My favorite verse at Christmas time is 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

The greatest act of grace, ever, is that the preeminent, eternal, infinite, all-powerful God who possesses all things, chose to become poor, that I, through His experiencing poverty, might become rich. The poverty in this case is not a lack of material possessions, but it is the emptying or giving up of all riches and experiencing the poverty of all.

It seems to me that the one who is born into poverty probably cannot understand the experience of becoming poor as well as one who is born into riches and then becomes poverty-stricken. King Nebuchadnezzar in the Old Testament went from the status of king to being as an animal in the fields for seven years (Daniel 4). Only an experience like that can give one an appreciation for becoming poor – the King knew something so much greater.

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, by His own choosing, was born into the lowliest of states. The result, however, of that act of grace is that I, as one who is born into poverty, can expect, hope for, and count on the riches of God. What unbelievable, incredible, overwhelming privilege it is for me to be given, in an act of grace, those riches. God not only has given me life, He has given me new life and He has given me real life. May each of us bow in humble adoration this Christmas season to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords out of a sense of immense gratitude.