ETERNAL TREASURE - POOR MAKING MANY RICH

 

In 2 Corinthians 8:9, the apostle Paul wrote that Jesus became poor that we through His poverty might become rich. In 2 Corinthians 6:10, he wrote of himself as poor, yet making many rich. He was doing what his Lord Jesus Christ had done. Poor making many rich is the lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus.

Being poor and making many rich is clarified for us by the Christians in Acts 4:23-31 before Paul used the phrase to describe his own life and that of other Christians. They had repented, were redeemed, disciples, and living in the kingdom of heaven. When they were threatened with punishment if they didn’t stop preaching and teaching redemption through faith in the name of Jesus, they united and prayed calling God “Lord” and acknowledging themselves as his “slaves.”

The Greek word translated "Lord" in Acts 4:24 is (des-pot-ah) and the Greek word translated “servants” in Acts 4:29 is (doo-lois). In his first letter to Timothy and his letter to Titus, Paul used the word (des-pot-ah) for slave owners and the word (doo-lois) for slaves (1 Timothy 6:1; Titus 2:9). They were acknowledging God the Creator of heaven, earth, and the sea as their owner and themselves as His slaves. They wanted to share their riches of redemption with others—poor and making many rich—regardless of the cost.

Jesus’ poverty was His crucifixion, and it is through his crucifixion and resurrection that we may become rich. Centuries before Paul wrote about Jesus becoming  poor that we may become rich, King Solomon wrote: “The ransom of a man’s life is his riches” (Proverbs 13:8). Jesus explained why redemption is the Christian’s true riches. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36, 37). Redemption is one of three sources of Christian riches (Proverbs 13:8). The kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:44) and Wisdom (Proverbs 8:10-11) are the other two.

Riches for the Christian begins with redemption. The redeemed are purchased out of the slave market of sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ their Lord. They are forgiven of all their sins and given eternal life (Romans 6:23). They enter the kingdom of heaven and reign with Jesus Christ in righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17). The value of the kingdom of heaven is beyond all the money we could ever earn, but God gives it to us. Out of gratitude for the gift of redemption and the kingdom of heaven, we give everything we have or will ever have to the Lord (Matthew 13:44).

Wisdom is more valuable than all the gold and silver in the world (Proverbs 8:10-11). Gold and silver are temporary, but wisdom is enduring riches and righteousness (Proverbs 8:18). The commandments are wisdom (Deuteronomy 4:5-6). The redeemed delight in the commandments and are wise. Their wisdom prepares them to overcome the storms of life that all the gold and silver cannot (Matthew 7:24-27).

All three sources of Christian riches—Redemption, Kingdom of Heaven, and Wisdom are gifts from God and are available to everyone through faith in Jesus Christ. Christian riches are free from all that go with the secular world view of riches—jealousy, pride, envy, covetousness, stealing, lying, robbing, defrauding, worry, fear, anger, and murder. Christian riches are eternal rather than temporal as material riches, and Christian riches do not become idols or gods. Poor making many rich is repentance, evangelism, and discipleship:

Repentance

Repentance is finding the treasure hidden in the field, the kingdom of heaven, and selling all and buying the field (Matthew 13:44).

Evangelism

Evangelism is the poor, the slaves of Christ, making the poor, the slaves of sin and death, rich through redemption that they may live in the kingdom of heaven.

Discipleship

Discipleship is the redeemed searching for wisdom as hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:4) and sharing it with others who are redeemed (Acts 2:42). Those who receive the treasure do the same, and the strategy continues until the Lord returns. Discipleship is not only a sign of redemption but the Lord’s return. Poor Making Many Rich is obeying the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). The Gospel will be proclaimed to all nations (Matthew 24:14).

Robert P. Holland