Jesus - God Became One Of Us!

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

(1). An Assumption: “For you know”:

• Now in contrast to Paul:

• I want to start my talk by telling you some things that you don’t know;

• But when you leave this place latter on you will know,

• And you can astound or bore your family & friends with this information.

Ill:

• On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

• A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.

• The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

• Pound for pound, hamburgers cost more than new cars.

• An ostrich’s eye is bigger that it’s brain.

• "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

• The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.

• Cat’s urine glows under a black light.

• The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II,

• Moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

• The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan."

• There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald’s Big Mac bun.

• The 3 most valuable brand names on earth:

• Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.

• It’s possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs.

• The Bible has been translated into Klingon.

• Elephants can’t jump. Every other mammal can.

• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history.

• Spades - King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great,

• Hearts - Charlemagne, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.

Now when the Apostle Paul said to his readers: “For you know”:

• He was not talking about trivia, just information.

• He was referring to a specific experience that they had had.

• Note that he was not talking generally;

• But specifically.

• e.g. Generally we all know Tony Blair;

• But in truth we only know about him!

• e.g. Specifically we all know what chocolate tastes like;

• We know by experience! There is a big difference.

When the apostle Paul wrote this letter of the Bible:

• He knew who he was writing too;

• He is writing to Christians;

• Those who had been converted from a pagan religion to faith in the risen Christ.

• They had swapped their religion for a relationship;

Ill:

• A London business man told the story of a warehouse property he was selling.

• The building had been empty for months and needed repairs.

• Vandals had damaged the doors and smashed the windows,

• And strewn trash around the interior.

• As he showed a prospective buyer the property,

• He took great pains to say that he would replace the broken windows & doors.

• He would bring in a crew to correct any structural damage;

• And clean out all the litter and rubbish.

• The buyer said to him: “Forget about the repairs;

• When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different;

• I don’t want the building, I want the site!”

When a person is converted like these Corinthian Christians were:

• They were not merely swapping religions (from paganism to Christianity);

• They were swapping ownership – from now on Jesus Christ was to be their Lord.

• The living Christ was not interesting in patching up their old life;

• He gave them and every Christian new life! He acquired the site and started to rebuild!

In this verse Paul is referring them of several facts:

• (1). They were converted (ill: chapter 5 verse 17 ‘Aroma of Christ’).

• ill: Sat next to someone with B.O. or aftershave etc.

• (2). Christ was at work in their lives “Ministers of the New Covenant” (ch 3).

• ill: Servants of a new special promise.

All this is a gift from God:

• It is unearned and undeserved;

• The word the Bible uses for that is GRACE

(2). A Quality: “The Grace”:

Ill:

• When his uncle gave him the guitar, he was not too impressed,

• Yet the next time he saw him after his birthday he was full of enthusiasm.

“Thanks for the electric guitar you gave me for Christmas,

it’s the best present I ever got."

• “That’s great," said his uncle. "What made the difference, did you learn how to play it?"

• "Oh, I don’t play it and that’s why it’s so great," replied the boy.

• The uncle puzzled asked him “What do you mean?”

• The boy answered:

"Well, My mom gives me a 50p not to play it during the daytime