Riches in Christ

The Gospels speak of the "Kingdom of God" and "realized eschatology", but God's promises of eternal life are not completely found in this world. In Jeremiah 31 the Lord promises a New Covenant where His law will be written on His people's hearts and that they will no longer need to teach about the Lord because all will know the Lord. Although there is a taste of these promises, they will not be completely found until after Christ's return. Until Christ's return, we Christian's have been given the Holy Spirit as a "down payment" (pledge or promise) of our inheritance in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14). Revelations 21:3-5 describe a time when there will be no more pain, death, or mourning, but this is not in the present age for the verses say that the old things will pass away and He will make everything new.

The view that everything is going to be good and happy for Christians is absolute misinterpretation of scripture. Jesus himself tells his followers, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34). Dietrich Bonhoeffer says that a disciple’s call is to “come and die” for grace is costly (89). This does not sound like easy road that the "health and wellness gospel" teaches. In John 16:33, Jesus tells his disciples that there will be many problems in this, but He does not leave them with out hope for He says “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Wealth is not a bad thing, but a disciple cannot serve money for “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). 1^st Timothy 6:10 warns that money can be dangerous not only because the love of it is the root of many evils, but people desiring money have wondered from the faith. The writer of Hebrews writes “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have”, but continues this with a promise “because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” There are riches that come from a relationship with Christ, but the richness is Christ and His word. “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

AS POSTED ON BLACKBOARD AT SWBTS 9/17/2010