"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.

Last Sunday I announced that today I would be speaking on the subject "Paradoxes in the Life of Christ." Now, someone might say, "Brother Cox, it has been a long time since I was in school. What does the word ‘paradox’ mean?"

So that you might better understand the subject, and that you might appreciate what Christ has done for us even more, I give you the meaning of the word: it means something that is beyond human comprehension, that which seems to be incredible, a tenet which is contrary to received opinion. That is a paradox; that is the subject for this morning’s discussion: "Paradoxes in the Life of our Lord."

In the text you will notice that the Apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthian brethren, was trying to point out to them their responsibilities, the obligation which was incumbent upon them relative to their gifts, their money, if you please, showing that God would provide, and that they were responsible for the use of their means. Then he climaxed it with the text: "For ye know the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ (you know it’s grace) though he was rich, yet for your SAKES he became POOR, that ye through his poverty might be RICH."

First of all, notice that Christ was RICH, yet He became POOR that WE in turn might be made RICH. In Psalm 50:10 God said, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." And in Haggai 2:8, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts." Christ was RICH. The sweet singer of Israel also said, talking about possessions of God, "The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).

And YET, Christ became POOR. He became the poorest the poor in order that WE might be made RICH.

In Luke 9:57, 58, a would-be disciple came to the Master and said, "Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." 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."

Jesus became POOR: even the ROBE in which He died was a BORROWED robe. The cross upon which He died was not HIS cross; the tomb in which He was BURIED was not HIS tomb. It belonged to Joseph of Arimathaea. So Christ became poor, and yet, through His poverty, those of us who have believed have been made wondrously RICH. "That ye through his poverty," the text declares, "might be made rich."

Man may not have many worldly possessions; he may not have much of this world’s goods, but if he has CHRIST he is the richest of the rich. That is what the text declares: "Might be rich." Christ has MADE you rich—if you are a believer. "Now ye are full, now ye are RICH, ye have reigned as KINGS" (1 Cor. 4:8).

Someone has asked the question: "Why is it that God’s people apparently are the poorest as far as worldly possessions are concerned?"

And my ANSWER has always been this: man looketh upon the outward appearances, but not on the inside. He may APPEAR to be a pauper, but the man who knows Christ is therefore rich. He’s RICH, not in houses and land, but in the GRACE of our Lord.

So this was a paradox, was it not? That "though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became POOR." Christ lay aside His judicial robes. Now, He didn’t divorce Himself from Divinity but from the insignia of majesty only. WHY? That lost, ungodly sinners might be made everlastingly RICH. Here is something most difficult to understand from the human viewpoint, and that is how that man in the ungodly state, men who have rebelled against God, men who are lost, benighted sinners, ungodly, lost, on the road to Hell, can reject and turn away from Christ and fail to love Him—I said from a HUMAN viewpoint. HOW can it be! When the wonder of wonders was His poverty, His abject poverty, coming into a world of lost men and women, walking among THEM—He, the poorest of ALL—that THEY, in turn, might be made RICH. Brother, sister, if you have Christ this morning, you are RICH. When you leave this auditorium this morning, though you have heavy debts hanging over you and, perhaps, some of you may not know where the next meal is coming, you can rest ASSURED that you are RICH, not in worldly possessions but rich in CHRIST. He has MADE you so.

Second: He, who is the BREAD of LIFE, began His ministry in HUNGER. Matthew 4:1-4 records how Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights—here is something aside from the original thought, but I want you to see it: the Devil always hits a man at his weakest point, and he thought that Christ’s hunger was His weakest point. But God never hits a man at his weakest point, but at his STRONGEST point—never at his weakest. God works differently from the Devil.

In the Book of Genesis you have read many times how Jacob wrestled all night with God. What WAS the STRONGEST point of Jacob? Not his arms, not his back, but the strongest point of Jacob was his thigh—the upper part of his lower limbs. They stood out like giant oaks. But when the dawn finally came, God struck him at his strongest point and he fell, a cripple, limping all the days of his life. Thus, when men looked upon him, and as old Jacob limped about, they could say, "There goes a man who has been with GOD; God has left His mark upon him. There goes a man who has been with God."

Now Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, and the Devil came to Jesus and said, "IF thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." (He COULD have.)— Matthew 4:3.

And Jesus answered, "It is written, Man shall not live by alone, but by every WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."—Matthew 4:4.

The SPIRITUAL bread is FAR more important; it takes precedence over NATURAL bread.

Jesus after having fasted forty days and nights was hungry, the Devil thought, "HERE is His weakest point; I’ll make if He is Divine, use His Divinity in feeding Himself." But SO with the Master. He who is the Bread of Life began His ministry hungry.

Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the NOT that bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world . . . I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 6: 32-35).

Jesus said, "This is the BREAD from God; the Bread of God is that PERSON whom God hath sent. The bread from heaven is he whom God hath sent to be the LIFE of the world. I AM the bread. I am the TRUE bread. I am the BREAD of LIFE; he that BELIEVETH on me shall never HUNGER; and he that BELIEVETH on me shall never THIRST. I give the man his innermost desires: I give him the BREAD of life; I give unto him the LIVING WATER. I am the Bread—the TRUE Bread."

During the wanderings of Israel, as they were in the wilderness, they cried out for bread, and God rained manna from Heaven and fed them—typical of CHRIST. But Jesus said that wasn’t the TRUE bread. "I AM the TRUE bread," saith the Master, "I am the antitype. He that believeth on ME shall never HUNGER; he that cometh to ME shall never THIRST: I am the BREAD.

That is WHY He said in the same chapter, "Except a man drink my BLOOD and eat my FLESH, he hath no LIFE in him. For my flesh is MEAT indeed, and my BLOOD is DRINK indeed."

Now I ask you this morning: Have you eaten of the flesh of CHRIST? Have you drunk of His BLOOD?

You then may say, "HOW can this be done?"

This tells us HOW: "He that BELIEVETH on me shall never HUNGER; he that COMETH to me shall never THIRST" (John 6:85). This is HOW you drink the blood of Christ and eat of His flesh—by BELIEVING in His precious Holy Name; that’s how, that’s HOW.

And again, He, who is the WATER of Life, began his ministry THIRSTY. Notice the paradoxes in the Master’s life: upon the cross, in John 19:28, upon the cross, with the BLOOD streaming down His hands, His feet and His brow, Jesus cried out, "I thirst! I THIRST!"

You know I have been subjected to surgery a number of times, and the first thing I always wanted when I awakened was a drink of water. And of course they wouldn’t give it to me. I would think I must, I MUST have a drink of water. I must have a drink of water and I couldn’t have any. Finally, they would give me hot water to drink and I wouldn’t want it. When a man is in pain, suffering intensely, his thirst is tremendous. It becomes intensified when he is suffering. CHRIST was SUFFERING an awful DEATH, suffering as NO one has ever suffered; His thirst was intensified: "I thirst! I THIRST!" cried the Master.

HE, WHO is the WATER of Life, THIRSTED. And do you know what they did? They gave Him gall to drink—no WATER. They placed a sponge dipped in vinegar upon a reed, stuck it to His lips, and He CLOSED His lips, refusing to DRINK it. Do you know WHY? They looked upon CHRIST as a common criminal, and they used this for ALL people who died upon a cross. When their pain mounted up and became so intense, they placed vinegar with something else upon the sponge and touched it to their lips to deaden the pain, somewhat. But CHRIST said, "I’ll not have it. Though I THIRST, I’ll not have my SENSES deadened."

He was determined to go the last MILE of the way. He was determined to WALK the wine press of the fierceness of the WRATH of Almighty God ALONE. He was DETERMINED to do that: He DID. Bless God, He did. He went into the chambers of death and degradation for US; and, yet, He is the WATER of Life. The rivers and brooks are HIS. He SPOKE and they ran; yet, He THIRSTED upon the cross; there was NONE to give Him one DROP of water.

But then we turn the record over and the picture around: we see Him sitting on Jacob’s well (John 4:10, 14) telling the woman of Samaria, "If you knew WHO it was that said unto thee, Give me to drink ye would have asked of HI\l, and I would have given thee LIVING waters. The water that ye drink of this well (Jacob’s well) ye shall thirst again: but the water that I shall give unto thee, thou shalt never THIRST, neither come hither to draw; it is a well of WATER, spring up into everlasting LIFE."

And she said, "Evermore give me this WATER." HE is the Water of Life.

HE, who is our true REST, was weary and exhausted. The Scriptures say that He became WEARIED by His long journey and sat down on Jacob’s well. That word "weary" means exhausted; Christ was completely exhausted. And YET, bless God, He gives US true REST. When you think of a child of God having true rest, we think of inward peace: the ONLY way that one can have true rest is in inward peace.

One of my favorite texts is found in Matthew 11:28-80—will you hear me this morning? Oh! let me tell you what Jesus can DO, has DONE, and is DOING! Jesus turns, and He is not talking just to the apostles any more, but He is talking to everyone who was gathered about Him, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Yoke yourself up with CHRIST is the admonition. Jesus was speaking, using a Jewish "yoke," knowing that they would know exactly what He was talking about. Did they not use oxen in the fields, on the roads? And were they not beasts of burden? Did they not wear YOKES, and the smallest oxen in the pair would be given the LONG end of the yoke. So Jesus said, "Yoke yourselves up with me; we’ll climb to the summit; when the road gets too long, and the hills too steep, when you get weary, broken-down and tired, give ME the SHORT end of the yoke; you take the LONG end and we’ll go together. And we’ll reach the top." Yoke yourselves up with Jesus, that is the need of this hour.

Notice again: lie PRAYED and yet He hears OUR prayers. Isn’t that wonderful! In John 17, we have recorded the greatest prayer ever penned—the prayer of the Master. In Luke 23, He prayed three times until the PORES of His skin OPENED and the BLOOD came forth, fell from the body onto the ground, and forever HALLOWED and SANCTIFIED the place where He PRAYED. Jesus prayed in AGONY; yet, He HEARS our prayers.

"Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it" (John 14:13, 14).

"You pray in my name, and it shall be done," said Jesus. We need to LEARN that fact. No OTHER kind of prayer will ever be answered: God IGNORES it. The man, woman, boy or girl that just says, "In THY name I ask," God REFUSES to hear it; it must be offered in the NAME, and on the AUTHORITY of the person of our Saviour, Christ, the Lord. That is HOW.

I want to see the paradoxes in the life of the Saviour: He WEPT, but DRIES our tears. Christ was a weeping, lamenting crying Savior Saviour.

People of today are so materialistic and modernistic until they are ashamed of their tears, but your SAVIOUR wasn’t ashamed of HIS. Three times we find the Master weeping; we find him in Hebrews 5:7 weeping over a lost WORLD. In Luke 19, we find Him weeping over a lost CITY, and in John 11 we find Him weeping over the death of a loved one—a friend, if you please. The shortest verse in the Bible: "Jesus wept" (John 11:35) shows He was a WEEPING Saviour; but bless God, He DRIES our tears.

"And God shall wipe away all TEARS from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21:4).

God shall wipe away ALL tears from every eye—He SHALL. I don’t know how you picture that meeting in the sky, but I picture it like this: there will come a time when God’s people, because of the loss of rewards, shall weep their hearts out in Jesus’ presence, but as a father, or mother, tenderly loves their child and kisses away their tears, drying them, I think of the Lord Jesus taking His Divine hand and drying OUR tears, saying to us, "Weep no MORE, my child; all is well, all is WELL."

He was SOLD for thirty pieces of silver, but He REDEEMED a lost world of SINNERS. He was sold for seventeen dollars, but He redeemed a world of believers. They didn’t think He was so VALUABLE—did they? When old Judas Iscariot consorted with Christ’s enemies and sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, or seventeen dollars in American money, they didn’t value Him too much; but this Person, this Divine Son of God, sold for thirty pieces of silver, hath REDEEMED the world of believers unto Himself. He is the REDEEMER.

"Neither by the blood of calves and goats, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for US."—Hebrews 9:12.

ONE time He went into the Holiest of Holy. What FOR? To obtain eternal REDEMPTION for US. They laughed Him to scorn, but He is the REDEEMER. They spat upon, mocked, and jeered Him, but He is the blessed Kinsman Redeemer. They nailed Him to the CROSS, but He REDEEMED the world of believers. BLESS GOD, He HAS!

"In whom," said Paul, "we have REDEMPTION through his BLOOD, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:7).

"We have redemption," said Paul. We don’t GET it; we HAVE it. We have it in CHRIST. We HAVE forgiveness in Christ on the merit and basis of His BLOOD. Do YOU have it this morning? Is He YOURS?

Now last but not least: He was led as a SHEEP to the slaughter but He is OUR Good Shepherd. Do you see the paradox?

"He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the SLAUGHTER, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH" (Isa. 53:7).

You can take a SHEEP and hang him up with his head down letting him hang there until he dies and he’ll never open his mouth, never make a sound. But hang a GOAT up and he will scream until you kill him. So Jesus illustrated HIMSELF by a meek, humble sheep. "He opened not his mouth."

Can you feature that? Enemies all around Him, before Him, behind Him, railing accusations thrown in His teeth; not one time did He RETALIATE. But He said over and over again: "For this CAUSE came I into the world, and to this END was I born." Jesus said that He was BORN to DIE.

Pilate asked Him repeatedly, "Hast thou nothing to say? They have accused you of this and that. Don’t you have ANYTHING to say?" And He didn’t say a WORD. He MEEKLY went to the CROSS, meekly DIED thereupon; but gloriously He was RAISED from the dead. He is our Good Shepherd. John 10:11, "I am the Good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his LIFE for the SHEEP."

Oh, listen to it! Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd—I am the one." "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never PERISH, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them ME, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one" (John 10:27-30).

He, led like a sheep to the slaughter, is dumb, for He opened not His mouth, and He is OUR Good Shepherd. He is the Shepherd of the sheep. Is He YOUR Shepherd this morning? Can you say with David of old, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over; Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

Wonderful, gracious Shepherd is HE. Is He YOURS? If not, may He become your Shepherd this morning. May you come to realize that LIFE is in the PERSON of CHRIST. May the Holy Spirit be pleased to give you that life; may you step forward confessing that Christ, of a truth, is YOUR Good Shepherd. Amen.