What Does It Mean That Jesus Was Rich?

The Riches of the Son of God

To grasp the Son’s sacrifice in taking on human nature, we must deeply consider what it means for Him to be the Son of God. Paul helps us understand this in 2 Corinthians 8:9: “Though He was rich, He became poor…”

When we hear "rich," we typically think of money. But God is spirit, and as the Creator, He already possesses all things. So, what does it mean for God to be rich?

Figuratively, "rich" means prosperous or having an abundance. But for God, this abundance is infinite and eternal. Unlike earthly wealth, God's fullness is uncreated, unchanging, and inexhaustible. To be rich, for God, is to possess every perfection—every good thing—in absolute plenitude. This is why we call God blessed.

In Romans 9:5, Paul uses this very word of Christ, writing of the Jewish people: “To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”

Who Is Christ?

Christ is God over all. We do not merely look at a man and say He belongs to God; we look at Christ and rightly say, This is God over all. To be God is to be blessed forever. And blessedness, for God, is not just having all good things, but being the very source of them. It means fullness, peace, joy—not in part, not received from another, but possessed by nature, perfectly and eternally. This is the richness of the Son.

Overflowing Abundance

To be blessed is to have every good thing that you could ever need to be satisfied and to experience peace and joy. And not just to have it, but to know that you have it and to understand how it satisfies and brings peace and joy. And not just to have it and know that you have it right now but to know that you will always will have it in unlimited supply.

That’s how it is for God.

As one theologian put it, God’s blessedness is “such an abundance of perfection and glory… that He is full… and indeed that He overflows, having enough not only for necessity but also for delight.” God cannot gain more, nor desire more. He is always full. Always satisfied.

Self-Sufficient Joy

Another word for this divine fullness is self-sufficiency. As the eternal Son, He lacked nothing. Even without creation, He would be perfectly joyful. His joy was not dependent. He was not lonely, not restless, not incomplete. To be God is to be happy in the deepest and truest sense—a happiness so real and substantial that all created joy is but its shadow. This was Christ’s state from all eternity: the Only Begotten Son, perfectly blessed with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

And Paul wants us to meditate on that.

He says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich…” This is Paul's simple, stunning way of describing what it means for Jesus to be “the Only Begotten Son of God.”

The Mystery of His Sacrifice

To appreciate Christ’s sacrifice, we must understand His identity. When we look at Jesus, we are not looking at just another human being. We are looking at the eternal Son, the Word made flesh. Before He ever took on human nature, He existed as “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.” And this same divine Person—the Word—through whom the Father created all things, assumed a created human nature, and in that nature became poor, suffered, and died—for us.