“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.” 2 Corinthians 8:9
Jesus Is a Generous Giver
Our God is Jesus. He’s a giver, not a taker. Where did Jesus live before he came to earth? Heaven. Nice place? Yeah. He has a whole entourage of angels who serve and worship him. That’s quite a staff. He’s seated on a what? A throne. If you have a throne with an enormous staff of angels, you’re doing good. He got off his throne to come to be born in a barn to a teenage mother, grow up in a dumpy, rural town, swing a hammer as a construction worker, and die homeless. “Though he was rich, yet for your sake” —our sake, my sake— “he became poor, so that by his poverty we might become rich.”
Peter says that we are bought with the precious blood of Christ, not with wealth (1 Peter 1:18–19). Jesus is priceless. Salvation is priceless. That’s why it’s a free gift of grace. It’s not that it’s cheap, it’s that it’s infinite. God gives it as a gift. We cannot earn, merit, or deserve the love and salvation that come through Jesus.
Giver, Not a Taker
One of the great marks of a Christian is to be a giver and not a taker. Are you a giver, or are you a taker? Christians are to be givers because Jesus is a giver and gave himself for us. Our God is a giver, not a taker. Don’t you love the fact that Jesus didn’t come to earth and say, “Give me this! Give me that! Give me this! Give me that!” He said, “I give life. I give love. I give grace. I give mercy. I give compassion. I give salvation. I give forgiveness. I’m a giver.” The heart of Jesus is giving, and when we give we’re following in his example.
This is an adapted excerpt from the sermon, "Stewardship: God Gives."
