The Beatitudes Part 4
Manage episode 450109276 series 3483828
Quick Review
The Bible’s mega theme: the Kingdom of God / or Kingdom Heaven has come!
The Kingdom of God is “God reigning”. To live in the Kingdom means aligning our lives with God’s will, which transforms our character to reflect Christ
Now, there exists two kingdoms. The Kingdom of Jesus and the Kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of this world…it is most recognized as the Kingdom of you.
And as Kingdom dwellers we live beatific lives.
That is why they are BE-atitudes - not - DO-atitudes - not a set of character traits to aspire to, yet that is not a bad idea, but mostly a description of those who live in the Kingdom of God.
The Beatitudes tell us who we are, and our identity as God sees us living in His Kingdom. It is for those who believe and are followers of Jesus who experience the joy of living in His Kingdom. And yet as we will see this morning the Kingdom we live under is not without its opposition.
The Beatitudes - remember they build on each other
Matthew 5:1-12
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, (2) and he began to teach them.
He said:
(3) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(4) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
(5) Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
(6) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
(7) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
(8) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
(9) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
(10) Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(11) “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (12) Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
And today we get into, blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness”, and as we can see…we start and end with the same blessing…Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
78 odcinków