Welcome back to our study on prosperity. We saw last week that prosperity is not a dirty word. In that study, we examined how scripture lists prosperity as a covenant blessing based on our relationship with God in Christ, and also that His prosperity has a purpose: to share His generosity and blessing with those around us.
Now today, we are going to discuss how this happens, and how to receive the blessing of prosperity into your life, because just as with every other aspect of grace, people tend to inject a layer of works over what God gives as a gift in Christ
Join me today, as we discover how to prosper in Christ.
Let me state right at the very start that this is a controversial issue. Yet though it is controversial, it is also extremely important. The reason for its importance is because aside from salvation, health is the second-most important gift which Jesus paid for us to have. Without health, everything else falls flat. You could have a great family and wealth of every kind, but if you are sick and laid-up all of the time, you will never be able to enjoy any of it. And God does want us to enjoy life, both now in this present time and of-course in the future with Him in Heaven as well.
That’s why He has not left us helpless; He has not left us without provision. In-fact He has paid an extremely high price for us, for our complete salvation: spirit, soul and body. Yet many people are not experiencing this, due to the fact that many pastors and leaders are not teaching the complete message of what Jesus has paid to give us. Many leaders in the church shy away from what they perceive to be a false doctrine of health and prosperity – however the Bible does not make any attempt to hide the reality of what Christ has paid to give us, and how we are to receive it. And this is what we will be studying today… the complete picture of salvation that Christ has paid for us, spirit, soul and body.
Imagine for a moment if you will, that God appeared to you in a dream and asked you what He was to give you. What it is that you would ask for? Perhaps more money? Healing? Maybe to find true love? Would you ask to see more of Jesus? Now I am not asking the question in order to bring a sense of guilt on you, so please don't feel that way. However what we will be reading in scripture today will actually shift your mentality, to see that actually all of the other blessings will come as you see and receive more of Jesus into your life, because He is actually the source of every blessing.
As we study this today, it is my sincere hope for you that this will change your outlook, and even your thinking as you study the Bible in your personal time. That Bible reading will not be a chore, or a tool for behavior modification. But that it will become a joy and a treasure, as you grow closer to the LORD, and live a life of divine blessing through Him.
When looking at men whom God has blessed throughout the Bible, Solomon can't be ignored. He was the most-blessed figure in the Old Testament – so much so that God said that there was never anyone blessed like Solomon before, nor will there be after him for all of his days. (1st Chronicles 2:12, 1st Kings 3:13)
Often times, we look at Solomon and wonder why God doesn't bless us in the same manner. After all, we are kings and priests in Christ. (1st Peter 2:9) However this question is based on a faulty premise: that God has indeed not blessed us to an equal and even greater measure than He has blessed Solomon. That's why in this study today, we will be looking at the blessings God gave Solomon, and also how today in Christ Jesus, we have such a greater measure, that if Solomon was here, he would be asking us for a loan!
Many times when believers talk about health, they do it from the perspective of the world. As if sickness and disease is just a normal part of life. From a very early age, we are conditioned by the world to accept illness as a natural condition – as just part of being human, and so we receive it without a second-thought. Likewise when believers talk about prosperity, many times it is with derision “we don't want that prosperity gospel!”. As a result, many people spend their lives battling sickness and in poverty But is this what the Bible says should be? Is this what the life of a believer redeemed by Christ Jesus should be like?
Today in this study, we will be answering these questions from scripture as we examine what the Bible has to say regarding health and prosperity, in the light of the finished work of Jesus Christ. And as we see the truth of Jesus regarding these things, we will be able to receive more of Him.