1   CONTRADICTION AND PATHOS IN CHRISTIAN LIFE

There is an essential contradiction in the life and attitude of most Christians.  We claim that we have an all powerful, all knowing God who created the Universe and controls it.  He controls history and he controls the life and destiny of  individuals.  Yet there is a poor reflection of this great God in our lives.  We live a defeated life in our daily walk.  We are defeated in the areas of finances, career, family life, social life, etc.  There is poverty, sickness, mishaps, accidents and sorrow.  This essential contradiction was recognized by great theologians.  Here  is what Calvin wrote about it:

“To us is given the promises of life -- but to us the death.  A blessed resurrection is proclaimed to us -- meanwhile we are surrounded by decay.  We are called righteous - and yet sin lives in us.  We hear of an ineffable blessedness -- but meanwhile we are here oppressed by infinite misery.  We are promised abundance of all good things -- yet we are rich only in hunger and thirst.  what would become of us if we did not take our stand on hope....”  (Commentary Heb 11:1)

O yes, there are several ways out of this dilemma.

One is to explain it off leading to the theology of hope.

This misery is actually a blessing.  That means it is God’s desire that I go through it and go through it still praising God and rejoicing in every circumstance.  While we cannot question the sovereignty of God, and the truthfulness of this stand, it is still not good news.  it is hardly the Gospel.  It is simply the message of Islam.  True this suffering is ennobling and God intends it to be.  But to say that God willed it and God enjoys it is a misnomy.  It is a consequence of the sinfulness of man.  It is the current alternative for the sinful man.

Through centuries Christians have eulogized suffering and idealized poverty because they failed to realize what Jesus promised.  All those were transferred in time to a glorious future-- a rich and abundant life after death.  A heaven where there is no poverty sickness, no sorrow, nor suffering.  That sure is great.  But it degenerates into an opium and Karl Marx rightly was indignant when he said, “Religion is the opium of man.”  Yes, the abundant life is fully fulfilled in the second coming of Christ.  But it starts now and here.

On the other hand it can lead to a theology of liberation.

This declares that Jesus initiated the liberation, but not fulfilled it.  His death on the cross was not the realization and the finished work of redemption.  When what he has prophesied  and announced did not come about, he hurled himself on to the wheel of change and got himself mangled.  This is the liberation theology.  All Christians still continue the process of giving momentum to the already  started wheel.  Some remain alive, but others are caught up in it and are mashed.  This is an abstract messianic hope, unfulfilled  in Jesus and to be worked out by each Christian.  This again is not good news nor does it give much credit to Jesus.

There is a third alternative.  That is Jesus proclaimed the good news.  He fulfilled the mission and all that he has promised is available to me now here - If I claim them.

2.  ABUNDANT LIFE

Should I struggle along with this miserable existence?  Is my almighty father going to do something about my wretchedness and the torment of everyday life?  There is good news for everyone.  Jesus said,  John 10:10    The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  It is Satan who takes away, destroys and kills.  he is the cause of my suffering and yours.  It is God’s will that you do not suffer.   Jer 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,  plans to give you hope and a future.  Mat 11:28 -30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

It is not God’s will that you suffer and he has a plan for you in Christ Jesus.

What about the suffering of the innocent?  Yes, we are individually and collectively  responsible for every sin in the world.  Human race is a continuum and so the evil that one man does causes suffering in the whole human race.  So also the good that one man does brings healing  to the whole human race.  This is where Jesus comes in.  Jesus came so that we may have life and that in abundance.  He is not talking of an imaginary life to come.  This life is within you and me now,  This is life.  So the blessings of Jesus is now and it will be fulfilled completley in the future.  This is an ongoing process.  But it starts here and now.  Its fulness can be experienced on the appearance of our saviour in flesh.

Jesus promises an  eternal life and an abundant life and that begin now and here.

What is special about this eternal life?  All men, good and bad  have eternal life.  “one unto glory and the other unto condemnation”  It is the abundance that makes the difference.

What is abundant life?

Man is depicted in the bible as a trinity of body, soul and spirit.  It is the totality of all these that form the man.  any one part missing, man is incomplete.    Thus without the body man is incomplete.  Hence at the second coming of Jesus even the dead receive a body along with the living -- transformed and glorified  (Refer  1 Cor. 15:35-54;  1 Thess. 4: 14-17)  The abundance of life is the perfection of the entire human being of man in body, soul and spirit,

The holy Spirit coabides with the believer’s spirit and acts as a counselor.  Further Jesus casts out all evil spirits and demons that bind man.  The indwelling of the Holy Spirit from the time of salvation is the beginning of a long chain of  transformation starting from the spirit.  This process culminates in the perfection of man at the second coming of Jesus.  But it starts with the  spiritual freedom
 -- freedom from sin
 -- freedom from guilt
 -- freedom from condemnation
 -- freedom from the law.

The soul  is the seat of ‘I,' the personality built around ones own experience.  It encompasses mind, intellect, emotion and feeling.  Men are in bondage to these.  “What a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Pro. 23:7)    Past experience stored away in the deepest areas of our mind brings forth untold miseries -- both to the mind and also to the body.  Our learning through experience and books and words and music mould us into a pattern goo or bad.  Our emotions and feelings are controlled and determined by all these.  But Jesus releases us from all such bondage 0 if we allow him to fill into all these areas.

Man extends beyond these into areas  of family, community and society.  The gospel of Jesus extends into these areas as well
3 John 1:2  Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

3.  THE MANIFESTO OF CHRIST

In the beginning of his ministry Jesus proclaimed his manifest in the synagogue in Nazareth.  We read this important proclamation in Luke 4  THE MANIFESTO   Luke 4:18-21 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."      Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,  and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Jesus did just that.  That is what Jesus said to John’s disciples in Luke 7
Luke 7:22  So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

There is no mention of a release after death.  The freedom from poverty is here and now and it simply extends to hereafter and is made complete.  Our freedom from poverty is now and our freedom from bondage of slavery  -- social, bodily and spiritual -- is now.  At least it starts now even if we do not experience its fullness.  Most important of all this is the proclamation of the acceptable year of the Lord -- the Jubilee.

It is described in Leviticus
Lev 25:10-13  Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan.   The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.   For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.   "In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property."

During the 49 years a Jew may sell all his inheritance, his family and himself.  But on that day he goes back to his inheritance -- his own land, property and family.  This declaration of Jubilee by Jesus implies that we return to all our inheritance.
What is our inheritance?

 All our inheritance is based on the act of God, the covenants of God.  These are threefold.
 

A.  Heritage as the Sons of God.

Gal 4:6 -7 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."   So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

That was the status of man before the fall.  Note that in the Genealogy of Jesus Luke mentions Adam as the Son of God

Luke 3:38  the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

The heritage of the sons of God is indescribable.

1 Cor 2:9  However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"--
We see a glimpse of it in the descriptio n of New Jerusalem:
Rev 21:11  It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal........
This evidently is the future.

B.  Inheritance according to Promise to Abraham

Gal 4:28  Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

What is my inheritance in Abraham is given in Romans.

Rom 4:13  It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
But this is now, because it is about this world.

C.  Inheritance as Sons of Adam.

A picture of man before fall is given in Ezekiel.

Ezek 28:12  "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ezek 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.

(Most people considers this refering to Lucifer.  However how can Lucifer be in Eden before his fall.  Eden was made for Adam.  Satan entered Eden as a fallen creature)

Again God gave the earth to Adam.
Gen 1:28  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

4.  POVERTY IS A CURSE OF THE LAW

Deuteronomy 28 15-45 is the curse that came upon the nations as a result of disobedience to the commandments and statutes.  It is all related to poverty, sickness, slaver and subjugation.

Deu 28:15  However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

Let us analyze these curses.

What are these curses?

A.  Poverty

Deu 28:16-19  You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.  Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.  The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.  You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

This refers to the productivity of food and industry.

B.  Sickness

1.  Sickness of the body

 Deu 28:21-24  The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess.   The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.   The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.   The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

All this refers to the myriad of diseases that will come upon you.  True these are the result of man’s selfishness and disobedience.  It speaks of  pollution and acid rains that are caused due to human activity that destroys the world.

It is then taken up again in v 58 onwards thus which speaks of  Plagues, Aids and Cancers and all those unknown diseases:
Deu 28:27  The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.
Deu 28:35  The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

Deu 28:59-61  the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses.   He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you.   The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

2.  Sickness of the mind

Deu 28:20  The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and  frustration.....
Deu 28:28  The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.

3. Bondage

a.  Economic Bondage
 
Deu 28:30 -31 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit.   Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them.

b.  Social Bondage.

Deu 28:32-34  Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand.   A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days.   The sights you see will drive you mad.

c.  Political Bondage

Deu 28:36-43  The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.   You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.   You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it.   You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.   You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.   You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.   Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.   The alien who lives among you will rise

In the later days all prophets reiterated this fact.  So Zechariah calls,

2 Chr 24:20  Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This is what God says: 'Why do you disobey the Lord's commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'"

But Praise God,
Gal 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

5.  PROSPERITY IS A BLESSING

On the other hand prosperity  is a blessing.  Prosperity, good health and freedom -- economic, social and political -- are blessings resulting from obedience to the word of God.  Again our basis for this teaching is Deuteronomy 28.  This time from 1 to 14

Deu 28:1 -14
 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today,
*  the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
*  You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
*   The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.  basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
*  You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
*  The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
*  The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to.
*  The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
*   The LORD will establish you as his holy people,
as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.

Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you
*  The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity--in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground--in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
*  The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.
*  You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
*  The LORD will make you the head, not the tail.

If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

It is worthwhile spending time studying these promises of God.  These were cast in terms of an agricultural community situation.  But it is not difficult to extrapolate or interpolate to modern situation.  God is faithful and he will do the same even today if the conditions are met.  These conditions were not impossible targets.  God did perform them in the lives of his people through history.  Let us trace a few.

*   Father of all faithful Gen 13:2  Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

*  Isaac was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Gen 26:12-14  Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.   The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.    He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

*  Jacob.
Gen 30:43  In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.
Even his employer, who was an unbelieving gentile are richer because of Jacob and Laban knew why.
Gen 30:27  But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you."

*  Joseph is probably the test case of God’s faithfulness.  Joseph started off a slave in an alien land and ended up as the second in command to Pharaoh (The Vice-President) in the greatest Kingdom of the Earth at that time.  His employers found that everything prospered in his hand
Gen 39:2-3  The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.   When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did,

Peace and prosperity of Israel were always directly linked with obedience to the law.  We can probably trace it through the Kings of Israel and Judah.

David-  Practically all the blessings of  the law came to fulfillment in David.  Read  the song of  David in 2 Sam. 22 and 23.  He defeated the foes (2 Sam 21:40-43), nations served him (2 Sam 23:4), and he prospered in all his desires (2 Sam.22:44-46).  Look at the gold and precious stones David gave.  Then look at David’s prayer in v. 10-13.  He reiterated that ,“Both riches and honor came from you and you ruleth over all.”

Solomon.
1 Ki 10:14-21  The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,   not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.   King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas of gold went into each shield.   He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.   Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold.   The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them.   Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.   All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days.   The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.   King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.

In the divided Kingdom, only a few kings followed Lords ways.  The chronicler identifies them and comments on their prosperity thus:
Asa -- 2 Chr. 14:17 “So they built and prospered.”
Uzziah - 2 Chr 26:5  He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.
Hezekiah -- 2 Chr. 32:30. He succeeded in everything he undertook.
Jehosaphat- 2 Chr 17:5  The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.
Secular historians however record others -- at least some of the others -- as great, wealthy and powerful.  Chronicler however simply does not consider them prosperous.  We shall see later what God think about their wealth.

Dispersion and captivity of Israel were the direct result of disobedience to God as the curse of the Law. However even in exile God prospered individuals who were willing to obey him and follow him.  We are on this earth under as aliens and individually God can still prosper us and bless us if we are willing to obey.  I will mention two specific names during the exile period viz.  Boaz and Daniel
Boaz (Ruth 2:1) is referred to as ‘a man of wealth’
Daniel (Dan 2:48 lived through three kings and was the most respected of the ministers.  He received  ‘high honor and many gifts’ and he was made the ‘ruler over the whole province of Babylon...and chief prefect over all wise men of Babylon”

Even from among the gentiles we have one glorious example of Job.  Job was a man from Uz that is not in Canaan.  He was not a Jew.
Job 1:1-3  In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.   He had seven sons and three daughters,   and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yokes of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

Thus history corroborates the promises of God.  He always fulfilled what he promised.
Prov 3:13 -16  Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,   for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.   She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.   Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

Prov 8:18  With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.

Psa 112:1-3  Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.   His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.   Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever

6.  WHY DOES GOD GIVE PROSPERITY?

From the above readings it is abundantly clear that God gives prosperity to those who obey his commandments.  It is a blessing.  The reason why he gives this blessing is also clearly stated.
Deu 8:18  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
Again Deut 9.5 confirms this...
Deu 9:5  It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In other words the prosperity is the fulfillment of the covenant.
Another shade of meaning is: helpful to fulfil the covenant {Strong gives the meanings “to rise’ giving the implication: as abide, accomplish, confirm, continue, make good, help, help to hold, perform, strengthen, etc.

It therefore implies that prosperity is the means to give us the opportunity to perform our part in the covenant.  The covenant to Israel was that they should be priests to the nations,
Exo 19:6  you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'
Prosperity is given to enable us to perform this mission effectively.  The effective witnessing and missionary work are possible only when you are financially free.  If you are going to work to make a bare living to feed your family, then where do you have the time and money to do your mission?  So God wants us to be released from anxieties for tomorrow, food and clothing.
Mat 6:31-32  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'   For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

For this reason

Phil 4:19   my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

It also implies that the minute you become unfaithful to the calling and serve your self instead of serving God, the very blessings of prosperity will become and  curse and a snare for you.  When the nations turned away from him, God drove them out of the Promised land.  When Lucifer the anointed cherub rebeled against God, he was thrown out of heaven.  So beware that the blessings that God promises may not becomes a force of destruction for you.

7  TAKE POSSESSION  These then are our great promises and 2 Cor 1:20  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Soon after the covenant in Sinai God led the people of Israel in a straight path to the promised land and told them to take possession.  Read this story in Numbers 13:15-25  They refused to take possession.  As a result they turned around and trod the wilderness for 40 years until all those who refused (except two) died in the desert.  They could not possess what was promised.  So also if we refuse to take possession of our rights, we will also have to turn n back into this wilderness for a life time.  God was even then faithful.  They were fed with manna from heaven to meet their daily needs.  So also God will be faithful to us even if we refuse to take possession.  He will meet our daily needs.  But it is still desert life and not Canaan.  And finally when you die you will inherit the promises across death’s door.  But I want to enter into Canaan “the land flowing with milk and honey”  It is promised to me. Num 13:30   "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."