The Good Life, Redefined

Intro

Who is excited for summer? I am excited for the time I get to spend at my grandparents pool, taking our students to the beach in 8 days, going and doing lots of sweating in Honduras this summer with our church family.

I am also excited for this summer because pastor Jeff and I together are going to be preaching through the greatest sermon ever preached. Jesus’ sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5-7. We are going to spend the summer on the mount at the feet of Jesus just like his disciples did 2000 years ago.

I can’t wait to sit at His feet with you and see what our savior has to say to us through His word this summer.

We all want to live the good life and in the opening section of the sermon on the mount we are going to see what the good life looks like according to Jesus. and we are going to see that if we are going to follow Him we got to redefine what it means to live the good life

Matthew 5:1–12 NIV

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The passage that we read that we are going to break down today along with next 3 verses that we will look at next week are Jesus introduction to the sermon he is about to give.

Introductions are important. They are important when you meet people. I have this bad habit when I meet people I ask their name and I start talking to them and a few minutes in I realize I never said my name its not because I am that humble its probably because I was homeschooled. and now we are at a point in the conversation that it would be awkward for me to randomly interject my name into the conversation. So I just accept that they will be calling me man, brother, dude, or if they are feeling retro sport every time I see them.

A good introduction is important it is important how you meet people its important how characters are introduced in movies or books, and its important in sermons. The goal of an introduction in a sermon from what I have been taught is to show people where you are going and why they should care. That is what Jesus is doing here in the verses we just read.

He is about to get into some really good, really revolutionary stuff, really controversal stuff. Things that will change their lives. But if they dont see why it matters they aren’t going to care. So he starts the greatest sermon of all time listing the blessings available to them.

1. Blessing Begins with Belonging

The beatitudes, this list of blessings, this entire sermon is for believers. Those who are already following Jesus. You don’t earn these blessings you are given them when you follow Jesus

Matthew 5:1–2 NIV

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said:

It is very important that we understand not just the content of Jesus’ message but also the context of it. Today as we look at the words of Jesus and the rest of the summer as look at the commands of Jesus in this sermon he gives. They are given to his disciples. It wasn’t for unbelievers.

The beatitudes are not a list of things that if you do them you are now a Christian and now you get into heaven. Jesus is not saying that if you are poor in spirit, mourn, are humble, hunger for righteousness, are merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, and are persecuted than you will earn your place in the kingdom of heaven.

The point of Jesus’ sermon was not tell them to follow him and to give them a list of things to do to earn their place in His kingdom. That is the opposite of the Jesus’ whole mission. We can’t earn our place that is why Jesus came pay off our debt of death with his death on the cross so we can be brought into his kingdom.

This was early on in his ministry they didn’t know what the day to day of following Jesus looked like, how were they to live? how were they to treat each other? what were the benefits? So Jesus tells them this is what following me looks like and if you follow me there are beautiful blessings that you will get to experience. Like salvation these blessings are given not because of our effort or goodness, but because of what God has done and God’s goodness.

2. We Live in the In-Between

As followers of Christ we live in this tension of right now and not yet. We live in the in-between We have been justified meaning before God we have been declared right before Him because of jesus’ sacrifice, we have been sanctified meaning we are slowing becoming more like jesus, That has happened and is happening now for us believers. But we still fight and lose battles to sin, we still experience pain, we aren’t and cant be perfect. but there will come a day when we are glorified.

When we will see Jesus face to face, the urges that we feel to sin are gone, we have the uniterrupted fellowship with God that we were created to have, we will never cry over a lost loved one or broken relationship again, every blessing that God has promised will be made complete, and we will be perfect forever.

The sermon on the mount is Jesus teaching us to live in the right now by staying focused on the not yet.

and he starts it by telling us what we have now and what we can look forward to later.

the blessings in Verse 3 and verse 10 are different than the rest.

verse 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for their IS the kingdom of heaven

go through the rest

and then again verse 10 present tense.

Because we are a part of the kingdom of God now. We are living in it. We are part of family of the king. and that only happens if we are poor in spirit. because being poor in Spirit is essential to entering the kingdom and receiving salvation. To poor in spirit has nothing to do with how much money you have and it doesnt mean you are poor in faith or are mopping around. To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty. We are spiritually bankrupt before God. We have commited treason against the high king and there is nothing in us that deserves anything but judgement. We have nothing to offer, nothing to buy our way into his favour.

You can’t have been brought into the kingdom of God if you thought you could gain entry on your own. So we receive this blessing now.

Verse 10 gives us the same promise the kingdom of heaven. which is promised to those who are persecuted. Does this mean we have to be thrown in jail or killed for our faith before we are a part of the kingdom. No Jesus is saying the evidence of that you have entered the kingdom is that you accept persecution is part of it, You experience the persecution now so you have the blessing of being part of the kingdom to help you withstand that persecution.

The rest of the blessings fall under the in part and not yet category

Those who mourn not just in grief but also over our sin will find comfort in Christ now but will find ultimate comfort in heaven

the meek who refuse to take what they want on earth by force will ultimately rule with Christ after the earth has been made new

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will make progress in being righteous but will never find ultimate satisfaction until our sinful nature is removed in heaven,

The merciful may not be shown much on an earth that takes advantage of those who show mercy but we will receive the ultimate form of mercy when God does not give us what we deserve at the judgement and instead allows us to enter his presence.

As our hearts get purer and purer as we follow Jesus, we see more and more of God, but it is like catching glimpses of sunlight breaking through the trees in a foggy forest—brief, beautiful, and enough to keep us longing for more. but it isn’t until we enter the throne room in heaven and see God’s face shinning brighter than the sun will we see God in all of his glory.

Those who try to make peace will be called sons of God by other believers but it is not until every knee bows down before God that all will refer to us as sons of God.

We will experience the full blessings of God but not yet but he loves us too much to not bless his children now so we exist in this state of right now and not yet. We enjoy the first fruits now but the full harvest is yet to come.

Looking at these 8 groups of people and these 8 blessings you cant help but act yourself as a believer which group am I apart of? which blessings will I receive. The answer to both of those questions is yes.

3. The Kingdom has a Culture.

Just as the blessings are for all believers the qualities listed are for all believers to live out. these qualities are the culture of the kingdom. every organization has a culture. if you don’t define the culture of your organization things get distorted. Jesus being the greatest leader of all time clearly defined what the culture of the kingdom should be. and he did that in these 8 qualities. This doesn’t mean we don’t receive salvation until we master them and it doesn’t mean if we fail at being a peace maker one day we lose our place in the kingdom. It simply means that just as the fruit of the spirit characterize a life that has been changed by knowing Jesus. The 8 qualities of his disciples Jesus list here are Jesus describing what every citizen of God’s kingdom should strive towards. They aren’t ethical duties they are 8 fundemental emotional attitudes that should characterize our lives as believers.. They are to define our culture.

These qualities should be what characterize our lives. When people think of you they should recognize these qualities and because every one of these qualities are opposite to how the culture of the world says we should live our lives.

and remember the reward for living out these qualities are the blessing that he lists here. The word we translate blessing here. Every commentary I have looked at agrees that this word much more closely means happy. Or to be made happy by God. This is different from a temporary happiness that changes with our circumstances. It is a happiness that is given by God as result of being like God. Every one is the exact opposite of the way the world looks for happiness. Everyone is the opposite of what is precieved to give you the good life in America.

instead of happy are the poor in spirit, the world says if you want to be happy believe in your self,

Instead of happy are those you mourn over their sin, the world says happy are those who are true to themselves,

Instead of happy are those who meekly refrain from using their strength to impose their own way, the world says take what you can.

Instead of happy are those who desire to be righteous, the world says happy are those who fulfill their own desires.

Instead of happy are those who show mercy like God has shown us mercy, the world says make them pay

instead of happy are those who are pure in heart, the world says youll be happy if you follow your heart,

instead of happy are those who make peace, the world says be the aggressor.

Instead of happy are those who are willing to face persecution, the world says you’ll be happy if you play the victim.

That is how the world says you will find happiness. and the question I want you to consider today is how is that working out for you. How is that working out for them. Does living that way really seem like its leading to happiness, does it really feel like they are living more blessed.

The words of Jesus in this section as well as the rest of the sermon are so opposite of how the people back then thought they should be living. It is so opposite of how we think we will find happiness and experience life’s best.

The happiness, the blessings we think we find by following the culture of the world will always leave us empty. But when we follow the words of Jesus they will lead us to blessing because they will lead us to Him and he is our ultimate blessing.

the world is heading one way towards despair and destruction and Jesus is over here saying don’t go the way that’s been proven not to work, come to me I have something far better. I have the blessing of being in my kingdom for you now and all these other blessings that you can have a taste of now and experience all of it later.

Conclusion.

Today if your hear and you’ve not a believer. Don’t attempt to live out these qualities and think it will change you. Come to Jesus first. He has a blessed life in store for you but the ultimate blessing is that he gave his life so you can live, and you don’t have to master a list of do’s and dont’s before you come to him. You just acknowlege that you need him and ask him to save you. If you haven’t done that today can be your day.

If you are hear today and you believe but your like Daniel I dont feel blessed I don’t feel happy whats wrong with me. my question to you would be are you chasing after what the world says is the good life? have you ignored the kingdoms culture in favor of America’s culture? Today can be the day where are reminded that the good life is following Jesus, acting like Jesus as much as you can so you truly become like Jesus.