Turning the riches of Christs Incarnation into our greed

“Jesus became poor so you could live in abundance – yes, even financially. This verse [referring to 1 Corinthians 8:9] reminds us that Jesus gave up everything, including His heavenly riches, to meet all our needs. Are you walking in the financial freedom and generosity God has called you to?”

                               Charis Bible College Facebook post Tues, 11 Mar 2025. 

This post appeared on the Chris Bible College Facebook page above a picture of the verse, 1 Corinthians 8:9, which states, “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 by his poverty might become rich.” The phrases “your sake” and “might become rich” were specifically highlighted. 

We will look more closely at this verse in a moment to see what the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, really meant when this verse was written to the Corinthian church. But for now, I'll just point out the two highlighted parts of this verse and how they reflect the focus of the theology of Andrew Wommack’s Charis Bible College. 

The highlighted words, “your sake,” reveal just how man-centered Wommack’s theology is. This verse, as we shall see, is among the strongest in God’s Word which refers to the incredible event known as the incarnation: God leaving His exalted position as the sovereign Lord over all to become a creature, a man. This magnificent and glorious reality centers on God and His work, yet the unfortunate focus of Wommack’s theology is on us and what we can gain for ourselves. 

Next, they highlight the phrase “might become rich.” Here, they make two crucial errors. Firstly, again, this is not about the material possessions I can get for myself, and secondly, they assume the word ‘rich’ here refers to financial wealth. Both of these assumptions are erroneous, to say the least. 

1 Corinthians 8:9 is in the middle of a section Paul is writing to the Corinthians encouraging them to be generous in supporting him in his ministry. He uses Jesus as the example of the highest level of sacrifice imaginable. 

Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

Jesus is God himself and to fulfill the will of the Father, who chose us in him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), came to earth as a lowly human. Fully God but at the same time fully man. The purpose of this incredible event was not to make us healthy and wealthy but in Jesus’ own words in John 6:39, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

The purpose of the incarnation was for Jesus to save his people, those chosen by the Father, for whom Jesus would then die. This was accomplished on the cross when Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). 

The idea then, of Jesus giving up the “riches” of heaven and becoming poor is NOT about money and material stuff. The “riches” we receive are the riches of his blessings bestowed upon us when He chose us in him. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). Theologian Colin Kruse says this, “just as Jesus’ poverty is not to be understood in terms of desperate need, so too the riches which he came to make available to believers are not to be understood in terms of material prosperity. It is salvation itself and its blessings that constitute the riches Christ by his ‘poverty’ enabled believers to enjoy. These riches are experienced both in the present time as a kind of pledge or guarantee, and in full measure at the return of Christ.”

Dear Christian, this truth of Christ’s incarnation and the riches of the blessings of unearned grace we receive is so exceedingly better than any material possession here in this life. The theology of Wommack is so tiny and fleeting to focus upon our comfort in the here and now. Jesus, God Almighty, left his exalted place in heaven to die for us on a Roman cross when we did nothing whatsoever to deserve it! 

Don’t spend your time thinking about what material possessions and so-called comforts we can get here and now but focus on Christ and his glory and what he did for us. 

That is so much more valuable. 

THAT is what it means to have true riches.

Soli Deo Gloria