Prosperity From The Perspective of God’s Kingdom

Many images and feelings can arise when you hear the word ‘prosperity’ in a church setting. Unsavory experiences and reports have created negative mindsets towards prosperity in today’s culture.

The “prosperity gospel” claims that if you are righteous, you will be rich. The “poverty gospel” claims that if you are wealthy, you are wicked. However, the gospel that Jesus preached was the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus Christ came to bring God’s Kingdom on this earth. We reject both extremes of the prosperity and poverty gospel. Here are several points outlining God’s perspective on prosperity.

You Can Be Poor And Please God

Each person has a designated purpose, and God gives to them according to that purpose.

The level of our prosperity is actually linked to our God-given purpose, not our piety or righteous living. If riches were only a reflection of righteousness, then the first apostles ought to have been the richest people on the planet.

There are many examples in both the Old and New Testaments of people who were poor but pleased God. They may have been struggling or experiencing poverty but they were in the will of God.

• Apostle John – isolated and punished on Patmos (Revelation 1:9-10, Revelation 2:9-10).
• Apostle Paul – imprisoned, flogged, shipwrecked (2 Corinthians 11:23-28, Philippians 4:11-13).
• The writer of Hebrews – cited terrible suffering and public ridicule in the cause of Christ (Hebrews 10:32-36).

Each person has a designated purpose, and God gives to them according to that purpose. Share on X

You Can Be Rich And Honor God

In the same way that you can honor God with the little you have, you can also honor God having great wealth or possessions and riches. There are many examples in the Bible of the rich in society who lived godly lives and even used their wealth for God’s purposes.

• Isaac, the Patriarch – Received a hundredfold harvest and was so prosperous the Philistines envied him (Genesis 26:2-14).
• Israel – God supernaturally altered the biology of cattle to make Israel prosperous and wealthy (Genesis 30:43, Genesis 31:10-12).
• King Solomon – asked for wisdom and became one of the riches men in history (1 Kings 3:10-14).
• Lydia, the first recorded European to be baptized – a seller of expensive purple fabrics and judged faithful to the Lord (Acts 16:14-15).
• Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna – all contributed from their own resources to support the ministry and disciples of Jesus Christ (Luke 8:2-3).
• King David – gave generously of his wealth to supply for the building of the temple of God and inspired his leaders to do the same (1 Chronicles 29:3-6).
• Job – named richest man in the East and received double his fortune after passing through his tribulations (Job 31:5-7).
• Joseph – God prospered and promoted him to become Prime Minister of Egypt, where he saved his family and surrounding nations from famine through his prosperity and management skills (Genesis 39:2-3).
• Prophet Daniel – chief wise man in the Kingdom of Babylon, an influential and powerful force for God even in a corrupt nation, and gave us a lot of relevant end time prophecy.
• Joseph Of Arimathea – follower of Jesus and prominent Sanhedrin member, who gave Jesus his tomb (Mark 15:43).
• Cornelius – Roman centurion and his family were the first Gentiles who received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44).

A modern day example of a prosperous man who pursued God’s purpose for his life is the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, David Green. According to Forbes, Green commits half of Hobby Lobby’s total pre-tax earnings to a portfolio of evangelical ministries. He also funded the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. for hundreds of millions of dollars.

“I don’t care if you’re in business or out of business, God owns it. How do I separate it? Well, it’s God’s in church and it’s mine here? I have purpose in church but I don’t have purpose over here? You can’t have a belief system on Sunday and not live it the other six days… It is not my money. It is God’s money. And it is not my business; it is God’s business. There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men.”

David Green, CEO Hobby Lobby

God Gives Both Power And Skill To Get Wealth

God Himself demonstrates throughout the Scriptures that all true wealth actually comes from Him as He gives both the power to get wealth and the excellence of skill required to generate godly prosperity that blesses only and adds no sorrow (Deuteronomy 8:18, Romans 12:6-8, Proverbs 10:22). One of the best examples of this is seen in the building of God’s Temple. Not only was great wealth donated but many highly skilled craftsmen were anointed to use the wealth to create the temple and all its contents (Exodus 35:30-35). This clearly shows that not all who have wealth are less godly.

God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 

2 Corinthians 9:9

Money Can Be Dangerous

Whether we are rich or poor, money can be dangerous and we must guard our hearts (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

This is done in four steps:

• Don’t love it (1 Timothy 6:10).
• Don’t trust in it (1 Timothy 6:17; Mark 10:17-27).
• Don’t obtain it immorally (James 5:1-6).
• Don’t be deceived by it (Revelation 3:17, Mark 4:13-20).

Satan can give you wealth if he knows it will corrupt your heart. Share on X

Greed is what corrupts money. However, the scriptures state that the enjoyment of wealth is not inherently sinful (Proverbs 21:20, Proverbs 24:3-4). Ecclesiastes 5:19 even declares the ability to enjoy prosperity is a gift from God. Nevertheless, the satisfaction we get from the enjoyment of wealth should never exceed the satisfaction we get from the employment of wealth for God’s eternal purposes.

Build Heavenly Prosperity

Financial prosperity is an opportunity to build our heavenly prosperity, which lasts forever.

This is the purpose of earthly riches and prosperity; the Kingdom of Heaven. True Kingdom Prosperity is eternal (Luke 12:33-34). God wants us to use finances as a tool to expand His Kingdom. What matters is that you are in God’s will. All our rewards in Heaven ultimately depend on this one question: Did we do God’s will?

The satisfaction we get from the enjoyment of wealth should never exceed the satisfaction we get from the employment of wealth for God’s eternal purposes. Share on X

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