2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Study Guide: Though He was rich he became poor
Community Group Study Guide — For Your Sake He Became Poor
2 Corinthians 8:8-15
Study Information:
There is a big difference between receiving a gift from someone because they have to give it and because they want to give it. Think about situations where you attend an event and have to bring a gift, because it is expected and the difference when you just delight to give someone a gift because you love and care for them. How would you feel if someone attended your birthday party and brought you a gift and you thanked them but their response was “well, you know I kind of had to bring it?”
Paul desired for Christians to understand that our generosity should not be based solely on duty, instead God desired for us to have an eager willingness for our giving and to make this point Paul reminded the Corinthians of God’s overwhelming grace and generosity in Christ who became poor so that we might become rich.
God’s Grace: The Foundation of Generosity
2 Corinthians 8:8-9
It is easy to treat generosity or giving as an obligation or a command we just need to follow. That mentality can get us thinking about bare minimum required rather than seeing our generosity as a participation in God’s grace. Matthew 9:13 quoted from the Old Testament prophet Hosea where God said “I desire mercy over sacrifice.” The Hebrew word for mercy is Hesed which means God’s loyal and steadfast love. God does command generosity but Paul was leaning on the idea of an eagerness to participate in God’s love when he asked the Corinthians to be part of the Macedonian Offering. Generosity is an opportunity to demonstrate love and to remember God’s grace as the foundation. For that reason, Paul reminded them of Jesus as an example of richness and poverty.
Perhaps the most theologically rich motivation for generosity we can have is the example of Jesus Christ. First Paul noted that Christ was “rich.” This is less a statement on financial wealth, though God does own everything, and more a statement on the contentment, satisfaction, joy and power God the Son has had for all eternity. Jesus has never been in any sort of need in all eternity and has enjoyed perfect fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit in heaven and this richness in the person of God is foundational to generosity. There is no lack, need or scarcity with God. Yet, second Paul wrote that Jesus Christ became poor. God the Son not only took on the form of a human creation, he joined an impoverished family, from a small town, with a normal trade as a job and lived his life without wealth or abundance. Jesus identified with the poor, normal and ordinary people of the earth so much so that he had “no place to lay his head” as an adult and he even died a death reserved for slaves on the cross (Matthew 8:20). Finally Paul gave the motivation for this descent into poverty from Jesus, it was so that we might become rich. God’s goal in the incarnation and crucifixion of Jesus was not our material wealth but that we would share in fellowship and relationship with God in Christ. Paul will connect later in 2 Corinthians that financial generosity and sharing of material blessing was appropriate and necessary because the Gentiles shared in the spiritual blessings with the Jerusalem church by being grafted into the family of God.
This grace of God is overflowing and lavished upon us. There is no lack or need with God and we can earnestly show our love for Christ and others in how we participate in generosity.
Willingness to Give
2 Corinthians 8:10-15
The Macedonian offering started about a year before the writing of 2 Corinthians which matches up with what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4. The Corinthians began this collection and as it continued their desire to give increased. It is as if they went from duty to delight in their giving. For many of us, we can begin to do things out of obligation but then the desire and joy follows. Paul wanted them to remember their readiness so that they would complete the work. Likewise, according to 2 Corinthians 8:13-14 it appears that the Corinthians were asked to contribute a larger amount compared to other churches based on their financial prosperity. Paul addressed the “fairness” of this when he stated that he did not want to burden them, but that based on their abundance they had a greater opportunity to supply for the needs of the saints and in the future it could be that the tables would be turned. God does not desire that we find just the bare minimum requirement for our generosity; he desires that we consider how we have been blessed and willingly give to the needs around us. Paul spoke about this more specifically in 1 Corinthians 16:2 when he wrote that each should store up their gifts on the first day of the week, as he may prosper. Churches and individuals with greater levels of abundance have the opportunity to supply for the needs of others at a greater capacity and God sees this willingness as an act of worship, or participation in God’s grace.
To illustrate the idea that our generosity should be proportion to our abundance, Paul reminded the Corinthians of the way God provided manna in the wilderness (2 Cor 8:15). God gave them what they needed, not more and not less. When people tried to hoard more they found that the manna rotted and wasn’t fit for eating. Similarly those who gathered “too little” still found they had no lack. Remember that God is not scarce in his provision for our needs. We may know this rationally, but remember that we cannot take any of our material possessions out of this world with us. Instead, we are stewards of those resources and have the opportunity to use the abundance God has given to bless others.
It is possible that you could feel like you have nothing more to give, and that may be accurate. But this text should encourage us to all prayerfully consider our generosity goals in light of the gospel and to ask God to increase our ability to give to his work and his kingdom and in doing so we have the opportunity to reflect Christ more and more.
At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.
How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week?
Discussion Questions:
2 Corinthians 8:8-15
What are some reasons that Paul described participating in this gift as “not a command” and as a way to show that love was genuine?
Describe what it meant for Jesus to become poor so that we might become rich.
Does the person with material abundance have a greater responsibility for participating in generosity according to this passage and 1 Corinthians 16:1-4? If so, what does that mean for someone with less material abundance?
What are some ways you can remind yourself that God provides for your needs, just like how Paul used the illustration of manna in the wilderness?
