(This is an extract of Steve Popoola's teaching at Redeemed Christian Church, Friends parish, London on 27th September 2009)

Introduction: God made us in His image and His likeness – We are objects of God created with His attributes. We inherit from Him the divine nature. Gen  1:26 - 28

When we examine the things God can do, it helps us to understand how far we can go with God, unlimited in His ability to make us what He wants us to be.

What is creation and who can create?

Creation is different from production or invention. Creation means bringing into existence something which never existed before; Making something out of nothing. “Calling those things that were not as if they existed” (Heb 11:13, Rom 4:17)



To invent or to produce, means creating something unknown from something already existing. Therefore, only God can create, while men can invent and produce.  Man’s ability to invent is a result of the God’s creative ability which we inherited from him when we were created. God is never surprised with man’s invention because invention is man discovering the hidden mysteries which God reveals to us from time to time by giving some men the unusual ability to discover new things.

What is Biblical Success?

In order for us to understand biblical success, we need to look at the ordinary meaning of  the word. The secular world sees success as the attainment of wealth, position and fame.

This is the reason why you don’t see school teachers, nurses, counselors and social workers being called upon to give their success stories. The impact of these people on the society is so enormous, yet we don’t see them as successful because they don’t fall in line according to the world’s standards.

Unfortunately, even the church is getting carried away with the world’s view of success. Leaders are appointed based on their professional and societal status rather than their successful Christian life. The desire  to generate funds have made some ministers professional fund raisers and investment motivators.

If   we use the world’s standards to evaluate our Lord Jesus Christ, then we will conclude that His was not a success story. He was born in a manger, worked as a carpenter, He had no degree, credentials, awards, prestige, status, possessions, stocks, bonds, insurance, car or home.

But was Jesus a failure? Definitely not! He died for our sins so that we can have eternal life. He may not have had a degree but His teachings are still being studied by Professors and Doctors till this present day. His death on the cross did not kill His teachings nor did it reduce the number of His disciples. On the contrary, millions all over the word continue to accept this teaching and the number is still growing by the day.

God’s measurement of our success is when we live our lives in obedience and faithfulness to Him.  (Joshua 1:8)

Does God Want Us To Succeed?

Definitely yes!  We can confirm this by  looking at the following scriptures

–            Gen 24:56 – Abraham’s servant had a successful journey getting a wife for Isaac.

-            Gen 39:23 – Joseph had success even when he was in prison.

-            1 Sam 18:14 – In everything David did, he had success

-            1 Chron 22:13 – David passes on the principles of success to Solomon

-            Proverbs 16:3 – Commit to the Lord all that you do, and your plans will    succeed

-            Jeremiah 29:11 – God wants us to prosper

-            Duet 8:18 – God gives us the ability to make wealth.

Conclusion

God created man to succeed but we need to understand the principles of success in order to achieve it. Our success story does not end here but is fully realized when we enter into His glory with triumph. May the Lord grant us success all around in Jesus Name, Amen.