Prosperity and Cross?

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands- O prosper the work of our hands! Psalm 90: 17, NRSV.

Gracious God, as we enter Your holy presence, we do it recognizing how finite we are, and how infinite You are! This makes us aware, that all good things do come from You, and for this we say, “Thank You,” in the name of Jesus. Amen.

We live in an age when the Prosperity Gospel is at an all-time high! We say things like, “Somebody is living in my house,” and “Somebody is driving my car,” and, “Somebody has my job.” Some of us become alarmed, and wonder if we are not just feeding the dreams of people in order to attract them to Jesus. Today, I would like to submit to you two premises:  1) The covenant that God made with Abraham, the father of the faithful, was a “Covenant of Prosperity! ” . . . I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12: 2, 3). It does not get more prosperous than that!

When Jesus came to earth, He promised “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10: 10b). He also promised:  “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19: 29, NIV). The gain is double:  “will receive a hundred times as much, and, will inherit eternal life.”  It sounds to me, as if God is promising us material blessings and spiritual blessings as well, and not one to the exclusion of the other!

There is, however, another side to the story. Listen to His invitation to discipleship:  “And he said to them all, if any man [or woman] will come after me, let him [her] deny himself [herself], and take up his [her] cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9: 23). I believe that you will agree with me that we become disciples of Jesus when we enter into a covenant with Him. 2) Therefore, if we combine covenant and discipleship, the result is:  a crown and a cross! It seems as if they go together. Perhaps the reason we hesitate to preach them as one, is because we do not really know how to reconcile them in our own experience. It appears as if we do not know how to relate one thing to the other. I humbly submit to you what has been impressed upon my own heart:  the cross is simply the method of growth into a richer, fuller, more abundant, covenant-relationship with the Lord! It is somewhat like the relationship between “pain and gain.” And the good news is (yes, the cross of Christ is Good News!) that the cross is custom made for every disciple. The Savior knows what cross each of us can carry and He will never get them mixed up! Hallelujah! I believe that God realizes that without the cross, the “thorn in the flesh,” some of us might not get the full benefit of the covenant-relationship.

Joseph was sold as a slave and imprisoned (Genesis 37: 28, 36; 39: 1, 20). But he was prepared to become the second in command, in the most powerful kingdom of his day (Genesis 41: 44, 45)! By God’s grace, I expect to meet him in the kingdom of heaven!

Moses became the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2: 10); a position of great honor! But “bore” the children of Israel in the desert for forty years, and was not permitted to enter the earthly Canaan. Nevertheless, he entered the heavenly Canaan, and with the prophet Elijah, was granted the honor of encouraging the Savior on the mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17: 2, 3)!

Daniel and his three companions were taken captive, occupied positions of great honor (Daniel 2: 48, 49), but were made eunuchs, (1: 1-3, 7, 18); cast into a fiery furnace, and into a den of lions, (3: 23; 6: 16). Nevertheless, God used them to bring a world leader to a saving knowledge of the Savior (3: 28-30; 6: 19-28)! 

The Gospel message is a message of prosperity because it is in God’s hands that we are made great (2 Chronicles 29: 12c)! So do not fear the cross – it is for your growth, that God may be glorified when you receive your crown!