For meditation this evening, prior to participating in the Lord's Supper, we're going to read 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and then focus our attention specifically on verse 9. We consider the riches of Jesus Christ. I do want to begin reading in chapter 8 at verse 1 to set the text in its larger context. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.

For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything, in faith, in speech and knowledge, in all diligence and in your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also.

I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. And in this I give advice. It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago, But now you also must complete the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion of what you have.

For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack, that there may be equality. As it is written, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus, for he not only accepted the exhortation, But being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord.

And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches. And not only that, but who also was who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord himself and to show your ready mind, avoiding this, that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift, which is administered by us. providing honorable things, not only on the side of the Lord, but also on the side of men. And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent because of the great confidence which we have in you. If anyone inquires about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you.

Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. Therefore, show to them and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf. Amen. Let us pray.

Our father, we give you thanks for this section of scripture, we pray specifically, Lord, that you would guide our our thoughts and our meditation as we consider our Lord Jesus Christ, how we thank you. that though he was rich, yet he became poor for our sakes, that we through his poverty might know the eternal riches that God has poured out upon us. We just thank you, Lord. And we know it's connected to his life and his death and his resurrection. It's connected to the to the gospel.

These are the blessings that flow from this wonderful transaction. We just ask now that you would bless our time together and may you indeed be worshipped and glorified. May you bless the preached word as it goes forth here and throughout the earth. We pray that a great multitude would turn on to you and be saved.

And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well,

Introduction and Context

it's important for us to understand the larger context here. The context specifically is one of giving material things to alleviate the suffering of the poor. While Paul was out preaching on his missionary journeys, he was collecting money. At one specific time, there was a famine in Judea.

And so Paul would go to the various churches, Gentile churches, and he would collect money from that. And in Acts 21, it's recorded that when he comes back to Jerusalem, he's able to bring a monetary gift to seek to alleviate the suffering of the people of God in that particular place. Not only were the Corinthians to give, but they were to persevere and to do it cheerfully. Notice that Paul holds forth the example of the Macedonians in verses one to five.

Look at what he says. Specifically, I believe Philippi is in view here. Verse two, it says that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. What an indictment.

Here was a church that was impoverished. Here was a church that did not have a lot, and yet from their little resources, they abounded in liberality. And this was a time of joy for them. It was an abundance of joy.

So, he sets forth the Macedonians, specifically the Philippians, as an example to giving. And then he sets forth Jesus Christ as a pattern or as an example. And what he says here in verse 9 truly does encapsulate The gospel for, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus that through or though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. I mean, that is a pact and a powerful statement.

It is rich. Christologically, it highlights the redemptive activity of our Lord in his incarnation, in humbling himself. in making us partakers of all of the blessings that He has secured on our behalf. And notice that it's smack dab right in the middle of a contact where Paul is urging Corinthians to dig deep, to produce some money, to produce some monetary and physical temporal aid to send to the churches in need. John Murray said this.

He said the simple logic is that the most transcendent mysteries of our holy faith are the fountain springs of the most common and practical of Christian duties. I mean, things that are glorious and amazing are the very fountain springs of the most common and practical of Christian duties. He says the streams of Christian liberality are fed from the ocean of the mysteries of God. So this is the context, this is what the Apostle is enjoining upon the Corinthians, that they seek to alleviate the suffering of Christian brothers and sisters, and he uses two arguments at least.

First, the one from Macedonia, and then secondly, our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, having said it in its context,

Three Parts of the Verse

we're going to focus in on verse nine and consider the three parts. First, we'll notice something of the riches of Christ. Secondly, the poverty of Christ. And then thirdly, the blessings of Christ that we are made to participate in.

The Riches of Christ

Notice first, as he speaks of the riches of Christ, for you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, There is a significant change in the grammar of the verse. He was rich. He was always rich. He did not become rich.

This is something he intrinsically possesses as the second person of the triune God. It's that he became poor. He took on poverty. That was something He added onto His state or condition.

We see a similar thing in the opening verses in John 1, in the prologue. In the beginning was, always, eternally, always was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then dropping down to verse 14, what does it say?

And the Word became flesh. He was always the Word, eternal and existent God, and in time He became flesh. Well, the same thing is envisioned here. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though He was rich, Christ possessed in His incarnation a pre-incarnate glory.

You remember when he prayed in the high priestly prayer in John 17, as he's about to go to the cross, he says, And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. He was always rich. When he came into this world, he became poor. This is what he is trying to highlight to these Corinthians and to us as well.

Consider the high and exalted state of our Lord Jesus. And when you look at what he engaged in on our behalf, it ought to blow your mind. It ought to make you stand amazed. It ought to make you respond with worship.

Christ's Pre-Incarnate Glory

Jesus always enjoyed communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. what theologians call the inter-trinitarian communion. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have always existed from everlasting to everlasting. That was the company upon earth in whom which Jesus trafficked, always with the Father, always with the Spirit. We see that He is adored and worshipped by the holy angels.

You remember that scene in Isaiah chapter 6? Isaiah recounts his time, or his call to the prophetic ministry. He dates it. He says in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up.

I saw the train of His robe fill the temple. I heard the angels cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with His glory. Now, we're not supposed, brethren, that these cherubim or seraphim just say, holy, holy, holy, and then they go off and work in their garage.

No, it's antiphonal, constant praise. They attend the throne of the exalted Lord of hosts, and they sing constantly, holy, holy, holy. They praise Him. They adore Him.

They honor Him. They glorify Him. When we compare Scripture with Scripture, in John 12, verse 41, John says, These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. It's talking about Jesus Christ.

It is Jesus enthroned in Isaiah 6. It is Jesus who is Yahweh of hosts. Jesus was rich.

Christ as Creator and Lord

He is the creator of all things. We considered this briefly this morning. It is by the word of God that he made the heavens and the earth. The scripture tells us, well, as we continue on in redemptive history, we see that the word is Christ himself.

Creation is attributed to Jesus in John chapter one, one to three. Creation is attributed to Jesus in Colossians chapter one, 15 to 20. Creation is attributed to Jesus in Hebrews chapter one, one to three. See, you see, he wants rich.

I mean, just think about it for a moment. You would be amazed if somebody who was rich and who had a lot of stuff said, you know, I'm going to put this on the back shelf for now and I'm going to come to your aid. You'd go, wow, that's amazing. You're going to help me?

I mean, you have such prerogatives. You should be worshipped. You should be praised. You should be glorified.

You should be in a castle somewhere. You should be attended by servants. People should be bowing to you. Why would you ever think to come and to serve me?

That's what the apostle wants us to see. That's what the apostle wants us to appreciate. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, what is being stressed here is that he is eternal and constant. He is God most high.

He is the second person of the Trinity. Now,

The Poverty of Christ

notice, secondly, he says that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor. He humbled himself. I love the Westminster Shorter Catechism, it asks, where in did Christ's humiliation consist? This is something to keep in your mind, the states of Christ, his pre-incarnate state.

What was he doing before he came into this world? And then his state of humiliation that describes his life in this lower world. And then the other state is his state of exaltation. Learn those three states.

Learn the three offices. He's prophet, priest and king. Learn these blessed truths concerning the Redeemer. Again, Paul takes these transcendent mysteries and he uses them as the very basis for Christian ethics.

It's beautiful. The Catechism says, Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born. And we say, wow, that seems a bit odd. The transcendent God of heaven and earth who made this world is born.

I mean, for us, it's a blessing, it's a benefit, it's a beautiful thing. But this one was being praised by angels. This one's being adored. This one created the world.

He created the very womb that he enters into. Catechism goes on to say being born and that in a low condition made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God and the cursed death of the cross in being buried and continuing under the power of death for a time. Though he was rich, he became poor.

Poverty by Addition, Not Subtraction

He did not become poor by emptying himself of deity. That is simply not taught in the Bible. It's not like he opened up his chest cavity, put the deity on the shelf, went about his activities, and then after his resurrection, returned to being God. He always was God.

He never forfeited that. He forfeited some of the prerogatives and the blessings associated with that, but he never ceased being God. Remember, we referred to that incident this morning when Elizabeth and Mary come together and she's amazed. How is it that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me?

I mean, how else can you explain the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus? He's able to heal people. He's able to raise the dead. He's able to restore the site.

He's able to do amazing things. He's able to walk on top of the water. He's able to hush the sea and the wind. He is God.

He didn't empty himself by ceasing to be God. That's not it. He did not divest himself of any of the essential characteristics of deity. In fact, Paul in Colossians 2 verse 9 says, for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Isn't that a beautiful statement? You look at Jesus and all the fullness of the Godhead is dwelling in him bodily. In the upper room, when they said, show us the Father, he can say, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. John Murray hits the nail on the head with reference to him becoming poor.

It says, or he says, when he became man, he did not cease to be rich in his divine being, relations and possession. He did not become poor by ceasing to be what he was, but he became poor by becoming what he was not. Just read that again. Got to get this in your head.

He did not become poor by ceasing to be what he was. He didn't stop being God. He became poor by becoming what he was not, man. That's where the poverty shines through.

He goes on to say he became poor by addition, not by subtraction. He added manhood to His immutable and eternal Godhood. That's wherein the poverty is seen. We see it in the virgin birth.

We see it in His lowly condition. We read it there in Isaiah 53. Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. In Luke 9, it says that Jesus determined.

He set His face like a flint. He was steadfast to go to Jerusalem. As he begins his journey there, a man wants to follow him. And Jesus says, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

I mean, this was a lowly state, a lowly condition. But that humility, that state of humiliation and

The Cross as Poverty's Fullness

that poverty comes to fruition most fully in the cross. In Philippians chapter 2 at verse 5, the apostle says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God. There it is. He didn't set aside Godhood.

He didn't set aside deity. He is in the very form of God. He says he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. What that means is that he did not seize the prerogatives.

In other words, as he's praised in heaven by the holy angels, he doesn't traverse the streets of Judea saying, look, you need to bow down to me. I am God. You need to, you need to serve me. He didn't seize it.

He didn't exploit it. He didn't act upon the fact that he was indeed God among men. He goes on in verse seven to say, but made himself of no reputation, a much better translation than he emptied himself. That idea of he emptied himself has been called the kenosis theory, that he emptied himself of deity.

And that's simply not accurate. The New King James highlights it better. He made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of man. Again, for us, this is great.

But consider, the eternal God does this. Read Psalm 113 sometime. It says that it is a humbling act for the transcendent God to look upon our Earth. See, sometimes I fear that we forget how holy God is.

How wondrous and majestic he is. That his eye is too pure to approve of any evil. That he knows everything all the time. That it's not a discursive knowledge where he has to go to school and learn things.

It's all intuitive. He always knows everything. There's nothing that happens outside the decree of God. I mean, that red light that stops you on your way to church tonight is in the decree or under the decree of God.

Everything. And for that God to leave that heaven with the praise of those angels and to come in the likeness of sinful flesh demonstrates his poverty. He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor. He didn't do this because there was something in it.

Well, there was the glory of the Father, the satisfaction of His soul, but He does it for sinners. Paul goes on to say, in being found in appearance as a man, verse 8, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Paul adds that. Why?

Because the cross was the worst form of dying in this context. The cross was for the most accursed one. The cross was for the worst sort of criminal. And he's highlighting the poverty of the Lord Jesus in this particular passage.

So we go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. I hope that you appreciate the flow of the passage. Verse 9, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.

The Riches Believers Receive

And then thirdly, notice that you through his poverty might become rich. We have benefited off of the poverty of the Lord Jesus based on his being made in that lowly condition, being made under the law, being born of a virgin. living a life as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, always fulfilling the law of God, ultimately hearing the crowd say, away with him, away with him crucified. I mean, just imagine that. You go from the place or the position where holy angels stand in your presence, or they fly in your presence, and they cover their faces because they cannot look on your burning glory, and all they do day and night is confess your holiness.

You come into the world that you made. You come in among the creatures that you designed. You come in among the covenant community that you set apart. And instead of them confessing, holy, holy, holy, it's Pontius Pilate that says three times, I find no guilt in this man.

The pagan, the heathen, the hellbound sinner is able to recognize what those angels in Isaiah 6 clearly saw. Christ, Pilate says, I find no fault in this man. I find no fault in this man. I find no fault in this man.

It is his own that instead of praising holy, holy, holy, they say away with him, away with him, crucify him. That's the poverty that Paul is talking about. It's through that poverty that we are made rich. It's through that poverty that we are blessed beyond comprehension.

I have 10 things listed. Oh man, we're going to be here until 10 o'clock tonight. No you're not. 10 things. And there are several others.

Paul says in Ephesians 1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with what? With every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. He then amplifies, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. That's the celebrated work of the Father, choosing, predestinating.

Dropping down, He praises the work of the Son. In Him, we are accepted. We're accepted in the Beloved. We have redemption through His blood.

And then He celebrates the work of the Spirit in terms of sealing us and being the guarantee of our final inheritance. I mean, those just amplify certain aspects of the triune work of God in the salvation of sinners. But let's just consider several things that Jesus has secured when he says to these Corinthians that you through his poverty might become rich. I think it's good for us as Christ's people, especially when we're going to participate in the supper, to reflect upon the riches secured for us by our blessed Redeemer.

Forgiveness and Righteousness

The first thing we can say is that he brings forgiveness. Isn't that a rich thing? A rich, not a rich, one of the riches that you thoroughly appreciate. Just imagine if you were a man or a woman who had all kinds of stuff in a big safe.

You like to just go into that safe and look. Maybe you had a card collection, maybe you had some precious stones, you had some gold, you had some silver. You like to go in there and just sort of hang out. You like to reflect on what riches you have.

Which I don't suggest that you do this with reference to these temporal things. There is a spiritual parallel here. We can go into our bank vault. We can go into this particular room and we can see right there forgiveness of sins.

That's one we ought to pay attention to. That's one a guilty sinner needs to reflect on often. What does Paul say in Pisidian Antioch in Acts 13? He associates the forgiveness of sins with this Jesus.

This is an incredible statement that Paul is preaching in a Jewish synagogue. People that would associate forgiveness solely with Yahweh. Yahweh says, I am he who blocks out your transgressions for my name's sake. It is God who takes our iniquities.

It is God who cast them into the depths of the sea. It is Yahweh who removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. So he removes our iniquities. And Paul, in a synagogue of the Jews in Pisidian Antioch, brings his sermon to a conclusion by saying this in verse 38 of Acts 13.

Therefore, he says, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. I suggest, as you reflect on these spiritual riches that you have in Christ, you frequently visit the forgiveness of sins. When you eat this bread and you drink this wine, consider the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus.

It's not what the apostle says in Hebrews 9.22. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. What's the implication? That he draws out in great detail, from Hebrews 5 to 10, that through the blood shedding of Christ, there is remission, there is forgiveness.

Remember what the psalmist said in Psalm 130. He says, O Lord, if thou shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? You ever think about sin that way? God, if you should mark iniquities, who could stand?

What is he quick to add? But with thee there is forgiveness, that thou mayest be feared. He starts the psalm off by saying out of deep distress, he's agonizing, he's hurting, not because of a physical malady or physical problem, but because of the deep distress of sin. He considers the fact that God is merciful and just and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

So as you consider these blessings of Christ, these spiritual riches consider often the forgiveness of sins. Secondly, Jesus is our righteousness. You see, we need to be forgiven of sin, but we need a righteousness as well. That's what justification is all about.

Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. You say, well, where does the Bible teach that? Well, we see it in the book of Romans, chapter 5. In Adam all died.

In Adam, all shall be made alive. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he says the same thing. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he highlights the blessed reality, the spiritual inventory. Again, another passage where he develops this whole idea of the riches that we have in Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1.30, but of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God. I believe that's what's further defining here. It says, but of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God.

That is going to describe what this wisdom of God is. That is righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. We have a righteousness that avails with God.

We will be able to stand in his presence because of what Jesus accomplished. Second Corinthians 5, 21, 4. God made him Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. You want a great illustration of this imputation of righteousness.

Turn to Zechariah three and your studies later. Look at how Zechariah sets before us Joshua, the high priest who's standing before Yahweh in all of his filth and in all of his sin. And God gives the order to remove those filthy garments. And he gives the order to put on those clean garments to fit him, to stand before him.

That is justification. That is pardon. That is the imputation of righteousness. Those are riches that Jesus secured for us through his poverty.

So he brings forgiveness. He is our righteousness.

Sanctification, Redemption, and the Spirit

Thirdly, he is our sanctification and redemption. We saw that first Corinthians one thirty. In other words, Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of our salvation. He not only brings us in, He keeps us in and He preserves us till the very end.

It's not as if you start with Christ and then you finish on your own. We've seen that condemned in the book of Galatians. We start with Christ, we're kept by Christ, we're preserved by Christ, we're ultimately presented on that day by Christ. It's all about Jesus Christ, that is a rich.

Is it a rich? What's the word that is a rich thing? I'm losing it here. One of the riches that we possess, sanctification, redemption.

Jesus answers to everything a sinner needs. Fourthly, Jesus sends the spirit. What does he say in the upper room? I will not leave you as orphans.

It says, my father will send another comforter. It's interesting, in Greek there's two different words for the word other. There's one that's different completely. It's where we get the word heterodox.

It's another of a different kind. You don't want to be heterodox in your Christianity. You want to be orthodox. Heterodox is another of a different kind.

The word that Jesus uses is another of the same kind. The Father will send another comforter, one just like me, and he will be with you so that you will not be orphans in this world. The exalted Christ, according to Peter in Acts chapter two, is the one who sends the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. He brings forgiveness.

He is our righteousness. He is our sanctification and redemption. And he sends the Spirit. Brethren, we need to understand that it's not just the Pentecostals and the Charismatics who need the Spirit.

Reformed people need the Spirit. Calvinists need the Spirit. We must have the Spirit as we gather for worship. We must pray for His presence among us.

We must take Paul's words seriously in Ephesians 5. Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with who? The Spirit. Let's make the Pentecostals jealous.

And how much of the spirit we have, right? Why should they think they get all the spirit? John Calvin was primarily a theologian, not primarily, but one of the main emphases in Calvin's institutes was the spirit. We've come a long way.

We don't pray for the spirit, that we don't cry out for the spirit, that we don't ask God to fill us with the spirit just indicates how unbiblical we are and how unreformed we are. This isn't a Pentecostal or charismatic emphasis. This was emphasized long before they came upon the scene. We need the spirit, Jesus has the spirit, let us call upon him to fill us with the spirit.

Perseverance and Friendship

Fifthly, we've already covered this briefly. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Beautiful. He doesn't just start us, but he keeps us, preserves us.

He finishes us, not in a bad sense. What's Paul say in Philippians chapter one, verse six, I am confident that he who began a good work in you will keep you until the day of Christ. What does he say in second Timothy one? I know whom I have believing.

And I am persuaded, I am convinced that he is able to keep that which I have committed onto him to that great day. Blessed be God, that he is the author and the finisher of our faith. Sixthly, you want to know the spiritual riches? One of the spiritual riches are that we possess in Jesus.

He is a friend for sinners. Again, I think this has been overworked and it's an unfortunate thing, but somehow Jesus has been reduced only to friends. He's our big buddy. He does whatever we want.

God is our big buddy. He does whatever we want. So reformed people, you know, go the other way. He's not like that.

But he is a friend for sinners. He is a friend for sinners. I may not always be your friend. I'm sorry.

I wish I could be that always for you. But Jesus is always there. He's always a friend for sinners. That's a great encouragement.

A great thing to consider. You know, not to get too psychological and all that, but there are lonely times in Christianity. Look at the prophet Micah sometime in Micah chapter 7. I mean, basically he saw the breakdown of society.

Governmental officials were messed up. The family was disintegrated. I think if we could read Micah 7, he's just saying, where's there somebody for me to hang out with? That's a reality in the Christian life.

Well, Jesus is a friend for sinners. Seventhly,

High Priest, Surety, and Intercessor

another one of the riches that we possess in Christ is that He is our sympathetic high priest. I think you're familiar with that passage in Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four, where John Murray says, this is omnipotent compassion. Hebrews 414, seeing then that we have a great high priest was passed through the heavens.

Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. He is a sympathetic high priest. He is able to sympathize with us.

I mean, again, think about this God being praised by angels, able to sympathize with you. Hopefully that puts a smile on your otherwise frowny face. I mean, that even makes me smile. I'm not the guy that walks around with a smile all the time.

Eighthly, according to the book of Hebrews, He is our surety of a better covenant. He is the surety. He effectively carries it out. God laid upon him the covenantal obligations to fulfill, and he did so perfectly.

He is, according to the book of Hebrews, ninthly, our eternal intercessor. What's it saying? He always lives to do what? To make intercession for his people.

That's amazing. That's part of his job description. Jesus, what are you going to be doing until you come back? I'm going to be there to make intercession for you.

Instead of the triune God in this whole aspect, we pray to the Father. Jesus intercedes for us, and God sends the Spirit to promote in us the prayers that he hears. Sometimes we don't even know how to pray, and the Spirit, through groanings and sighings, petitions our great God. And then tenthly,

Advocate and Propitiation

one of the riches of Christ that we possess is in first John two verses one and two. 1 John 2 verses 1 and 2, My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. He is our advocate with the Father.

He is that advocate because He has made propitiation. He has turned away the wrath of God, not by deflection, but by receiving it in Himself. He has exhausted God's wrath on behalf of his people, and he is there at the right hand of the Father, and he is our advocate. This is the basis upon which we find such comfort and joy in 1 John 1, 9.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have an advocate. You ever hear people say that? Well, I'm going to call my lawyer.

Something happens to them, they get the runaround at Walmart, you're going to hear from my lawyer. Somebody hits you in the back of the car, you're going to hear from my lawyer. I've never understood that. I don't have a lawyer.

I wouldn't know who to call. Open up the Yellow Pages or Google lawyer.com. We have a lawyer. We have an advocate.

We have Jesus Christ, the righteous, stationed at the right hand of God, most high, who knows us, who understands us. We don't surprise him when we come back and we say, I've sinned. Please forgive me. This advocate is there with the father securing forgiveness on our behalf rather than that is not given to us to promote license.

It is given to us to promote dependence. To promote a constant appeal to this blessed one. Well, those are several of the riches that we possess in Christ. Hopefully the Corinthians would have said, where do we get it from?

I mean, how do you hear that and come away hard hearted and stingy? How do you hear that and say, I'm going to keep everything I have? But also, how do you hear that and not bow in worship and praise and adoration and thanksgiving for every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ that has been given unto us? Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you that though he was rich, he became poor for our sakes, that we through his poverty might become rich. And our God, we give you praise for all of these blessings. We give you glory. And I would ask God that you would help us in the coming weeks and months and years to just reflect upon these truths.

May they warm our hearts. May they encourage us to run with endurance the race that is set before us. May they cause us to glorify and to honor and to worship you. God, we know and we are convinced that the Bible and good theology ought to promote heartfelt worship.

And we just pray now that you would be glorified as we continue in our worship, as we remember in a special way the Lord's death on our behalf. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Psalm 113; 130
• Isaiah 6; 53
• Zechariah 3
• Micah 7
• Luke 9
• John 1:1-3; 1:14; 12:41; 17
• Acts 2; 13:38; 21
• Romans 5
• 1 Corinthians 1:30; 15
• 2 Corinthians 5:21; 8:1-5; 8:9
• Galatians
• Ephesians 1; 5
• Philippians 1:6; 2:5-8
• Colossians 1:15-20
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy 1
• Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14; 5-10; 9:22
• 1 John 1:9; 2:1-2