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.,
- The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22)
- 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)
- One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion, gathers it for him who will pity the poor. (Proverbs 28:8)
- Riches and honor are with me (Wisdom), enduring riches and righteousness. (Proverbs 8:18)
- 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.
