We are considering the subject of loss from a Biblical perspective. Last time, to lay a foundation, we saw that loss in many forms entered into our experience at the fall, because Adam and Eve disbelieved and disobeyed God. From the Biblical accounts of the earliest days after that disaster, we put together a list of just some of the things they lost through their sin. We saw that sin and certain types of loss are like inseparable allies - so that sin inevitably brings loss with it as a consequence.
However, we also saw, quite wonderfully, that in the gospel, Christ saves those who trust in Him from sin and from all of its consequences, including the associated losses.
It is often (and paradoxically) the case in Biblical mathematics that negatives are turned into positives:
- The first are made last and the last first (Matthew 16:20);
- The widow's two mites were worth more in the sight of God than the huge offerings of those who gave large amounts (Mark 12:41-44);
- Those who have nothing will lose even what they have (Matthew 13:10-12);
- Christians die to themselves in order to live to God (John 12:25)
- There are many more such teachings to add to this list
Jesus turns many things that are accepted thinking in the world on their heads! Accordingly, for every loss we experience as a consequence of sin, Christ through the gospel surprisingly, wonderfully and, graciously mitigates the loss in this world and turns it into gain for us and glory for Him when we arrive in heaven. The converse is also true - every "gain" we make in this world's eyes, we begin to see as nothing but loss when we come to know Christ. This is going to be the lens through which we will look at the different losses we may experience in this world, seeing in each instance that for the believer, rightly considered, they will ultimately result in surpassing and glorious gain!
This time, our focus is on the loss of wealth, whether in terms of money or possessions.
The Bible is quite clear that there is nothing intrinsically sinful about wealth, and wealthy people are not inevitably greater "sinners" than those who are poor (in fact, lust for wealth can make poor people into great sinners, as well as the rich). When our sinful hearts are drawn out after material goods and possessions rather then being drawn out after God, we have a huge problem. Wealth that has captured our hearts is a snare to us whether we possess it or not. Indeed, believers are warned that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils, and we are urged to be content with what God has provided for us:
1 Timothy 6:6-10 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 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. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
It is implicit in these verses that pursuit of wealth and love of wealth (a.k.a greed, or covetousness) is folly that leads to many evils and robs us of contentment instead of supplying it. It is worshiping and serving transient material things that clearly don't satisfy, rather than the One Who created them. This is the very essence of idolatry:
Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Paul observes that this is the inclination of the sinful human heart, manifesting itself outwardly in many kinds of evil behavior:
Romans 1:24-25 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
It seems obvious that the hurt we suffer as a result of many of our losses (including the loss of wealth) is magnified if we have become wrongly devoted in our hearts and lives to what is then lost. Paul said as much in writing to Timothy above. At the end of this pathway is ruin and destruction, and even believers who set their hearts on wealth turn their backs on the faith and are pierced with many pangs, becoming unfruitful in their Christian walks. Yet money is deceitful and alluring to us, promising contentment and satisfaction that it will never deliver. Many are taken in this snare.
Matthew 13:22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
See also in the account of the Rich Young Ruler how a wrong attitude to wealth can be an obstacle to entering God's kingdom. He decided to keep his wealth rather than to follow Christ and gain eternal life (Luke 18:18-27). Christ pointed out that it is foolishness to gain the whole world, even if you were able, and yet to lose your soul:
Matthew 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
How does the gospel mitigate these difficulties in this world? As believers, our love is settled on Jesus Christ as the fairest among ten thousand. God has given us Christ, and along with Him will graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32). God has given Himself to us and will never leave us! This, says the writer to the Hebrews, should provide a contentment that the nothing in this world can begin to equal (see above). As we gaze upon His surpassing and dazzling beauty, everything in the world seems tarnished and fading in comparison. As the old praise song says:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
In addition, having come to taste spiritual and eternal realities, we understand more and more clearly that the things we possess in this world are temporary. They all turn to dust over time. It is the unseen things that we now see with eyes of faith that are eternal and worth striving for. It is these we should want to store up for ourselves in heaven and not the things we must leave behind us when we leave this world.
Again, we come to realize as believers that we don't possess anything that we haven't been given. If we are blessed with wealth because of our skills, it is God who gave them to us. If because of our parents, it is God who caused us to be born to them. We can lay claim to nothing that we have deserved or earned apart from the generosity of God.
Lastly, as God's children, we are heirs to all His great and very precious promises. Not the least among these are to supply us with everything we need and to cause everything to work together for our good. So we don't need to amass wealth as an insurance against hard times that may come randomly upon us. We need to plan prudently, of course, but we absolutely must not be given over to anxiety about worldly things (food, clothing, shelter) when we are children of the living God and He knows we need these things before we ever ask Him!
All these considerations cause us to love the wealth of this world less and less to possess it as stewards for the Lord who gave it rather than letting it possess our hearts and turn us away from our Father.
How does the gospel not just eliminate loss of wealth as an issue once we arrive in heaven, but turn it into gain?
In heaven we will be with the One that we love above all others, and we will be lost in wonder, love praise at the sight of our Savior. There will be no-one and nothing that will be able to interrupt for an instant the joy and the splendour we will behold.
In addition, though, God has not only saved us from our sins through Christ, but He has adopted us into the Royal Family of Heaven. He has prepared a glorious inheritance in heaven for us that can never perish, spoil or fade:
Ephesians 1:16–18 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Is it possible that God would let His children, the Princes and princesses of His Kingdom, be poor, ragged beggars in heaven, eking out an existence, given the lavish demonstrations He has given of His great love for us - including the cost He paid to purchase us for Himself? It can never be! So whatever losses of wealth we may have suffered in this world, and however difficult that may have been, it will all seem as nothing, or of little significance, turning to glorious gain in heaven through the blood of Jesus Christ!
For the Christian, our translation into glory will always and inevitably mean surpassing gain for us! That is one reason why Paul was able to say these words (in the context of his sufferings, but they certainly have wider application):
Philippians 1:21–23 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
