The kingdom, the beatitudes, and Christian living

This post is adapted from something I received by e-mail some months ago and did not give appropriate attention to.

I agree with this statement you made:  “The centrality of the Kingdom is not a peripheral issue in Scripture.”  Jesus came not only to die for us but to first show us how to LIVE!  Thus the Mt. 5-7 “sermon” or collection of theology, whatever one believes, given the character that those who submit to the King will then display.

I do think, like most seem to, that (Matthew’s) “kingdom of heaven” & (the other gospels’) “kingdom of God” are probably synonymous.  However, there are both “now” & “future” kingdom meanings.  Of course, the “now” includes when Jesus was teaching — before the church or kingdom, in the complete earthly sense, was begun.

The prophecy of Is. 61:1 (“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor”) is repeated in Luke 4:18.  Echoed in the first beatitude?  He came with the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom!  The Beatitudes (and whole Sermon on Mount) described the way those of the Kingdom, then being inaugurated, would think, behave, react and be blessed or favored by God.

I believe the beatitudes are not so much directives as they are statements of fact. (emphasis mine – bc)  Yes, they are standards required by the King of his subjects, but the emphasis is on the blessedness of being a part of that kingdom & the naturalness of character accompanying that blessing.

I liked this statement, gleaned from somewhere:  “What makes a person ‘blessed’ is not poverty of spirit (etc.), but being rightly related to God as sovereign (‘theirs is the kingdom of heaven’) and as father (‘they will be called sons of God’).”

As you might perceive, this dialog is helping me prepare.  Maybe thinking on these things will somehow help you to become less irritable.

“Go to sleep in peace.  God is awake.”

I should probably say that the words above came from my mom.  Pretty neat mom, huh?