A holy paradox
The God Who Became Poor
How this is true
Christianity's claim is not that God stayed safely wealthy and sent help from a distance, but that the One who owned everything chose to have nothing: born in a borrowed stable, with nowhere to lay His head, dying stripped of even His clothes. He became poor, Paul says, so that we through His poverty might be rich, rich in the only wealth that lasts. The Creator took on the creature's want in order to give the creature the Creator's riches.
The Scripture behind it
“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.”2 Corinthians 8:9
“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”Philippians 2:6
“And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”Luke 9:58
Why it changes everything
It means God is not indifferent to human poverty and need, because He entered it Himself. The exchange at the heart of the gospel is this: He took our poverty so we could receive His riches, He took our sin so we could receive His righteousness, He took our death so we could receive His life. Whatever you lack, you are invited to a God who made Himself poor to make you rich, not with money, but with Himself.
Questions people ask
What does though he was rich he became poor mean?
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 Paul says Jesus, who possessed all the riches of God, became poor in His life and death so that we might become spiritually rich through Him. It describes the great exchange of the gospel: He took our poverty to give us His riches.
Why did God become poor in Jesus?
So that we could become rich in what matters eternally. Jesus was born in poverty, had nowhere to lay His head, and died stripped bare, entering human want fully in order to give His people the riches of God, forgiveness, righteousness, and life with Him.