Riches

“Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor."14 Who could measure the riches of that glory that He enjoyed in that unclouded bliss of perfect communion with God His Father? For all of that past eternity, there was absolutely nothing to spoil the enjoyment of the fellowship that the Father and the Son shared together. Yet their thoughts included rebellious man and the plan to rescue him from eternal punishment. At the will of the Father, the Son would leave that scene of glory and bliss, and He would stoop to become a man, yet without sin, in order that He might give Himself as the sacrifice for sin. What poverty! What depths to which He lowered Himself!
Now that that plan has been carried out to God's eternal glory and satisfaction, now that we have been eternally blessed through the obedience of the Son, we delight to join together and say, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive... riches." He is seated on the throne in heaven, waiting till the fruit of the travail of His soul, those who have been enriched through His poverty,15 all surround Him there to sing His everlasting praise.
Rich in glory, Thou didst stoop,
Thence is all Thy people's hope;
Thou wast poor, that we might be
Rich in glory, Lord, with Thee. 16

Wisdom “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness."17 After three years of Jesus' ministering to the needs of many, the consensus from man's natural heart was, "We will not have this man to reign over us."18 He put all his energy into plans to kill this One, and chose the most ignominious means of getting rid of Him who claimed to be sent from heaven, the Son of God. Man, backed by Satan, apparently succeeded. They taunted Him with, "If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him."19 They thought nothing more of Him than of any other man, and so when He died on that cross, they considered that they had accomplished their objective with His death, and that they had utterly gotten rid of Him.
The word from heaven, in which our hearts will unite, is, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive... wisdom." That which only appears as foolishness to the natural heart is, in the wisdom of God, the sole basis for our blessing. God covered the world in darkness during three hours that day, and our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the work; He paid the price; He bore the punishment for our sins, so that God can now be "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."20 We receive fullness of blessing through Him, "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."21 Surely, "the foolishness of God is wiser than men."22 With the Apostle Paul we respond, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."23
The cross! the cross, oh, that's our gain,
Because on that the Lamb was slain:
'Twas there the Lord was crucified,
'Twas there for us the Savior died. 24