And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” (Galatians 3:8)

The Bible says that God preached the gospel to Abraham, and “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” In other words, what God said to Abraham was called the gospel, and Abraham was counted as righteous because he believed this gospel. What was the gospel according to God? What did God say to him? What did Abraham believe?

Pay attention to the kinds of things that God promised Abraham. I want you to see what God himself describes as gospel. He said to him, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God said he would make a great nation out of Abraham. He said he would make great the name of Abraham. He said he would bless those who blessed Abraham, and curse those who cursed Abraham. The promises were all about Abraham. The gospel would bless Abraham, defend and vindicate Abraham, and exalt the name of Abraham. God did not say that he would honor himself, but that he would honor Abraham. And the Bible says, “Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.” Pseudo-Christians today would call this a false and man-centered message, even if you preach it right out of the Bible. But God called this the gospel. Abraham believed in this gospel of blessing and prosperity, this gospel of wealth and greatness, and he was counted as righteous.

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, but Sarah will be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Sarah was old and barren, but God said that she would give birth to a son. It was a promise for the healing and renewing of the body. Abraham believed in this gospel of healing, this gospel of health and renewal, and he was counted as righteous.

Then God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obeyed and was about to kill Isaac when God stopped him. God did not want Abraham to kill his son, but he wanted Abraham to demonstrate the willingness. Later, the Bible explains, “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” Abraham assumed that Isaac would die, because God had commanded him to sacrifice his son. But he was also confident that Isaac would come back from the dead, because God had promised that he would produce entire nations through Isaac. So even though God stopped Abraham from killing Isaac, Abraham figuratively received Isaac back from the dead, because that was how the situation played out in his mind. Abraham believed that God would perform a miracle of resurrection for him.

By analogy we would say that he believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He had faith that God could raise the dead, and Jesus said that Abraham prophetically saw into the future to the time of Christ. Nevertheless, the situation here was about Isaac. Abraham believed in the gospel of healing and resurrection for himself, for Sarah, and for his family. He believed that the gospel benefited himself — the gospel restored himself, prospered himself, and honored himself. The gospel is good news for humanity. It is a message about how God would be good to his people. The gospel is not a message about how God would serve and honor himself while he afflicts and punishes his own people.

Abraham was counted righteous because he believed in the gospel of healing and prosperity, in a gospel of health and wealth, in a gospel of honor and success. It was a gospel of greatness and victory for Abraham, for the man. It was never a gospel of sickness, poverty, and suffering. He was counted righteous because he believed a message about what God would do for him, not what he would do for God. He believed in a gospel of grace, not a gospel of effort and sacrifice. Where is honor for God? God is honored when his people are successful, healthy, and prosperous. God is honored when those who worship him and believe him are happy and thriving.

Scripture says, “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.” God said that he would make Abraham great, and that he would have a son by Sarah. Despite existing circumstances, Abraham did not waver in believing this gospel of healing and prosperity, and that is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.

Then it continues, “But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.” And elsewhere it says, “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” We are to follow Abraham’s pattern of faith, who believed that the word of God would be fulfilled regardless of the circumstances he faced. But when it comes to the content of faith, are we to believe something entirely different, even the opposite of what he believed? Are we to believe in a message of sickness, poverty, suffering, and defeat? But the Bible says that what Abraham believed was the gospel. There is only one gospel, and anyone who preaches or believes in another gospel is damned forever.

God said to Abraham, “I will make you rich and great. I will make you into a great nation. I will honor you and bless you. I will curse those who curse you. I will give you a son by your wife, who is old and barren.” When Abraham believed this gospel of healing, prosperity, and greatness, he was regarded as righteous by God because of his faith. It was not a faith to suffer, but a faith to not suffer.

Of course, Abraham would have continued to believe in the face of trouble, but that was because he had received a gospel of healing and prosperity and greatness. He remained confident when he faced the imminent death of his own son Isaac, but because he believed in a gospel of healing and prosperity and greatness, he knew that Isaac could not remain dead. If it required God to raise Isaac from the dead in order for the gospel of healing, prosperity, and greatness to be fulfilled, then the miracle was bound to happen. If Abraham had expected sickness and suffering, then he might not have expected Isaac to return from the dead, because disappointment would have been natural and logical. If God had not preached to him a gospel of healing, prosperity, and greatness, Abraham would have had no basis to think that Isaac could never remain dead.

Abraham passed the test. He could pass any test not because he believed in a gospel of suffering, that sickness, poverty, and defeat were to be expected and endured. He believed in the opposite of suffering. He could face trouble and suffering because he was promised the opposite of trouble and suffering. He had faith to overcome trouble. He had faith to live in success and to not suffer. He could face sickness, barrenness, and the decay of old age, because God preached to him a gospel of healing. By faith he refused to suffer sickness, barrenness, and decay. He was healed, and his family was healed along with him. God preached to him a gospel of prosperity. And he was rich with silver and gold. God preached to him a gospel of honor and greatness, and he received his son back from the dead. The gospel of healing and prosperity, of honor and success, resulted in the mightiest spiritual walk.

The Bible says that “we have the same spirit of faith” as those who came before us. What kind of faith are we talking about? Faith for victory. Faith for healing. Faith for prosperity. Faith for success and honor. Faith in God’s grace and goodness. Faith to refuse defeat. Faith to refuse suffering. Faith to refuse sickness and poverty. There is no gospel except the gospel that God preached to Abraham. There is no gospel except the gospel of healing, prosperity, and greatness for God’s people.

God did not say that Abraham would make God great, but that God would make Abraham great. The good news was for Abraham, not for God himself. God is the answer to all your problems. Some people complain that this is a man-centered message. But God presents himself this way. He does not say that man is the answer to God’s problems. The Faithless think that man is the answer to God’s problems, but this is a false gospel that leads to damnation. Do not be afraid to desire things from God. Never hesitate to require his help. He does not need your help or service. He calls you to participate, but he is not in trouble. He will solve your trouble. And God is more than the answer to your problems. He can so bless us that there will no longer be problems to solve, but only more and more victories and attainments.