I’ve read the beatitudes many times and always kind of skimmed over them because they seemed so foreign (and honestly somewhat objectionable) to me. I mean, it’s not especially appealing to mourn, to be poor, or to be persecuted, reviled, or downtrodden, right? Yeah—that’s not the life I want. But IF the Sermon on the Mount is a summary of what the life of a born again believer SHOULD look like in order to be BLESSED—then I began to ask myself, “Am I missing out?” Why did Jesus say “blessed” at the beginning of each verse to describe things that don’t seem like blessings?
I wanted to know if I was missing out!
In my journey of passionately pursuing Christ for the last decade, I have experienced some unassailable truths:
~Doing life God’s way is ALWAYS better than doing it MY way.
~I trust Him because He has never failed me.
~I DO want to be challenged with the hard stuff in His Word because to live in loving obedience to Christ—always produces the BEST life!
So, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me understand the beatitudes, and it’s produced some life-changing revelations I can’t wait to share with you!
So let’s begin.
The beatitudes begin with the Sermon on the Mount. Of the purpose of this important sermon of Jesus, Bible commentator, David Guzik, explained:
“This is Jesus’ Declaration of His Kingdom much like we have our Declaration of Independence and Carl Marx had his Communist Manifesto. With this message, Jesus declared what His Kingdom is all about.”
“It presents a radically different agenda than what the nation of Israel expected from the Messiah. It does not present the political or material blessings of the Messiah’s reign. Instead, it expresses the spiritual implications of the RULE of Jesus in our lives. This great message tells us how we live when Jesus is our Lord.”
To understand this passage, it’s important to recognize that the audience is born again believers. This Sermon was not an explanation of HOW to be born again; rather, it was a description of the PROOF of salvation in our life. Thus, the behaviors Jesus outlines should be patently evident in our life as PROOF that we belong to God’s Kingdom. Jesus was teaching His followers what the manifestation of His presence should look like IF we are truly His followers. The fact is…
When we belong to Jesus, the presence of the HOLY Spirit should radically change us.
My basic problem with the beatitudes was that I was viewing the teachings of Christ through the eyes of my flesh. The flesh is one of our enemies. My flesh is consumed in securing creature comforts and is incapable of possessing GOD’S view. If you are reading this and are NOT interested in doing the hard work of allowing God to transform you, then you, too, may have the same problem and may be missing some of God’s greatest blessings.
Indeed, if you claim to be a Christ follower but do NOT have the characteristics reflected in the beatitudes —it may be time to take stock and ask yourself some important questions, beginning with: “Have I truly been born again;” and, if so, “Have I totally surrendered my life to Christ?”
The answers to these questions are vitally important. Our life on earth has IRREVERSIBLE and ETERNAL consequences—good and bad. Heaven and hell are no joke. We are not guaranteed one more minute on this earth and once our body dies there is no dialing back. My prayer is that this series of devotionals will provide a litmus test for every reader to 100% know two things:
1. That you are born again; and
2. If you are born again, you are capturing every blessing God has for your glorious life.
Do you want to go to the next level in your walk with God? If so, I guarantee this series will be challenging and exciting!
So let’s begin with the word “beatitude,” which is simply translated as “blessing.” The idea behind the ancient Greek word for “blessed” is joy beyond a sense of merely being comfortable or entertained. In other words, it is joy from within, untouched by circumstances, and is completely independent from all the changes of life. Furthermore, note that in every verse, being blessed is presented in the present tense; that is, not “Blessed shall be” but rather, “Blessed are.” That’s why the title to this series includes the descriptive word, “BE-attitudes.” Where do these present-tense blessings of immovable joy come from? Well, we know they come only from God.
So that should be our first clue about how to interpret these verses and discover our great blessings.
Now that we know the beatitudes are blessings of joy which God gives to believers to presently experience—we will use this perspective as a key to unlock each one. Before you begin, ask yourself, “Is your life filled with the kind of joy described in God’s Word?” As you read each of the nine blessings below, make notes about how you believe each one will produce MORE joy in your life. As you read each one, remember—it’s ONLY the presence of God which will produce HIS joy throughout ALL circumstances of life:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
”Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
”Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
”Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:3-12
None of these blessings make my flesh rejoice. But when understood through the eyes of our born again spirit, the beatitudes set forth what our new nature in Christ SHOULD be reflecting. That’s why we’re calling them our “BE-attitudes.” These characteristics should be reflected in the life of ALL born again believers. If you are 100% certain that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then the next question is,
“Are you currently experiencing the incalculable blessings of your born again nature?”
The beatitudes are all about learning to experience a life bursting forth with ALL the blessings of our new nature in Christ. Tomorrow, we will begin our study of each individual be-attitude we should be developing in order to capture every blessing of unwavering joy!
