Attaining God’s abundant life for us
Jesus came to give us abundant life and promised all His followers an abundance of knowledge of God’s Kingdom. At the same time, we are told that we will share abundantly in Jesus’ suffering and comfort too. How do we reconcile these seemingly opposing truths?
(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 领受神丰盛的生命 | 繁體中文 > 領受神豐盛的生命)
John 10:10 ESV The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Matthew 13:11-12 NLT He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.
2 Corinthians 1:5 ESV For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
God’s abundance
God does not do things in half measures. It is in His nature to be extravagant, magnanimous, and generous. We see this in God’s creation and in His relationship with us.
Let’s start with a handful of examples from nature. It is estimated that there are 369,000 species of flowering plants, 16,000 species of bees, and 34,000 species of fish. The milky way contains between 200 and 400 billion stars and at least 100 billion planets. That is over 100,000,000,000 planets. God gives each of our bodies trillions of microorganisms that work 24/7 for our well-being.
If we were to pause for a while and consider God’s creations, we can clearly see our Father’s divine nature, eternal power, and abundance. The wonderful truth is that God’s abundance overflows into His relationship with us.
Psalm 8:3-4 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
When it comes to us, God is abundant in His gifts of:
- Love | Isaiah 63:7 I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
- Grace | 1 Timothy 1:14 NIV The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
- Mercy | Psalm 51:1-2 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
- Pardon| Isaiah 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
- Peace | Isaiah 57:19 NLT May they have abundant peace, both near and far,” says the Lord, who heals them.
- Joy | John 16:23-24 NLT … I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.
God blesses us with an abundance that lasts for all eternity.
Not in abundant possessions
This world teaches us to measure our lives by other forms of abundance that are fleeting; our popularity, social media likes, material possessions, finances, and so forth. There is always something else for us to pursue or acquire. We are lured into various forms of covetousness, greed, and striving.
God’s Word warns us that an abundant life does not come from the “abundance of our possessions.”
Luke 12:15 ESV And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Rather, God’s Word shows us that a blessed life comes from actively giving away our possession, especially to the needy – because this is when He will meet our needs all the more abundantly.
Luke 6:38 ESV give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
Acts 20:33-35 ESV I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
The more we give, the more we are blessed so that we can continue to be a channel of God’s goodness to others. When we cut off the outflow of blessings to others, and accumulate God’s blessings for ourselves, we rob ourselves of the fullness of God’s abundant peace and joy.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 NIV Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Jesus’ disciples lived this truth out. The early churches in Macedonia might have been very poor and faced many troubles, but they were filled with God’s “abundant joy” and overflowed with generosity towards others. God loves cheerful givers and blessed them abundantly.
2 Corinthians 8:1-2 NLT Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.
Abundant comfort and abundant suffering
Earthly things may satisfy our fleshly appetites for a while, but they can never truly satisfy our souls. Jesus calls us to die to the cravings of this earthly life so as to experience His eternal life now on earth, free from the trappings of this world.
Mark 8:35-37 ESV For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?
Being set free from earthly bondages starts with us renouncing our faith in earthly comforts and securities, and putting our faith in Jesus alone. Only then can we start to experience eternal things.
Luke 14:33 ESV So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Luke 9:23 ESV And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
As we do, we will find that unbelievers, who think only about earthly things, are likely to ridicule, judge, persecute and reject us. This is the suffering that Jesus talked about. If people persecuted Jesus for standing up for eternal truths, they will do the same to His followers.
Matthew 6:31-33 NLT “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
John 15:18-23 NIV “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.
Thankfully, God does not leave us alone in our troubles. Jesus, who suffered tremendously on the cross to pay the price for our sins, also endured every form of human suffering – rejection, physical abuse, bullying, grief, humiliation, false accusation, theft, abandonment, and so forth. He knows the same pain we have to endure on a first-hand basis.
Hebrews 4:15 ESV For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
This is why His Spirit is able to comfort and bind our broken hearts as we cry out to Him. He will also give us the endurance to overcome all forms of earthly temptations and produce godly character and hope in us as a result. Following Jesus Christ comes at the price of earthly treasures in favour of eternal abundance. Which will we choose?
Isaiah 61:1 ESV The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Romans 5:3-5 ESV Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Testimony: Experiencing God’s blessing during a time of unemployment
“I lost my job due to restructuring at my last company. My family and friends were all worried if I could find another job quickly. Thankfully I’m still single and do not have too many financial obligations except for a mortgage that I help pay for my family’s new home. Since Covid, we have learnt to live very simply and it has been a blessing to find that we don’t really need much to be happy. Even though I have not found a job for over half a year, I have discovered abundant blessings because my elderly father became a believer during this period of unemployment. I believe that by spending more time with dad and having more opportunities to witness God’s love to him was a major factor. Compared to the loss of income, this is an abundant eternal gain that is priceless!”
May this sharing be a blessing as you seek to love God with all your heart and experience His abundant spiritual life.