Central Truth: As born-again believers, we are redeemed from the curse of the law and are heirs to Abraham’s blessing and God’s promises of prosperity.
For many years I did not understand that it is God’s will for His children to prosper. I thought as many do that poverty was a characteristic of humility – that in order to be humble one must be poor. I thought that a righteous man could not be wealthy and that a wealthy man could not be righteous. Any promise in the scriptures regarding financial blessing applied only to the Jews,I thought. I have since learned, through studying God’s Word and applying it in my own life, that God wants His children to “prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (III John 2).
“But,” someone might say, “the Bible says that money is the root of all evil.” However, the Bible does not say that at all. I Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” A person can be guilty of that sin and not have one dime.
I have heard people say, “Well, I guess I’m just another Job.” Some people think that poor old Job went through life poverty stricken, sick, and afflicted. However, the entire Book of Job happened within a period of nine months, and the last chapter says that God turned Job’s captivity, and that “the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).
When the thieves broke in and stole Job’s things, he was captive of Satan. When the fire fell and burned up his crops, he was in captivity to Satan. When the storm came and blew the house down on his children and they were killed, when Job was smitten with boils from his head to his feet, when his wife turned against him and said, “Curse God and die,” Job was in captivity to Satan. But God turned Job’s captivity.
If you think you are another Job, that means you’ll be one of the richest men around. You’ll have twice as much as you’ve ever had, and you will be healed and live to be old. Job lived one hundred years after the events recorded in the Bible. If you are another Job, you are going to prosper.
Redeemed From the Curse of the Law
Galatians 3:13, 14, 29
13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The
above scriptures tell us that “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law.” What, then, is the curse of the law? We turn for this
answer to the first five books of the Old Testament, referred to as the
Pentateuch, or the Books of the Law. There we learn that the curse, or
punishment for breaking God’s law, is threefold: poverty, sickness, and
the second death. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of poverty. He
has redeemed us from the curse of sickness. He has redeemed us from the
curse of death – spiritual death now and physical death when Jesus comes
again. We need have no fear of the second death.Abraham’s Blessing
Just as the curse is three-fold in nature, so was Abraham’s blessing. First, it was a material, financial blessing. Second, it was a physical blessing. Third, it was a spiritual blessing. The New Testament scripture, III John 2, agrees that God wants us to have material, physical, and spiritual prosperity; for it says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Too many people are under the impression that any promises in the Bible for material blessing and prosperity refer only to the Jews. However, this verse was written to New Testament Christians.The word “Jew” is a short term or a nickname for “Judah.” The Israelites were never called Jews until after the split of the tribes. Judah didn’t have any more promise of material and financial blessing than the other tribes of Israel. They received or inherited the blessing through their father Jacob. Jacob inherited the blessing through his father Isaac. Isaac inherited the blessing through his father Abraham. So it is not the Jews’ blessing or promise. It is not Israel’s blessing. It is Abraham’s blessing. And that blessing is mine. “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ …” (Galatians 3:14). In this third chapter of Galatians we also read in verse 7, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” If we are born-again Christians, “then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
After these scriptures became plain to me and I saw what belonged to me as a child of God, through faith in Him, other scriptures began to open up to me. Everything belongs to God and is at His disposal, “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills … for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 50:10, 12). “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof …” (Psalm 24:1). God created everything, then He made man, Adam, and gave him dominion over all of it. God made it all for His man Adam. He gave Adam dominion over the cattle on a thousand hills, over the silver and gold, over the world and the fullness thereof. In other words, Adam was the god of this world.
But Adam committed high treason and sold out to Satan. Thus Satan became the god of this world. Jesus, however, came to redeem us from Satan’s power and dominion over us. Romans 5:17 says, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” The Amplified version of the scripture reads, “They shall reign as kings in life, by one Jesus Christ.” We are to reign as kings in life. That means that we have dominion over our lives. We are to dominate, not to be dominated. Circumstances are not to dominate you. You are to dominate circumstances. Poverty is not to rule and reign over you. You are to rule and reign over poverty. Disease and sickness are not to rule and reign over you. You are to rule and reign over sickness. We are to reign as kings in life by Christ Jesus, in whom we have our redemption.
Deuteronomy 28:1-8, 11, 12
1
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the
voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments
which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on
high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle …
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shall thou be when thou goest out.
7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face…
8 The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto …
11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods …
12
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the
rain unto thy land in his season and to bless all the work of thine
hand …
The first part of Deuteronomy 28 lists the many ways the
Lord would bless His people if they would obey Him. He promised to bless
their children, their crops and cattle, He promised to bless and
protect them in battle, He promised to make them “plenteous in goods,”
and to bless them in “all that thou settest thine hand unto.”This blessing was all-inclusive, but it was also conditional. They must keep all of God’s commandments. They must be a holy people, not straying from Him and seeking after other gods, but serving Him with all their heart. The remainder of this chapter, verses 15 through 68, lists the curses that would fall upon His people if they did not keep His commandments.
When I first realized this truth and saw the prosperity, material and spiritual, that God has planned for His people, and that every born-again believer in Christ is an heir to this promise, I could hardly contain my joy. I was so thrilled to find out that I was redeemed from the curse of the law, from the curse of poverty, and that Abraham’s blessing was mine. We as Christians need not suffer financial setbacks; we need not be captive to poverty or sickness. God has provided healing and prosperity for His children if they will obey His commandments.
When Jesus was here on earth He said, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11). How many of us who are parents want our children to go through life hungry, sick, or afflicted, never having enough to get along? No parent wants that. In fact, we work and sacrifice to try to help our children get a better education than we had so they can make a better living than we did.
God put all the cattle here, all the silver and gold, and is it reasonable to think that He did all of this only for the ungodly? Certainly He loves the sinner, but does He love the sinner more than His own children? No. God put all these things here for His people. He said to Israel, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19). And if God wants His children to eat the best, He wants them to wear the best clothing, He wants them to drive the best cars, and He wants them to have the best of everything.
Proven Through Personal Experience
When this truth became real to my heart, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Don’t pray for money anymore. You have authority through my name to claim prosperity. I have already put gold, silver, and cattle on a thousand hills for my man Adam, and I gave him dominion over it. After he sold out to Satan, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, came to redeem you from the hand of the enemy and to remove you from the curse of the law. Now, instead of praying that I would do it, because I have made provision for your needs, all you need do is say, ‘Satan, take your hands off my money.’ Just claim what you need. You reign in life by Christ Jesus.”In the next church I went to I said, “Lord, if I get what I need here this will have to work. The last time I was here I received only about $60 a week. I am going to claim $150 for this week.” Then I said, “Satan, take your hands off my money, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” You see, you never believe for the possible, because you believe for the impossible. I was supposed to be in this church for just a week, but as it turned out I was there ten days. I claimed $200 for these ten days. The pastor did not beg for money at all, but he simply passed the offering plates; and, when the offering was counted, I had $240.
After that when I would go into churches to hold meetings, finances came in easily; and many times the pastor would say in amazement, “That is the biggest offering this church has ever given to an evangelist. “And I had made no strong pleas at all. I had the key that unlocks the door.
Thank God, we are not under the curse, for Jesus has set us free! “For sickness I have health, for poverty wealth, since Jesus has ransomed me.”
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