II Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich
Recently, we talked about what the Bible says about giving, and we looked at II Corinthians 8-9 where we are encouraged to be givers. In fact, God says that He loves a cheerful giver. Something I learned a long time ago is that God loves a cheerful giver because He is the cheerful giver. Sometimes we talk about giving ‘til it hurts. Well, you ought to give ‘til there’s joy. The bottom line is that we have nothing to give but ourselves, and we have to give ourselves before anything else. Then it is important to remember that we can give nothing that God did not give us first.
Second Corinthians 8:9 gives us the example of the ultimate giving, the ultimate sacrifice. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” We sometimes talk about the humility of Christ in coming as a baby, being born in the manger, and we sometimes think the sum and substance of Christ’s humility was that he was born in a stable. Friend, God the Son showed humility by being born a human at all. Being born in a stable and laid in a manger was simply for superficial people like us to see what was true fundamentally, that God condescended to humanity by being born into this world. Jesus left the glories of Heaven. The most fabulous palace of the earth could not compare to Heaven, so the stable into which He came was closer to the finest palace in the world than the palace or the stable would be to Heaven. He left the glories and wealth of Heaven to become poor for our sakes.
The Bible says in chapter 9 that God loves a cheerful giver, but God loves a cheerful giver because God is the cheerful giver. In other words, we can give nothing that God did not give to us first of all. As I’ve said before, God doesn’t want to give to you, God wants to give through you. Because this is true, a giver always can.
So, in II Corinthians 8:16 it says, “But thanks be to God.” Why is thanks going to God if I am the one giving? It is because God is the One Who gave to me first. In II Corinthians 8:19 it talks about that which was given or administered “by us to the glory of the same Lord.” So, I give and God receives the glory because I would not even have the breath to breathe if it were not for God’s giving it to me. In II Corinthians 9:8 it says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you.” In other words, my giving to others is made possible because of God’s giving through me and to me, not that I am wealthy or rich but that God provides so that I can be a giver.
In II Corinthians 9:10 it says, “Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown.” So, God provides seed for the farmer, provides for His universe, and provides that which we in turn can give.
In II Corinthians 9:11 it says, “Through us thanksgiving to God.” Verse 13 talks about people glorifying God “for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution [giving] unto them.” In verse 14 it talks about “the exceeding grace of God in you.”
This passage famously ends by saying, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” God’s unspeakable gift is God’s grace, His supernatural enabling, His unmerited favor to us through the person of Jesus Christ. If God would give His Son to us and God would give us the air to breath, then certainly we can follow the example of God the Father and His Son the Lord Jesus by being givers today. I ought to be a giver because I can give nothing that God did not give me first, and God loves a cheerful giver because God is the cheerful giver.