One Portal, Two Directions

One Portal, Two Directions.

You’d think our world’s system of ‘get for me, myself and mine’

Would have failed by now, having been dis-proven time after time!

Well, it has and it hasn’t, as I shall herein explain.

Sit back, be patient, and it’ll all become plain.

Our world’s financial and economic systems are under the direct influence of two spiritual kingdoms, namely the Kingdom of God, ruled by Jesus, and the kingdom of evil, ruled by satan. Both kingdoms extend their influence through their subjects, through a network of spiritual laws and principles, but each has two kingpin laws by which they operate financially/economically:

• The Kingdom of God uses the laws (or spirits) of giving and receiving
• The kingdom of satan uses the laws (or spirits) of avarice and poverty

Working together, these opposing sets of spirits seek to accomplish the ultimate plan of their opposing team captains, Jesus and satan, namely, to ensure the gradual concentration of the world’s wealth into fewer and fewer hands -- the hands of their followers. You see, wealth, just like everything else on planet Earth, was made for mankind in our righteous state. The world’s wealth was hijacked by satan & company when Adam sinned against God. Jesus’ mission was to initiate a ‘gradual and phased reversal’ of the results/effects of this hijacking.

With that context, here’s what’s going on.

On one hand, satan refuses to accept and accede his defeat so admirably accomplished by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, proving His God-ship authority over life and death. Satan knows in our world, wealth is respected to the degree that it is effectively worshiped! To be worshiped as God is exactly what he has desired from the beginning, and still desires. Having been banned from accomplishing this in Heaven, the Earth realm has become his surrogate kingdom. Wealth and its associated power are the means by which he assures and enjoys direct and indirect human worship. The greater the concentration of this wealth in fewer hands, the easier it will be for him to exercise his direct influence and control over Earth-matters, i.e., everything that really matters on planet Earth. The final anti-Christ, predicted in the Bible (in Daniel, 2 Thessalonians, 1 John, 2 John and Revelation), will be the ultimate symbol of his wealth/power concentration and control. Thus, the spirits of avarice (greed) and poverty have their assignments. Wealth begets wealth, just like a corn seed planted grows a stalk of corn, loaded with ears of corn. Yep, Earth remains faithful in reproducing any seed (good, bad or ugly) ‘after its kind’ (according God’s law initiated in Genesis 1), including your thoughts and actions. The spirit of avarice ensures wealth is concentrated and passed from generation-to-generation. The spirit of poverty becomes the cloak (the poverty cloak) used to quiet the masses of those who are disenfranchised and dispossessed, largely preventing their hopes from being realized. Together, these twin spirits have been very effective, and both will achieve their ultimate goal in preparation for the arrival of the final anti-Christ on the scene … soon, and the return of Jesus The (real!) Christ thereafter. There is one pivotal insight the ungodly who are so captivated do not realize, namely the end result of their captivation, as expressed in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 and Proverbs 11:28:

• But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. 
• Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

On the other hand, Jesus is patiently working the laws and principles of His Kingdom – giving and receiving. While the growth in numbers of His subjects has been impressive (namely, the real saints of God who were formerly the aint’s of satan), our willingness to embrace and work these principles aggressively has admittedly hit a snag. Our systemic perspectives on finance and economic wealth are so tainted with ‘churchy negativity’ that many shun major aspects of these laws and principles. Many  look with jaundiced eye on the very concept of wealth accumulation, not realizing this view inadvertently reinforces the works of the spirits of avarice and poverty! As a result, Jesus must wait for the next or possibly successive generations of saints who will get it and ‘move forward into the promised land.’ Nevertheless, His ultimate objective shall indeed be accomplished, also. This is affirmed and confirmed in dozens of Scripture verses, e.g.,

1. The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22)
2. For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. (Ecclesiastes 2:26)
3. One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion, gathers it for him who will pity the poor. (Proverbs 28:8)
4. Riches and honor are with me (Wisdom), enduring riches and righteousness. (Proverbs 8:18)
5. The blessing of The Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22)

The major difference between these two kingdoms in accomplishing their objectives is clear:  The objectives of The Kingdom of God will be eternal, not temporary as with the kingdom and objectives of satan. As with the kingdom of satan, there is one pivotal insight the saints of God either do not know or have not fully embraced across the spectrum of God’s intent, as expressed in 2 Corinthians 8:9:

For you know the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, 

that you, through His poverty, might become rich.

The poverty cloak mentioned above has pretty much blinded us of the fuller meaning of this verse. As a result, many of us have been lulled into contentment with a mostly spiritual interpretation of this verse. For them, it would be helpful, as part of a broader meditation on our position ‘in Christ’, to meditate on and muse the many ways in which Jesus was rich and became poor. While meditating, keep in mind Jesus had a full-time treasurer and apparently enough assets for a corrupt disciple to steal and manipulate funds, yet not cripple the countrywide and regional ministry! Moreover, Jesus’ clothes were sufficiently valuable as to attract the desire of Roman soldiers who agreed His robe was too expensive to divide, so they gambled for it! Our adversary, satan, is probably ‘laughing all the way to the bank’, as generation-after-generation of saints decide to embrace only one side (spiritual) of the riches Jesus gave up in order for us to walk in His wealth. Unlike in satan’s kingdom, wealth that Jesus orchestrates and directs will not divert the worship He alone is due, neither will it plunge people into ruin and destruction. Rather, His wealth is a mere by-product of walking in His Spirit, and is used to facilitate His giving/receiving laws and principles for socio-economic justice and harmony in the Earth.

As an international development economist who has a considerable world view (having traveled iteratively to and/or lived in 80 nations/territories, and remaining reasonably au courant on world affairs), one thing seems fairly clear to me. The event(s) that will likely trigger the uncloaking of the final anti-Christ will most likely be the effects of the massive accumulation of wealth into fewer and fewer hands, triggering massive, world-wide revolts. You may disagree and believe some form of politically motivated near-nuclear warfare or massive disease, etc. may be the trigger. Remember, a big (if not the biggest) part of politicized issues are typically financial/economic in nature, and disease pandemics have huge, ultimate financial/economic effects that threaten existing patterns of wealth distribution. From Genesis-to-Revelation, and across all of human history, ask yourself, ‘What role has domination of economic resources played in inter-community and international conflicts?’ Wealth concentration is an issue the rich, by nature, simply are unable/unwilling to resolve, just as the rich young ruler in his encounter with Jesus, as recorded in Mark 10.

We, The Church, need to resist the pulls of the spirits of avarice and poverty, and yield more purposefully to God’s spirits and principles of giving and receiving in order to help usher into being, the more just and humane financial and economic system Christ intended …pending His soon return to planet Earth!

The extent to which we open our giving portal determines the extent to which we receive through that same portal.