Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (Hebrews 10:9)

We are to seek the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit only that we may do God's will.

One may protest, "Isn't it true that God desires to promote the immediate happiness and health of people? Isn't this what Christianity is all about?"

No, Christianity is not the promotion of the immediate happiness and health of people. However, we may never convince the multitude of believers that God is not seeking their immediate pleasure. Therefore there will come a cleavage between a multitude of believers and the Wife of the Lamb.

The Kingdom of God does not have as its purpose the promoting of the immediate, apparent well-being of people, as people view well-being. The true well-being of people indeed is promoted as the Kingdom of Heaven enters them and they enter the Kingdom. But it is not unusual for the act of becoming a Christian to lead to imprisonment (literal or figurative), torture, martyrdom, rejection, pressure (as attempts are made to obey God), delayed gratification of fervent desires, and other kinds of distress. The Lord Jesus came to bring a sword!

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34)

God's intention is to abolish sin and rebellion. Human happiness comes after this in order of priority. It is not the pursuit of happiness that is important, it is the pursuit of righteousness.

It has been the case throughout history, and is true in some areas today, that becoming a Christian results in imprisonment, torture, or even death, rather than the apparent well-being of the convert.

"But isn't it true that persecutions and tribulations are the work of an enraged Satan, and God has nothing to do with them since He desires only that we be happy?" No, this is not what is taking place. The Apostle Paul states that persecutions and tribulations come upon the saints as an indication of the righteous judgment of God so they may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God (II Thessalonians 1:4,5).

The Kingdom of God has as its purpose the doing of the will of God in the earth as it is in Heaven. The will of God is that all things be gathered together in Christ and find their center and significance in Christ.

The promoting of the immediate happiness of people is incidental to the centering of all creatures in Christ, the bringing of them into absolute subjection to the will of Christ.

Whether the bringing of a person into the will of Christ results in his suffering or his healing, his wealth or his impoverishment, his acceptance or his martyrdom, is relatively inconsequential (not that God is oblivious to our suffering). The only truly important result is that the individual comes under subjection to Christ.

To be continued.