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. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
When put alongside the eternal riches in Christ, the temporary riches of this world, the gold and the emerald, by far pales in comparison. However, men find it hard to deal with the issue of the eternal riches in Christ because wealth in earthly societies is often measured in monetary terms.
However, the truth is that spiritual riches are different from earthly riches. They are by far superior because they are eternal and not temporal.
In unraveling the mystery of the eternal riches in Christ we cannot afford to pigeonhole God the maker of the universe as a provider of earthly riches alone. He is way more than earthly with his influence and blessings spanning into eternity.
We therefore not only undermine God when we are unable to lift our mind beyond the earthly realm, but we also shortchange ourselves by denying ourselves vital access to his unsearchable spiritual blessings by faith- the true riches that matters.
The weakness of faith or absence of it in understanding and accessing the riches of Christ Jesus is the reason why many would rather pursue the temporary riches of the world without regard for the eternal riches of Christ. This is nothing but spiritual blindness.
Without the leading of the Holy Spirit, it will be absolutely impossible for the mortal man to understand the “unsearchable” riches of Christ which in its original Greek language means something that cannot be fully understood, In other words, a mystery without limits which requires an eye of faith to see it.
One man who had a deep understanding about the riches of God in Christ is the Apostle Paul. So deep was his understanding of the riches available in Jesus Christ that he said ..” Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”. (Philippians 3:8).
If a man like Paul who had everything he needed to climb to the top of his career and religion could throw it all away for Christ then there is something requiring a depth of understanding here.
If Jesus the eternal King himself could set aside his reign and glory in heaven to come down to men in poverty in order to make known to them the path to spiritual riches then there is something worthy of searching out here.
Jesus Christ who possesses heaven and earth came down to men, owned nothing, that he might teach men in all humility about what really matters, the true riches of eternity.
“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 through his poverty might become rich”. (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Wrapped in the mystery of His riches is an antithesis of human reasoning:
For Jesus, receiving lies in giving, living lies in dying to yourself, true riches lies in a poor spirit, to be wise is to be a fool, to suffer injuries without taking revenge is to be truly victorious, true seeing lies in blindness, and the love of one’s souls lies in the hatred for one’s self and to lose your life (self-centerdness) is to indeed save it in eternity.
All these are difficult for the human mind to comprehend but here in lies the secret to solving the mystery of the eternal riches in Christ Jesus and only the spiritually minded can grasp the meaning of these truths. Only those whose eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit see and understand the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.
With those whose eyes of faith have been opened by the Holy Spirit, they are to become partakers of the eternity that is in Jesus, the Lord of the age to come.
For those whose eyes are still being blinded by the god of this present age of immorality, there is an open invitation to tap into the riches of Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit if you will ask him to come into your life. Jesus’ death and resurrection offers liberty from the bondage of sin and save life from spiritual death.
Because Jesus ever lives to make intercession for men before God, you can live through His grace by faith to be a partaker of the riches in Christ, the chief being eternal life.
Readings
Matthew 5:1-11
