Promises of the Beatitudes

We talked much about the characteristics in the first 4 beatitudes, but we didn't get enough time to talk about the promises. Just a quick post to focus on 2 of the promises we didn't' discuss much:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Again, here we see the phrase the kingdom of heaven. As we've talked about, the Kingdom of Heaven represents those who will inherit internal life by their faith in Jesus Christ. With that in mind, it's interesting to see that the first characteristic (poor in spirit) is the criteria for entry into the kingdom of heaven. We defined poor in spirit as being aware of our sinfulness and that we have no merit before God. Basically, we recognize that He would be just to condemn us, and our only hope is His mercy. Really, we talked about this going even farther than justification, and that for the Christian, poor in spirit simply means a humble dependence on God for everything. I think the promise, theirs is the kingdom of Heaven, makes sense considering the message of Jesus to "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". How can we have that "complete change of mind", which is repentance, without first realizing who we really are (bankrupt in spirit).

This goes completely against the thinking in Jesus' day of many of the pharisees and scribes. At least, I assume that is why John the Baptist warns them not to rely on their status as children of Abraham (see Matthew 3). The thinking was, we're God's chosen people, don't tell us to repent. I think it is also counter to the prevailing thinking of our American culture. Most Americans can't accept a religion first realize that you have no merit and cannot earn your way out of condemnation. We're a pull it off yourself culture (i.e. American Dream). But that's not the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6b).

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied
In my opinion, righteousness is not what most people hunger for. It's certainly not what I hungered for before I experienced God's grace and put my faith in Jesus. Like many, I hungered for money, social status, possessions, great career, lots of fun, etc. The interesting thing about these things is that even though we pursue as if they will satisfy something within us, they always seem to fall very short in actually satisfying us. We get more money, we want more money and on and on it goes. Vanity, vanity all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1). Unfortunately, unless our eyes are opened to the beauty of Christ, we will keep seeking the wrong things forever, and even more unfortunately, we'll never be satisfied.

We looked at I John 2:15-17 in class. Verse 17 says the world is passing away along with it's desires. So, if we hunger for the things of the world, the obvious connection is that we'll never be satisfied (those things are passing away). But here we're promised that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we shall be satisfied. This agrees with the last part of I John 2:17, which says that whoever does the will of God abides (lives) forever. That's why the pursuit of God's grace to reshape our desires for Him and His ways are essential. All else is passing away. I think we must fight for this. I don't there's room for being complacent, knowing that deep down, we really desire the things of the world. I fear this for myself, and it causes me to pray and fight for God's help to love him above all else.

Counter-Cultural Christianity - Introduction

This week, we will begin our study of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). We'll use this blog to post thoughts and questions each week so that we can discuss the meaning of the scripture we're studying as well as it's application to our lives. We think this will be a great way to connect during the week as we seek to grow closer to our Lord through the study of His Word. Sort of a modern way (albeit virtual) to live out Acts 2 where the early church met in the temple courts daily, devoted to the teaching of the apostles. So, we can meet here daily and discuss Matthew's teaching!

Back to our study. This week, we'll be looking at some introductory material to the Sermon on the Mount. We'll be covering some text from Matthew 3 & 4 and possibly some of the Beatitudes. Have you thought about why this study is entitled Counter-Cultural Christianity? We actually got the term from John Stott's commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. Here's a quote from Stott:

"The followers of Jesus are to be different, different from both the nominal church and the secular world, different from both the religious and the irreligious. The Sermon on the Mount is the most complete delineation anywhere in the New Testament of the Christian counter-culture. Here is a Christian value-system, ethical standard, religious devotion, attitude to money, ambition, lifestyle and network of relationships--all of which are totally at variance with those in the non-Christian world."

If you get a chance, read through the Sermon on the Mount and see if you notice this aspect of Jesus' teaching. You'll notice that over and over he is drawing comparison between his disciples and the world (both the religious scribes and pharisees as well as pagan gentiles).

The standards Christ sets for His followers are radical, even compared to the strict manner in which the Jewish leaders of the day attempted to follow the Old Testament laws. It's obvious that anyone who followed Christ teaching would be different from the world around them. 2 questions: Why do you think Christ commands such radically different behaviour from his disciples? Is obedience to His teaching here even possible?

We'll discuss these points and others this Sunday. If you get a chance to drop a quick note here before then, that would be great.

Craig