Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Why do the wicked live,
    become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?
Their child is established with them in their sight,
    their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
    neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their bulls breed without fail.
    Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry.
They send out their little ones like a flock.
    Their children dance.
They sing to the tambourine and harp,
    and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity.
    In an instant they go down to Sheol.^[a]
They tell God, ‘Depart from us,
    for we don’t want to know about your ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand.
    The counsel of the wicked is far from me.”
(Job 21:7-16)

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross. You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.“
(Colossians 1:15-23)

Zophar criticized Job because he believed God brought about Job’s circumstances. Since God brought them and was making Job suffer, how could Job hope for vindication? He was furious at the apparent hypocrisy of this wicked man who was clearly being punished. But Job refuted the argument because God isn’t a smiter. He isn’t trying to hurt us. God is MERCIFUL – even to the ungodly. The wicked WILL get what they deserve if they refuse to turn to God, but God is merciful and shows them His goodness. They will never turn to a vengeful God. But we ALL turn to our GOOD God.

Only Jesus can vindicate us. Only Jesus, the Messiah, can bring us back to God in fullness. It is in Him that we find life. It is in Him we have covenant with the Father. It is in Him that we are renewed. This was impossible while we were wicked, but when we turned to our loving Father, our GOOD God, and repented, in Jesus and through Jesus we were saved. We were renewed. We were vindicated. And in Jesus we hold onto our salvation. Everything was made through Jesus and Jesus upholds everything. It is through Jesus that we live righteously and truly prosper.

Summary

Prosperity has become almost a bad word in many churches today. But it isn’t a money thing. It is a whole life thing. Abundant life. It is Jesus that makes life worth living. It is Jesus who enables us to be content. It is in Jesus we find healing released. It is in Jesus we have our Way open to the Father – from whom ALL good things flow. Money can be a part of prosperity, but prosperity really is the spiritual condition of being right with God. When we are right with God, all the rest follows (Matthew 6:33). Everything ends up in its right place, with the right value on it: God’s value. God’s point of view. If we want to be truly vindicated and prosperous, we need to be looking to God. Keeping our focus on Jesus. Humbly submitting and obeying what we find in the Word. THAT is how we do well. THAT is how we prosper. THAT is how we live an abundant life that no one and no circumstance can take from us.