Foreword

A major misconception among Christians is the notion that after believing in the Lord, living well becomes less important, while going to heaven after death is all that matters. However, in my study of the Bible, I have not found such a teaching. The Bible is replete with blessings, revealing that God's will is for us to prosper on earth!

For us to prosper on earth is a very important concept in Chinese Mingding Destiny. Some may label this as the theology of success, but I ask: What is wrong with success? I think success is good. Would you rather have a theology of failure? Some think wealth is bad and poverty is better. I wonder, how can poverty be better than wealth? The Bible says:

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)

Originally, God gave Adam and Eve a Mingding Destiny, which was to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and every living creature that moves on the ground. God intended for Adam and Eve to rule on earth. Many people have the misconception that we go to heaven after death and stay there, but if you study the Bible carefully, you will find that it does not say that at all.

Prospering on Earth is God's Will

Today, I want to argue that when God created Adam and Eve, before they sinned, their job was to manage the entire earth, not heaven. Revelation also states that we will reign with Jesus Christ on earth for a thousand years, and then a new Jerusalem will descend from heaven to earth. We must all have a correct understanding: Heaven does not need you as much as the earth does.

When brothers and sisters return to the Bible, they will find that it is God's will for us to prosper on earth. Later, people on earth were deceived by the devil. Originally, they could have lived prosperously, but they were deceived into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, violating God's will, and thus entered into a curse. Genesis records that after the great flood, only Noah's family of eight remained on earth.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. (Genesis 9:1-2)

God wants to put everything into the hands of man.

As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply in the earth and increase upon it.” (Genesis 9:7)

We find that God not only wanted Adam and Eve to prosper greatly, but also Noah. God never said that poverty is a good thing. In fact, it is not that difficult to understand; as long as you live according to God's will, you will surely prosper! Brothers and sisters, do not think that only those who have a lot of money love money. In life, we find that prosperous people are often very generous, while stingy people are often poor.

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2)

The scripture says “great,” telling us that prosperity is God's will. Reading this, brothers and sisters should be able to understand. Prosperity, being fruitful and multiplying, filling the earth, and subduing it—God's will has never changed. God's will is for us to represent God on earth, exercising royal authority, as it is in heaven. This is not difficult to understand; let us look at the Lord's Prayer together.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name (this is said to the living, not the dead), your kingdom come (from heaven to earth; God's kingdom is always prosperous), your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread (God said to Adam and Eve, “I give you this for food,” and now He says this to us). And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13)

When you read the Lord's Prayer, do you realize how good our gospel is! This gospel allows us to live prosperously on earth. Do you want to be prosperous? Of course! Do you prefer lack or prosperity? Do you prefer sickness or health? Originally, the gospel God gave us is prosperity, abundance, health...

Obeying God's Word Assures Prosperity

When studying the Bible, I found that prosperity and abundance are closely related to one thing: Obeying God's word brings blessings, while disobeying God's word brings curses. God's will is always good, but whether God's will can be realized in your life depends on whether you obey God's word. Some people ask if God predestined someone, and so on. In fact, God chooses many people. For example, in the Israelites, Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael, but God blessed Isaac. Isaac had Esau and Jacob, both grandsons of Abraham. However, Esau had no Mingding Destiny and loved a simple life, while Jacob had a Mingding Destiny. As a result, God blessed Jacob and cursed Esau. Not everyone born of Abraham's flesh necessarily belongs to Abraham; only those with a Mingding Destiny are Abraham's descendants.

Esau loved a simple life and was cursed. The entire Bible speaks of earthly matters. God's will is for us to prosper on earth. Abraham is very interesting, Isaac and Jacob are also very interesting, and Joseph is very interesting. They all lived very prosperously in this world. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not beggars. Joseph even became the Prime Minister of Egypt, becoming the savior of his family.

Therefore, our thoughts and intentions must change, and some things inside us must be adjusted. For example, some people like to complain. When they see others doing business and profiting after a year, they say: “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.” Who did the rich people offend? In fact, wealth and poverty have nothing to do with being spiritual or unspiritual. If rich people should weep and wail, then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph should also weep and wail, as they were all wealthy. David later became even wealthier, with hundreds of tons of gold.

So, brothers and sisters, today we must not act like losers but must desire prosperity. Christians with a loser mentality cannot live well. Some time ago, a pastor said: “I am so poor that I only have spirituality left.” I thought: “Where is the spirituality in that?” I don't think that is spirituality. Therefore, brothers and sisters must know that God's will is for us to prosper. But the way to prosper is different. You can choose to be like Cain, quite prosperous but living in pain. But if you choose to obey God's word, you will surely be blessed.

Therefore, my favorite words in the Bible are Deuteronomy 28:1-14, which speaks very well. Some people will complain: “Look, you are talking about the theology of success again.” I don't know where this concept of the theology of success comes from, but those in the Bible who obey God's word are quite successful. As for those who do not obey God's word, are there any who are successful? Yes, for example, Cain's descendants became the founders of various industries.

But this does not prove anything. The fact that Cain's descendants became the founders of various industries does not mean that those who obey God's word cannot prosper. The fact that others prosper does not mean that we cannot prosper. Prosperity does not prove whether a person is spiritual, but a spiritual person, one who obeys God's word, will surely be blessed and will surely prosper. Let me read it to you:

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)

Is this good or not? This is very good! If you don't want it, I do. Sometimes when I preach to others, I like to read this passage, and after reading it, people say: “What you said is wrong.” I say: “That's amazing, the words of the Bible are wrong.” These words are not mine; I just read you a passage of the Bible. “You can't do that; that's the theology of success.” What is that? Brothers and sisters must know that the concept of prospering on earth is about blessings and curses. The two most important things that everyone must grasp are blessing and curse.

No Blessing Outside of Mingding Destiny

Is the blessing something that happens after a person dies, or is it something that happens while they are alive? It must be something that happens while a person is alive. It's not that after Abraham died, God said, I will bless you. How can He bless him then? Isn't it so? It's not that after Abraham went to heaven, God said, I will bless you. It's not like that. It's that while Abraham was still alive, God said, I will bless you. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. In other words, God's will is for us to prosper on earth while we are alive. If you can grasp what I am saying, then you are blessed. But how do we obtain this blessing? It is by entering into the blessing of Abraham. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we enter into the blessing of Abraham, which is a Mingding Destiny. This is why we are called Chinese Mingding Destiny.

Once you grasp the main point of Chinese Mingding Destiny, you will know that Abraham's Mingding Destiny is to be a blessing to all nations and peoples on earth. Later, Isaac was determined to receive his father's covenant with God, to become a blessing to all nations, and then God made a covenant with him. Isaac later had two children, Esau and Jacob. Jacob was originally the younger son, and Esau was the elder son. However, Jacob desired to receive Abraham's Mingding Destiny, to become a blessing to all nations on earth, so God helped Jacob obtain this blessing, even to the point of allowing Isaac's eyes to fail in his old age, so that he could bless Jacob.

I am telling you that this Mingding Destiny is extraordinary! Why do these people have Mingding Destiny? Because they have seen through the things of this world. For those among us who have not seen through it, listen again. Today you must see through it, that living is vanity of vanities, otherwise you cannot serve God. Living is vanity of vanities, so you must seek the meaning of living, and that is Mingding Destiny. Some people live for work, which is the fate of a beast of burden. Some people live for enjoyment, and enjoy it when they are old, which is the fate of a monkey.

A person must find the meaning of living. What Abraham found was to be a blessing to all nations and peoples on earth, so God spoke to him. Later, Joseph had ten older brothers. He could not be like his father Jacob, who tricked his brothers out of their birthright with a bowl of red bean soup. But God also blessed Joseph, and later Joseph became the greatest in his family, because he desired to receive Mingding Destiny. Genesis later mentions a character named Tamar, who disguised herself as a prostitute to have children with Judah, Shelah and Perez. Why did she want to receive Mingding Destiny? Later, it is written in the genealogy of Jesus Christ that Judah fathered Shelah and Perez by Tamar. They were all ancestors of Jesus.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must know that the Bible clearly records a matter called Mingding Destiny, and all these people are those who spare no expense for the sake of Mingding Destiny. Without Mingding Destiny, living is vanity of vanities. Therefore, today brothers and sisters must enter into Mingding Destiny and come out of a vain life! There is not much meaning in living a life of vanity, working, working, working, and then dying. What is the point? I don't think there is any point. Eating, drinking, and having fun, and then dying, is there any point? There is not much point. Later, I discovered that eating bear paws is the same as eating pig's trotters, and going on trips is simply suffering. So I have only one hobby in my life, which is to obtain Mingding Destiny, serve God, and shepherd God's flock.

If I do this, I will surely prosper. If I do business, I will surely prosper. Whatever I do will prosper! Because God's will is for us to prosper. Therefore, brothers and sisters, if you keep and follow God's words and obtain Mingding Destiny, you cannot but prosper! The core concept of Chinese Mingding Destiny is Mingding Destiny, and Mingding Destiny is why I live. You must clarify why you live. If you haven't even clarified this, what are you doing? I have seen many people take their work as Mingding Destiny, or their family as Mingding Destiny. That is not called Mingding Destiny, that is not called Abraham's Mingding Destiny. We enter into the blessing of Abraham through faith in Jesus!

Abraham's blessing is a blessing of Mingding Destiny. I know you really want to receive blessings, but you cannot be without Mingding Destiny, because without Mingding Destiny, where do the blessings come from? These blessings are all about our living in this world. We walk with God in this world and live out God's glorious image, and in the future we will return to God. If we walk with demons in this world, we will return to the demons after death. This is very clear. Later, we discover that many of the words spoken by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament are incomprehensible to us. For example, he feels joy in suffering so much for God. It is difficult for us to understand how he can suffer so much.

A person will surely pay a price for his Mingding Destiny. For the sake of Mingding Destiny, Joseph was sold into Egypt, worked as a slave for ten years, and sat in prison for three years. For the sake of Mingding Destiny, Jacob herded sheep at his uncle Laban's house for twenty years. It was very hard! What is Mingding Destiny? It is that no hardship or difficulty can prevent us from obtaining it. It is the meaning of our living! Never be a person who lives without meaning. What are you doing then? Living and dying without any meaning at all. Even the most foolish person knows what to live for, that one day is less than the next. So today we must desire to obtain Mingding Destiny and return to God, because this is keeping and following God's words.

If we love God in our hearts, we will surely keep and follow God's words. If we do not love God, it is difficult for us to keep and follow God's words. Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must know that God has prepared an exceedingly good plan for you, just as He prepared it for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Tamar. Therefore, brothers and sisters, from today onward, have a clear understanding of this matter. Anything can be lost, but Mingding Destiny cannot be lost.

We must live our lives for this, live for this, and then live out God's glorious image in the world, become a blessing to many people, and become the salvation of many people. That is, to imitate Jesus Christ, to let the captives be released and the oppressed be set free. When we see someone who is poor, we are determined to release him from the curse of poverty. When we see someone who is oppressed by a spirit of sickness, we are determined to release him from the oppression of sickness. When a person lives in entanglement, frustration, and bad luck, we release him from the oppression of the devil. Because this is our Mingding Destiny.

Conclusion

So, summing up everything we have said before, what is the Christian faith today? It is a faith that sets people free. We are saved by grace so that we may be free! Being saved by grace is not for us to obtain anything else, but for us to live out a free and glorious image in this world. If we have no Mingding Destiny, what do we gain? We gain nothing. Therefore, brothers and sisters, from today onward, begin to truly understand what the foundation of Chinese Mingding Destiny is: it is the words that God speaks in the Bible.

We have reviewed the important concepts of the Bible from beginning to end and described them as Chinese Mingding Destiny. Then you must know one thing, that what we are talking about is probably not the same as many churches, really not the same, but we are more in line with the Bible. If you read the Bible carefully, you will know whether we are or are not. I don't want everyone to be ignorant. I want everyone to know what the Bible actually says. The Bible from beginning to end permeates one thing, which is Mingding Destiny. May you obtain Mingding Destiny, may God bless you!