Tag Archives: Abraham

The Goal of the Gospel is Happiness?

You Bet It Is!

Someone spotted a church called “The Love Church” and pegged it as a seeker-friendly joint. I quipped it beats “Sad Church.” They fired back with conviction: happiness isn’t the gospel’s goal. Their evidence? An emotional roll call of extended family members—churchgoers all—wrestling with sickness, poverty, and troubles. “Sad Church sounds about right,” they smirked, implying it’s a fitting name for real life.

I could write a theological tome on this, but I’ll keep it short.

First, let’s zoom to the cosmic blueprints—God’s decrees (supralapsarian style). God’s intentions are pure positivity, not a divine Debbie Downer vibe. His original plan? Our joy, happiness, glory, and blessedness in Him. Justice comes first, then injustice. You can’t have a villain without something good for it to attack. God’s intentions are positive. They are positive for us first in the decrees. God’s heart is for our happiness. The gospel was predestined for our glory and happiness. Before we dive into specifics, happiness was already the gospel’s goal. All sunshine, no storm clouds.

Second, the “gospel” (even being declared righteous by God) is about our favor, glory, fame, prosperity, healing, miracles, empowerment by the Spirit, and inheriting the world through Abraham’s blessing. Sin didn’t even get a cameo in Abraham’s story. It was all positive, overflowing like a divine jackpot. Paul calls Abraham’s blessing—where he inherits the world, receives the Spirit, and sees miracles—the “gospel.” Not just for Abe, but for us too. This positivity would make health-and-wealth preachers blush for playing it too safe, shaming every church tradition for underselling the gospel’s joy.

We sinned against God. He brought the law 400 years after Abraham’s blessing-fest to expose our sinfulness. But Jesus arrived to seal both sides of the deal. He crushed sin by grace and ensured Abraham’s blessing flows to Jews and non-Jews alike, all by grace.

Happiness isn’t the gospel’s only goal, but it’s no sidekick either. In fact, forgiveness isn’t even the main event. Peter says forgiveness is the starting line, a springboard to the gospel’s true aim: being baptized in the Spirit for power.

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. THEN you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:39)

This Spirit-baptism for miracle power is what Paul calls the “gospel” in Galatians 3. Receiving Abraham’s blessing—healing miracles, financial windfalls, relational breakthroughs, and a whole miracle smorgasbord—fills us with happiness and joy. The gospel’s goal is absolutely happiness. Paul says Jesus became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) to secure this miracle-soaked joy. That means these blessings have Jesus’ blood sprinkled on them, nailed to that cursed tree. To say happiness isn’t the gospel’s goal is to spit on Jesus’ blood like it’s cheap wine, disrespecting the cross where His hands and feet were pierced. Those who scoff at the gospel of happiness can’t dodge their spit landing on Jesus’ nailed feet.

Let’s skip Isaiah 53 for now, where Jesus, our scapegoat, carries away sickness and heals us by His stripes. Healing in this life is as much the gospel as forgiveness. I’m not saying healing trumps forgiveness in importance, but both flow from the same atonement and resurrection. Slap one, and you slap the blood that bought them both. You can’t curse part of the gospel without torching the whole thing. If Jesus’ blood fails to spark our happiness, what hope does it have to forgive us? Zilch.

Healing alone, a gospel cornerstone, brings joy in spades. Jesus and Acts show people leaping with happiness, entire towns buzzing with “great joy” (Acts 8:8). Jesus Himself says His love brings abundant joy (John 14-17), tying answered prayers to overflowing happiness. We pray and receive whatever we want because of the gospel and Jesus’ blood. The gospel’s goal? Happiness, served piping hot.

David’s Psalms are a happiness playlist, praising God for constant healing, deliverance, and joy in the morning. God is David’s salvation and blessing, sparking loud, happy shouts of praise.

Those who reject the gospel of happiness reject the gospel itself. They’ve got itching ears for a different seeker-friendly church—one that whispers, “God won’t heal you,” or “It’s up to His will, so stay in the dark.” They hand out spiritual comfort blankets to keep you cozy in sickness, defeat, and depression. They make you feel excited when Satan is cockblocking you. A huge crowd seeks this message, craving comfort in their suffering. But they suffer like Israel in the wilderness—not for God’s glory, but for their unbelief and stupidity (we are too small and they are too big). They don’t suffer for the gospel under persecution; they suffer because they reject it.

They claim the gospel is for God’s glory. Duh, even demons nod at that. The real question is how God glorifies Himself through the gospel. He does it by making it a fountain of blessings and miracles, crowning us with glory (1 Corinthians 2:7).

As Gabriel Arauto quips, “If God doesn’t serve you with healing, miracles, prosperity, and happiness, He’ll become your executioner” (John 13:8, paraphrased).

The gospel of happiness isn’t just feel-good fluff—it’s got eternal stakes. Reject it, and you’re dancing on thin ice.

Cut From The Same Rock

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many. The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
Isaiah 51:1‭-‬3 NIV

Paul says we have the blessing of Abraham through Jesus. This blessing means the baptism of the Spirit and miracles. This should not be a surprise because even in the Old Testament we see this over and over. In Isaiah 51 God mentions the blessing of Abraham. He says those seeking righteousness are cut from the same blessed rock. Thus, in context of Isaiah 51 God will come and restore Israel, even to the point of great wealth and happiness.

In Christ we are also cut from the same blessed rock with Abraham. If you call out to God in faith, He will restore any lost part of your life, and He will make it like Eden. He will turn deserts into rivers of healing, prosperity and great joy. If it takes 100 miracles to restore you and uplift you, then God’s faithful blessing will insure you get all 110 of them.

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Substitutionary Atonement: Curses For Miracles

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corin.5:21 LEB).
“Though (Jesus) was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.” (2 Corin. 8:9 NLT)
“Surely He has borne our sickness, And carried our pains… And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5 LEB).

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” in order that the [gospel] might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the [gospel]
of the Spirit [ & miracles, – verse 5,8] through faith,”
(Galatians 3:13-14 LEB).

Sin for righteousness.

Poverty for prosperity.

Sickness for health.

Curses for Spirit and Miracles.

Interestingly, the reverse for curses is the baptism of the Spirit and miracles. Tradition the rejects these things as a common experience for the believers and so put themselves under a curse, by doctrine and practice. If you are not under miracles, then by Paul’s argument you are still under a curse.

Paul argues in the beginning of chapter 3 that by faith they were filled with the Spirit and miracles, and not by doing the law. Thus, Spirit and Miracles are put together by Paul. Next, Paul says this is the blessing of Abraham that God promised, and this promise is also for gentiles who have faith. Then Paul says, the Scripture preached this blessing as the “gospel” to Abraham.

Two important notes in how Paul is using terms. Paul uses the terms “God” and “Scripture” as interchangeable, and terms “blessing to Abraham” and “gospel” as interchangeable.

Thus, when verse 14 says that we might receive the Spirit, it has already been defined by Paul along side with “miracles,” and that they are together defined with the interchangeable terms, “blessing and gospel.”  By defining the gospel as the Spirit and miracles Paul is defining the gospel or blessing by important specific effects, and not defining it in its broadest meaning. Therefore, in Paul’ argument it is not a straight “curses for blessings” conclusion, the way it might mirror, sins for righteousness. Paul is going straight to the effects. Curses for the Spirit and miracles.

This should not be a surprise if you consider the origin of this gospel, which is Abraham. God’s blessing to him equated in an onslaught of miracles after miracles. Physical miracles of his and his wife’s bodies, prosperity, favor, military victories over multiple kingdoms, the King of Salem giving him bread and wine and talking with God face to face (etc.). Thus, when we are grafted into this blessing by the atonement of Jesus and faith in Him, we are grated into an onslaught of miracles.

Paul’s argument is that through Jesus by faith, we have the same gospel that was promised to Abraham is given to us. Simple and beautiful.

Thus, even after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Paul’s argument is the gospel of Abraham is the foundation for the abundant miracles and Spirit of power being demonstrated in the Galatian church. The church receives this freely in faith and not by works of the law. Thus, the foundation for the current New Testament church dispensation is the ongoing gospel of Abraham. Therefore, any argument about miracles ending with the apostles, is stupid, anti-scripture and anti-gospel.

The reason people say such things, is because they are men who are focused on men, albite good men, but men nonetheless. They love men, love the praise of men and will do anything to side with men. God is just an afterthought and decoration. As demonic as it is, God is used as an exegesis principle to help them focus on men.

The Scripture is focused on God. God and His swearing by His name to bless Abraham with unending miracles in the foundation. All those who turn to this God and His gospel of miracles, will not be put to shame.

The important point is that the “age of miracles” is interchangeable with the “age of the gospel of Abraham.” If this gospel stands, it is an age of miracles and the Spirit.  The only 2 ways for abundant miracles to stop is (1) God stops being faithful to His promise to Abraham (which He swore by His Name to do, Heb. 6:13-14) or (2) people do not believe in God’s gospel promise (Rom. 10:16).

Many men have conspired with demons to say it was the first reason and not their lack of faith that explains the lack of the effects of the gospel, which is miracles and the Spirit in their life. They have their reward.

But for us, let us partake of the Lord’s Supper and remember the sufferings of Jesus that exchanged our sin for His righteousness, our sickness for His Health, our poverty for His wealth, and ours curses for His miraculous power. Let us be Christians and live the gospel of Abraham that Jesus made ours by being literally nailed to our curses on that tree. God wanted this. Just as God wanted Abraham to be blessed with a life of miracles, He wants you to be.