SHARING BREAD
3 “Blessed are the poor in
spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matt 5:3
(NIV)
Our Lord began His Beatitudes with the commendation that one
was fortunate and fully satisfied who had the realization and understanding of
their own poverty of spirit – fully grasping the fact that in and of themselves
they possess no inward ability to please God. This poverty of spirit is ranked
first among the Christian graces – humility being the foundation for all other
graces. Indeed, God’s kingdom of glory
is prepared for such as these. The
kingdom of earth is for the high and lofty yet the kingdom of heaven is for the
humble. This poverty of spirit, to be
sure, is the correct attitude of unregenerate flesh.
...."The
fact of the matter is that we cannot cast off restraint, run riot, please
ourselves and be completely hedonistic without a price having to be paid. The human price is the destruction of
relationships; the spiritual price
is a breach with God." John Blanchard
The underlying foundational principle of Christ’s kingdom is
poverty of spirit not anything we may muster up - that will always come up
short – falling flat. All of our “righteousness”,
Scripture states, is as filthy rags. We
must possess an absolute sense of futility that the flesh could even begin to
possess this capability of holiness otherwise we only wear ourselves out
getting us nowhere fast. Those that maintain the knowledge that in and of
themselves they are hopeless and helpless to stand before a Holy God, rightly have
a firm understanding that they completely lack the power within to do anything to
change their predicament. It makes no difference whether one is rich, poor,
famous, gifted, intellectual or whatever - the doorway into the kingdom of heaven
is poverty of spirit bringing us to the proper place where Christ can accomplish
His work. I am reminded of Paul’s words to the Church in
Ephesus:
12 remember that at that time you were separate from
Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of
the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away
have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Eph 2:12-13 (NIV)
Those who both consciously and fully depend upon Jesus and
His redemptive work on the cross on their behalf are blessed. We all fall short of God’s standard of holiness
– there are no exceptions. Jesus tells us in our verses for today, the sooner
we come to this awareness the better.
Paul states in Romans:
9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at
all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under
sin. 10 As
it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have
turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does
good, not even one." Romans
3:9-12 (NIV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God, Romans 3:23 (NIV)
“To be lowly in our own eyes is to have humble thoughts of
ourselves, of what we are, and have, and do; it is to be as little children in
our opinion of ourselves…..It is to be willing to make ourselves little, to do
good…..It is to acknowledge that God is great, and we are small; that He is
holy and we are sinful; that He is all and we are nothing. To shun all confidence in our righteousness
and strength, that we may depend only on the merit of Christ and the spirit and
grace of Christ.” Matthew Henry
Apart from belonging to Christ – being filled with His Sprit
- we are unable to stand before a Holy God – we are sunk without a Savior and
that is precisely what our Jesus is. Often
preaching in our day is focused upon the person’s will or the beauty of their
character or on their gifting – things easily noticed and applauded by man – putting
the emphasis on flesh rather than on Jesus.
One can never enter the kingdom of heaven based on the virtue of their
own goodness – one can only enter as an absolute pauper. Jesus is the One who produces the inspiring in
the commonplace. It is His treasure in our
“jars of clay”. Believers in Christ have
been rescued by God from the dominion of darkness through the blood of Jesus
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of our sins. Praise Him! Paul tells us in Second Corinthians:
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor 5:21 (NIV)
“We
comfort the afflicted sinner in this manner; Brother you can never be perfect
in this life, but you can be holy. He will say, ‘How can I be holy when I feel
my sins?’ I answer, ‘You feel sin? That
is a good sign. To realize that one is
ill is a step and a very necessary step, toward recovery.’ ‘But how will I get rid of my sin?’ he will
ask. I answer: See the heavenly Physician,
Christ, who heals the broken-hearted. Do
not consult the Quack doctor, Reason.
Believe in Christ and your sins will be pardoned. His righteousness will
become your righteousness.” Martin Luther
What
I glean from this:
· The kingdom of earth is for the high and lofty, the
kingdom of heaven is for the humble.
· All my “righteousness” is as filthy rags before a
holy God.
· Jesus was made to be sin for me that I might become
the righteousness of God.
