The Riches of Christ

One of the themes that we see in the writings of Paul is that true riches consist of the grace and goodness and glory that the Lord gives to us.  He taught that worldly riches are “uncertain” and pale in comparison to the blessings Christ has to offer us if we will be faithful to the gospel (1 Timothy 6:17).  Paul had little in terms of worldly possessions—for he “suffered the loss of all things” in order to have the blessings of Christ—and he sought to help the Saints seek the riches of God instead of the goods of the world (Philippians 3:8).  The world pursues those goals which offer a “corruptible crown,” but the gospel of Christ teaches us to seek “an incorruptible” prize from the Lord (1 Corinthians 9:25).  

                Paul lived and taught after the same way that he described Moses’s mission: “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (Hebrews 11:26).  Having himself given up many of the things of the world in order to follow Christ, he warned Timothy against the “filthy lucre” of the world, telling him to exhort the rich not to trust in worldly riches but “in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 3:8, 6:17).  To the Colossians Paul spoke about the “the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27).  He wrote to them about the “riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Colossians 2:2).  In his epistle to the Ephesians Paul wrote that his responsibility to the Gentiles was to preach the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).  He referred to the “riches of his grace” that come because of “redemption through his blood” and his “kindness toward us” (Ephesians 1:7, 2:7).  Paul told the Ephesians that he prayed for them, that “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).  Far better than any corruptible possession of the world, the riches of Christ are given to us as His knowledge and grace and kindness and assurance and ultimately glory through His inheritance.

                Paul had enough experience with both the things of the world and the blessings of the gospel of Christ that he was able to esteem the former as “but dung” and the latter as that which “passeth all understanding” (Philippians 3:8, 4:7).  Perhaps the most powerful summary statement of Paul’s about the riches that we obtain through Christ is what he wrote in his letter to the Romans: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).  For us in the gospel today the problem I think is not in professing like Paul that the riches of the gospel are greater than the earthly treasures that “moth and rust doth corrupt”—just about any Sunday School class would come to that conclusion (Matt. 6:19).  With the world bombarding us with its endless amount wealth to obtain and things to possess, the great challenge is in the application: actually seeking for the “riches of Christ” with more diligence than our pursuit of “the treasures of Egypt.”