer: The unfolding of your words gives light. I rejoice at your word, as one who finds great treasure. Unsearchable riches in Jesus.
Those of you who know me,
Know I have a multi-cultural background:
both of my parents are immigrants,
Dad’s from Israel, the youngest of 10 siblings of an Israeli-Arab family half an hour W of Nazareth
As a young boy, he got in a severe accident with a truck, nearly killing him
This left him often isolated from other boys, forbidden to play on the streets
Mom’s from a small village in Poland
While in Helsinki, Finland, they meet at a church prayer meeting, and hit it off!
When dating, mom invites dad to visit the US with her,
to be at the wedding of her brother
She spends most of her hard-earned money in Finland for her ticket to America
And so they arrive in the Land of Free,
With little money
Few connections
And yet, after the wedding,
though they had NO plan of staying in the US,
Dad gets handed a job from an Israeli boss -
Mom finds work too
And over the span of a couple decades,
they build their lives and our family in Chicagoland,
providing my sister and me,
with AMAZING opportunities to play sports, make music
- fund most of my expensive violin career!
And now, by the grace of God,
because of the success God’s given my father,
He is able to work bi-vocationally as a pastor-elder w/o pay,
My mom is able to serve Polish women through Bible study and various other ministries
Mom and Dad began with little in a foreign country (Mom had about $100 when she arrived),
- and now they have so much, from which they are able to GIVE generously to others
Many immigrants have similar stories,
Your family might be such a family,
Perhaps with a much more dramatic storyline,
Beginning in “rags” and now knowing relative prosperity.
We all love stories where the disadvantaged succeed,
the underdog wins,
the poor defy all odds and flourish!
We love Rags to Riches stories
and this is why:
Each one is a dim reflection of the Gospel!
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is at the same time a RICHES to Rags story, as a Rags to Riches story.
And knowing the HEART of this story—beginning with the story of Christmas
Is the KEY to being RICH yourself
- SOUL-rich!
- Having a never ending supply of strength for your soul,
strength for any struggle
So that even if your current life journey is more a “Riches to Rags” story then a “Rags to Riches” story,
you Christmas this year, 2024, might be RICH,
amidst whatever circumstances you’re facing right now.
The passage I would like to share from this evening is 2 Cor 8:9: (You may turn there yourself in your Bibles).
2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV)
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.
The question we are asking tonight from this verse is this:
How can we know TRUE riches in this life and the next?
The answer from God’s word is simple:
KNOW the Grace of Jesus! (X2)
We’ll first DEFINE Grace,
and then CONSIDER it in 2 parts,
according to our verse.
Jesus’ Riches to Rags
Our Rags to Riches
In context, the apostle Paul,
is encouraging the church in Corinth
to FINISH their work of raising financial support
for the needy Jerusalem church.
The great apostle uses various motivations to stir up the Corinthians to a joyful completion of this generous charity.
The chief motivation, the supreme stimulus he gives them for such generosity,
lies in Ch.8 v.9!
Verse 9 continues the thought of the previous verse,
in which Paul is saying,
“Corinthians, I want you to PROVE the genuineness of your love for Christ by excelling in this act of giving.”
“And here’s why,
THIS is why you should ABOUND in selfless giving, not out of compulsion but cheerfulness”:
v.9 “For you KNOW the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ”
Corinthians, you KNOW this grace and have received it into your lives!
Though it may be an elementary concept to some,
there can be a lot of confusion about what “grace” actually is,
So tell me...
What is GRACE?
How would you define it?
Hear responses
Grace, broadly-speaking, is UNEARNED favor.
UNMERITED kindness!
God’s GOODWILL freely given,
voluntarily bestowed
on undeserving people.
Undeserved, voluntarily given kindness
More than that,
GRACE is God’s goodwill, generously given,
to those who deserve the exact opposite!
A friend uses this illustration to describe GRACE:
Imagine you’re driving in a schoolzone, the speed limit 15mph,
but you come in zooming at over 50
Police lights immediately flash behind you, and your heart is pierced and you fearfully pull over
The Cop comes up to your window and says,
“Sir/Mam, do you realize you were driving over 50 in a school zone? Horribly dangerous—and warrants a hefty ticket.”
“Yes, officer, I understand; give me what I deserve,” you rightly respond.
The officer takes your documents, walks back to his car, and after a few minutes returns.
He looks at you and says,
“You know, I should be writing you a ticket right now. But instead, its the holiday season, I'm not going to.”
THIS is CALLED what?… What did the policeman just show you, give you?
MERCY!
Not being given the punishment you deserve!
But then, to your greater shock,
The cop pulls out a box of all your favorite donuts freshly made—along with your favorite drink— the perfect amount of sugar/cream,
hands it to you through the car window,
and says, “Sir/Mam, ENJOY, out of my goodwill today! Be careful next time, and have a merry Christmas!”
Now THIS is GRACE!
Undeserved, voluntarily given kindness, blessing, favor.
You may have heard this helpful way to remember the meaning of GOD’S GRACE:
G.R.A.C.E.
God’s RICHES At Christ’s Expense.
the most lavish,
the most COSTLY
the most PRECIOUS treasure
given to you FREE of charge,
through Christ’s sacrifice.
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense!
That’s what our verse tonight is all about.
2 Cor 8:9 “For you know the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ...
You know His GRACE,
and here God’s Spirit unpacks HOW Jesus’ grace was manifested:
“that though He was rich for your sake He became poor” v.9b
1) Jesus’ Riches to Rags v.9b
The Christmas Story,
is FIRST, a RICHES to Rags story.
The Lord Jesus Christ was RICH!
Before the creation of the world,
and before the fullness of time 2000 years ago,
God the Son,
the second person of the Holy Trinity,
sat enthroned in heaven,
beside the Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
In His divine essence,
His perpetual experience was one
of PERFECT happiness
and
PERFECT LOVE,
Untouched by pain,
Immune from temptation,
Exalted above any weakness
Everywhere-present and all-knowing
Clothing Himself with LIGHT, as with a garment
Radiating such holy beauty that could consume a sinner at first glance
The Son of God was RICH!
The whole world was made through Him
The whole world was upheld by the word of His power
And thus the whole world was at His disposal—and if He wanted, He could create 10,000 more worlds
The eternal Son, who had NO beginning,
was RICH in love, RICH in power, RICH in glory.
But,
In the earth the Father made through Him,
His beloved creatures,
had hopelessly fallen into sin, death, and ruin.
Even the nation of Israel,
The people God had set apart to be a kingdom of priests,
bringing God’s presence to the world,
Had been overcome by darkness
Lost in self-righteous hypocrisy and self-deception.
So God,
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Being RICH in mercy,
DID something no human could conceive:
Enter Himself into the womb of a virgin girl
in the person of the Son,
taking up residence in our world of sin and suffering,
as a fragile baby boy.
Leave the surround-sound of angel’s praises,
to hear the lowing of cattle,
the exclamations of humble shepherds
Leave His throne, before which sinless seraphim bow in reverence
to lie in a stinky manger, where animals eat
And to leave His ROBES of MAJESTY,
to be wrapped in strips of cloth…
Jesus forsook the untold RICHES of Paradise,
for birth into a poor, Jewish family,
subject to weakness, vulnerability, need.
WHY did Jesus Christ do this?
Why did He descend into our cursed world?
Its a 5-letter word:
you know it,
GRACE!
“For you KNOW the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich —
so, unfathomably RICH,
yet for your sake he became poor.”
His GRACE,
His GENEROUS KINDNESS
His overflowing love,
Was demonstrated in THIS way:
That though He was in the very form of God,
He did not count equality with God something to be grasped, to be used to his own advantage,
but He emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And let this sink in, brothers and sisters,
Jesus Christ--the wealthiest Being who exists,
became POOR—laid aside His riches,
for. YOUR. sake.
For YOUR sake— “Corinthian saints”!
For your sake Chicago saints, [Orchard saints, Willow saints, etc.] Christ Community Church saints
for YOUR sake he became poor.
He did this FOR YOU! <3
His incarnation—the word that describes God the Son’s taking on a human nature to his divine nature--
In His incarnation:
YOU, sister,
YOU, brother,
were on His heart.
His temptations,
His betrayal,
His being mocked, blasphemed,
Crowned with thorns, flogged, and nailed to a tree
His drinking the full cup of God’s wrath without mercy,
was for YOUR sake, fellow Christians, for MY sake.
As Oswald Sanders said,
“He drank a cup of wrath without mercy so that we might drink a cup of mercy without wrath.”
The king of heaven became as poor as a beggar,
and died the death of a common criminal,
For us.
[Amazing Love, How can it be? That Thou My God shouldst die for me?!]
The Gospel, and the Christmas Story is first and foremost,
a RICHES to rags story.
Second, the Christmas Story,
the good news of God sending us a Savior,
is a RAGS to RICHES story.
2) (OUR Rags to Riches (story) v.9c) slide
2 Corinthians 8:9 continues,
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.
Here the Holy Spirit tells us the PURPOSE of the incarnation,
the GRACE-fueled motivation WHY Jesus set aside His divine privileges:
“So that WE by his poverty, might be ENRICHED.”
THROUGH the poverty of Jesus
through his life of humble servanthood,
depending on the money of wealthy women,
not having a place to rest his head
and through his cross, endured in anguish
Through His humiliation,
- We are EXALTED!
By His self-emptying,
We receive abundant life!
By His impoverishment,
We inherit a fortune!
And Christian, Saint of Christ
You who TRUST in Christ alone for salvation,
Who work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
this is TRUE of you TODAY. Right NOW.
You are RICH!!!
Now it may be the case this evening, that in fact you are poor,
- you’re in debt,
- you’ve lost all your savings
- not much in retirement
and this sounds too good to be true.
You feel as though I’m mocking you.
No, if you are in Christ, hear, and BELIEVE these glorious promises from 2 Cor 9!
“And God is able to make ALL grace ABOUND to you, so that having ALL sufficiency in ALL things at ALL times, you may abound in EVERY good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8)
“You will be ENRICHED in EVERY way to be generous in EVERY way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor. 9:11)
The apostle then concludes this section noting how “the surpassing GRACE of God” is upon the Corinthian saints. (v.14)
Herein lies the KEY for understanding our RICHES in Jesus.
By nature, you and I are impoverished in soul.
Lacking ALL sufficiency, desperately in need
In ALL things at ALL times, abounding in every EVIL work!
Living in constant discontentment,
deprivation
selfishness
with no righteousness of our own.
By nature, you and I are bankrupt debtors to God.
Every sin we commit
Every failure to do good
Robs God of His glory and honor
And we have NOTHING in ourselves to offer as payment for this DEBT
When it comes to our natural virtue,
As sinners, all our love and good deeds are stained with pride and wrong motives.
The prophet says,
All our righteous deeds are like filthy rags.
By nature, dear friends,
We are beggars in RAGS.
Tonight, some of YOU,
are homeless and in rags!
Unclothed and exposed before the perfect and RIGHTEOUS Judge.
Unfit for Heaven
For the Wedding Supper of the Lamb,
In the Heavenly Jerusalem,
Where only those suited in FINE LINEN,
are granted entrance.
(pause)
The Good News of Christmas,
The Good News of 2 Cor. 8:9,
is that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
ENRICHES poor sinners,
and CLOTHES them with the finest of garments!
And He does ALL of this,
by GRACE.(x2)
And as Dan Allender has said:
“The cost for the recipient of God’s grace is NOTHING—and no price could be higher for an arrogant person to pay.”
Unbelieving friend,
As you HEAR of the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Demonstrated in a manger in Bethlehem,
Then displayed on Calvary’s Hill, where God’s blood was shed
Relinquish your pride,
Call on His name
and you will KNOW His “converting grace”!
The grace of forgiveness of every past, present, and future sin
The grace of justification:
Being credited with the righteousness of Jesus Himself,
Clothed with HIS perfection,
So that you stand RIGHT with God
And brothers and sisters, as you KNOW the grace of Jesus,
As you consider, contemplate, MEDITATE on
His “grace”: His “objective grace”
His kindness shown to us in His first coming, His death, and His resurrection
You will BEHOLD your new identity in HIM;
as someone who has DIED with him
whose old nature has been buried with him
and who has risen to new, Holy-Spirit empowered life in Him!
Saints, as you press on to KNOW the GRACE of Christ in his poverty,
you GROW in the grace and knowledge of the Lord
Walk in His footsteps
And receive fresh doses of “sanctifying GRACE”!
Grace upon grace,
To be HOLY as He is Holy
To be GENEROUS as He is generous
To USE your spiritual gifts, as a good steward of His varied GRACE
And to manifest greater degrees of the fruit of the Holy Spirit:
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control
Beloved family of God,
Do not live your life as though you are beggars,
When you are adopted children of the King of Kings,
Heirs to an indestructible kingdom.
And if this Christmas season you FEEL lacking in grace, lacking in fruit,
as we all do, in some seasons more than others,
Here are a couple things you can do:
Spend more time THANKING God for what He has already purchased for you in Christ,
then lamenting what you do not now experience.
And plead all God’s promises,
Asking your Loving Father to bring to pass ALL He has said!
Walking in faith
And Obeying Him every way you know how, by the grace He WILL supply
For us to have a truly RICH Christmas this year, regardless of our circumstances,
we must KNOW the Grace of Jesus
Jesus’ Riches to Rags
Our Rags to Riches!
I want to conclude with a true story the great “Prince of Preachers” used to tell. This is the gist of what happened:
One day, Pastor Spurgeon receives a call to visit an elderly woman who was dying of malnutrition.
When he enters her humble home, he notices a framed document on the wall,
“What’s this?” he asks.
“Oh, that paper was given to me at the death of the English nobleman I served for 50 years!”
The woman couldn’t read or write – the document had hung there for 10 years unexamined.
Spurgeon asks, “Can I take it and get this examined?”
After some persuading, the lady reluctantly gives him permission.
It turns out, the framed document on her living room wall was a notification of her inclusion in the WILL of the nobleman.
The rich man had left her a home, money, and servants, yet she died in poverty and of malnutrition.
How TRAGIC it would be,
to live and to die,
With a FORTUNE provided,
and yet UNCLAIMED.
Let us pray.