Imagine what a BLESSING the Body of Christ could be to the world if every believer were financially prosperous. Think about how freely we could fund the preaching of the gospel; what we could do for our communities; and what a powerful testimony it would be to unbelievers if we all had our financial needs met, an abundance in our bank accounts, and were looking for opportunities to give.
That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it?
It would also be the will of God.
According to the Bible, God’s will for His people has always been for us to have plenty to enjoy and plenty to give. Even in Old Testament times He told the Israelites, “There should be no poor among you” (Deuteronomy 15:4, "New Living Translation"). The New Testament puts it even more emphatically: “God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]” (2 Corinthians 9:8, "Amplified Bible, Classic Edition").
“Well, Brother Copeland, I know God said that but there must be some catch because a lot of Christians aren’t prospering at all. A lot of us have asked God repeatedly for the grace to increase financially and that grace hasn’t yet shown up.”
Sure it has! You just didn’t recognize it. You were expecting it to manifest in the form of a check in the mail or a promotion at work. But that’s not how God’s grace to prosper first shows up. It manifests to us today, just like it initially did to the Macedonian believers in the Apostle Paul’s day. Have you ever read about them? If anyone ever needed financial help, they did! They weren’t just struggling economically. When Paul went to see them they were in deep poverty.
What did God do to change the situation?
He gave them an opportunity to give into an offering that was being received for the church in Jerusalem. He put His grace to work for them by “arousing in them the desire to give” (2 Corinthians 8:1, "AMPC"). As Paul wrote: “Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity. For…they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem” (verses 2-4, "NLT"-96).
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