LIVING AN ABUNDANT LIFE
1) Jesus came to offer us the fullness of life. John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus starts out by talking about the thief-who is Satan. And Jesus reveals what Satan wants to do to us-steal, kill, destroy. Here we can see the digression-first he wants to steal-steal our joy, our love, our peace-not for himself-he wants nothing to do with any of these things and he doesn’t want anyone else to benefit from so he tries to steal them. Then his design is to kill us-take our very lives. He wants to kill our spirit, he wants to kill our hope; he wants to bring about the end of our lives. Finally, he wants to destroy us. It’s not enough that he would be successful in killing us, he want to take it to the next level and completely annihilate us. Satan wants to completely destroy our soul so that it rots in hell along with his. Satan wants nothing but evil for us.
Jesus, however, wants nothing but the best for us. First, he says that he came to bring us life. Jesus came to die on the cross that we would have eternal life. But not only did he come to bring us eternal life, he also came that we would have the fullness of life here and now. The KJV words it, “and have it more abundantly”. Abundantly (plentifully, richly). What does this mean? Does it mean that I am to live a life of luxury? Does this mean that I am called to be rich and have lots of stuff? I believe this is an erroneous way to interpret this. The abundant life is found in having an overflow of spiritual blessings, not material ones. We may wind-up being blessed materially but I don’t see scripture teaching us that this is what God intended for us to pursue. On the contrary, I see passages that speak out against having the desire to be rich. The Greek word for “full” can mean completely or no need. This tells me that Jesus offers me a complete life where he will meet all my needs. Phil. 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” God’s glorious riches are without limit. No matter how much we receive from him there is plenty more where that came from. Christ uses the Greek word perissos. In this context, it means ‘superior in quantity or quality’ ‘exceedingly’ ‘very high’ ‘advantage’ ‘beyond measure’. perisson echein, "to have a surplus," true to the meaning of overflow. David said, “my cup runneth over”-I have an overflow; a surplus. The fullness of life that Christ offers is never short of blessings.
2) What is offered to us in abundance? Abundant=plentiful, bountiful, overflowing.
• Abundant grace. 1st Tim. 1:12-17. We are able to recognize how abundantly grace was given to us when we recognize our sinfulness. Paul saw his wretchedness and he recognized how much he had been forgiven. He saw the ways in which the Lord had gifted him and was using him for divine purposes and he recognized how much grace he had been shown. We have been given abundant grace but in order to recognize that we need to see it in the contrast of our own unrighteousness.
• Abundant peace-Jer. 33:6-9. God’s people were bound in captivity but God promises them restoration and abundant peace and security. We were once held in captivity by sin. But we were freed by Jesus and now we have an abundance of peace and security. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. And if we allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in us we don’t have to worry about being taken captive again. If we stay close to Christ we won’t have chaos in our spirit. We don’t have to live in worry, fear or doubt; we can have the assurance of knowing we will be okay.
• Abundant goodness. Psalm 145:3-7. God has abundant goodness and he chooses to bestow that goodness in abundance towards us. It says in vs. 16, “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” And we are called to celebrate that abundant goodness. And we should also tell should tell others what the Lord has done for us in praise and glorify his name. We need to acknowledge to others that the only place this wonderfully abundant goodness can be found is through God. Lay Minister John Mayes writes, “People who enjoy the abundant life will possess all of these qualities: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, purity, humility, modesty, faith, character, wisdom, enthusiasm, dignity, optimism, confidence, honesty, and a relationship with God. In other words, the abundant life is full of all the things money can’t buy. No matter how much money you have, you can not buy more patience, self-control, or salvation! Hardware stores do not sell wisdom or hope. And yes, you can possess all of these qualities! You can get everyone of these things from God, who is the giver of all good things. The Bible says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change...", James 1:17.”
• Abundant spiritual knowledge, gifts/abilities. Peter said in 2nd Pet. 1:3 that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Part of what he’s given us in order to be godly is spiritual knowledge and spiritual gifts. Jesus gave the parable of the sower in Matt. 13:1-9. The disciples came to him and asked why he spoke in parables. Jesus told them that the secrets to the kingdom of heaven had been given to them in abundance. We who are Jesus’ disciples have the privilege to understand spiritual things; we have an abundance of spiritual knowledge and insight available to us. Jesus explains to them about the parable of the sower in Matt. 13:18-23. We received the seed (gospel) and through Christ we gain understanding of the spiritual things that were once foreign to us. And through that understanding and knowledge we go around planting seeds through which we are able to produce a fruitful crop of believers who themselves will go out and do the same. (22-unfruitful=unprosperous; 23-30, 60, 100 times more=abundance, prosperity).
In Matt. 25:14-30 we have the parable of the talents. The workers were given talents to invest. I see this in a spiritual light where we are given certain spiritual talents/abilities/gifts to go out and use and cause them to multiply as in the parable of the sower. Jesus says something that we find in both parables-Matt. 25:29, “for everyone who has will be given more and he will have an abundance.” If we exercise our gifts and plant seeds we will be blessed with more knowledge and ability so we can go out and plant more seeds and bring in a harvest for the kingdom of God. We have been given a spiritual abundance.
3) Another word associated with living an abundant life is prosperous. To prosper means to flourish, grow, thrive, do well. Although prosperity is usually associated with making money/wealth it is also associated with being successful. Therefore, I believe the premise behind being prosperous in the bible has to do with spiritual prosperity more so than material prosperity. What do we need in order to be prosperous?
We need to be humble in order to be prosperous. Job 22:21, “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.” Pride will prevent me from being prosperous. Pride will keep me from submitting to God. In my pride I have no peace with God. However, if I humbly surrender to God’s ways I will find prosperity. Humility will allow me to understand that all my blessings came to me by the hand of God. When the Israelites gave for the building of the temple, David said in 1st Chron. 29:16, “O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.” All of what our hands have produced has come from God giving us the strength and ability to do so. Whatever abundance we have whether spiritual or material is all due to the giftedness of God and not of ourselves. Nebuchadnezzar learned a hard lesson because he didn’t honor the Lord’s blessing on his life. He had a dream and Daniel interpreted the dream and warned him that if he would acknowledge that God was the ruler his prosperity would continue. However, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t listen. A year later he was walking on the roof of his royal palace and he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” The words were still on his lips when Daniels’ warning about his fate if he chose not to acknowledge God came true. He went insane and was driven away from his kingdom until he came to the point to recognize that God was to be praised, honored and glorified.
• We need to pursue righteousness to be prosperous. Prov. 21:21, “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” One might think they need to pursue money, power or fame in order to prosper. We see here that only by pursuing righteousness will someone truly prosper. Jesus said in Mt. 5:6 that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness we will be filled. If we pursue righteousness we will have an abundance of holy attributes and blessings. Jesus told us not to worry in Matt. 6. He said to not chase after the same things the pagans do but rather seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be given to you as well. I don’t have to go around pursuing the things that won’t ever satisfy me. However, if I pursue righteousness I will not only be satisfied, I will be filled. Psalm 1:1-3. “Everything he does prospers”. If I choose to live according to the ways of the wicked I will become empty, dry and withered. However, if I choose to pursue the word of God and live according to it I will be strong, vibrant, fruitful-prosperous.
• We need to be wise to be prosperous-Prov. 8:10-11, 18-21. Here wisdom is spoken of as being much more valuable that gold, silver or rubies. Precious stones are not worth nearly as much as precious wisdom. With wisdom come true riches. The fruit of wisdom is plentiful. Wisdom causes our spiritual storehouses to be filled. By obtaining wisdom we can be sure we are on the path to prosperity. Prov. 19:8, “He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.” What do I cherish, what do I love; what do I value? If it’s wisdom and understanding then I will be truly prosperous. If these are what I seek I will live an abundant life.
• We need to be obedient to be prosperous. Prov. 16:20, “Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.” We have been given instruction in the word of God. If we choose to obey those instructions we can trust that it will bring prosperity. We will be enriched with peace, joy and security. When Moses was giving instructions to the Israelites about God’s laws he said in Deut. 28 that if they were obedient the Lord would grant them abundant prosperity. Moses made it simple for the Israelites in Deut. 30:15-16, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” If we are disobedient God will try to get our attention so we would repent and obey. If we will do that we can be sure that we will be prosperous. However, if we choose not to listen we will choose hardship for ourselves. We can either choose life and prosperity or death and destruction.
• We need to be generous to be prosperous. Prov. 11:25, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” We might think that if we’re generous we won’t have anything. Our mindset might be to hoard everything we have thinking that is the answer to having much and living in abundance. However, we see it’s the opposite. Be generous with what you have and God will give it back to you-not so you can hoard it but so you can be generous with it. He who sows generous will also reap generously. 2nd Cor. 9:6-8, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” It’s not just about being generous with our money; it’s also about our time and talents. We have been given an abundance of grace and have been given everything we need to be able to thrive in every good work; to be able to be plentiful in acts of service. This is why we have been blessed-it’s not about us; it’s about God. The parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21 illustrates this. God had blessed him and instead of him choosing to bless as he had been blessed he chose to build bigger barns. It was all about him. We need to be generous with our lives. We need to have the right focus. Our focus in living the abundant life is not about being rich in money but rather rich in good works.
• We can prosper no matter where we are-Jer. 29:4-13. The Israelites had been taken into captivity to Babylon. Their circumstances were not ideal. It was going to be 70 years before deliverance would come. They had some choices to make. Would they have a miserable attitude the whole time or would they make the most of it? God wanted them to accept the situation he allowed them to be in and realize that they can prosper in it. John Mayes writes, “All believers are invited to discover abundant living. It is available to all God’s children, no matter what their circumstances are in life. This is a hard concept for many Christians to accept. Many assume the abundant life depends on circumstances, or fate or luck, or their bank account, or their status in life, or their health. Wealth, power, status, and worldly pleasure have nothing to do with living the abundant life. As you look around this world, you will notice many who have far less than you or I, but have overcome their situations of poverty, physical limitations, child abuse or other difficulties and discovered the abundant life that Jesus has promised.” No matter what your resources are, no matter where God has you, you can prosper. Living the abundant life is not dependant on your circumstances, it’s dependant on your attitude. Love and serve the Lord no matter what and you can be living the abundant life that he desires for you.
