Based on Matthew 5:1-12 (New King James Version)
“And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: ‘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.’”
In what we read today, we could spend our entire lives trying to understand it, and that is part of the purpose, because they are things that should not only be understood, but also, they should be daily practiced in all kinds of different ways. Everything in the Word is completely applicable to our lives, in one way or another. If the Bible is just taken as a book of knowledge and it is not practiced in the manner that the Holy Spirit guides, it would be preferable for a person to have never had access to it, because all they are bringing upon themselves is more judgment. In summary, the Word of God must be lived so that the eternal can be reaped, and like that, fulfill God’s plans in our lives.
We could look at this passage line by line, which should be done when studying the Word, but we will see the principal point in its fulness, and that is: The Lord was teaching things that should be practiced in life to be able to attain the different rewards in the eternal future. It’s true that we are not born with these attributes or manner of being naturally, and that’s why it is necessary to be born again in Christ, repenting and converting from all of our sins, leaving behind our aimless conduct, and submitting to the lordship of Jesus, and like that, begin to cultivate Christ’s characteristics. We must also consider by what we know through the Bible that God is a conditional God, and that to be able to receive the things of God, we must do as He commands. Quite simply, it is impossible that the Christian life consist of supposedly receiving Christ and crossing your arms (per se) or remaining focused on the temporary. Everything of which the Lord spoke of here, as an example, not one thing will be received unless a person becomes what He said they should become. In other words, if a person is not poor in spirit, or does not weep, or is not meek, or does not hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc., they will not receive none of the blessings or the rewards mentioned. Everything He mentioned is manifested through works. That’s why we understand that everything in Christ is fulfilled when they are done, when there are actions that demonstrate our faith, because by our fruits will both God and men know us.
Therefore, and if we understand the tense in which the Lord was speaking of, we would see that the blessings and the rewards come in eternity principally, and not before. Everything mentioned is referenced as future, and the only future we know in Christ is eternal life. So then, everything that we must live and be should not be focused on the present, but rather, on the future, and that is possible only through faith, because faith is based on believing things that are not visible, but yet believing that they do exist. This is what the Lord taught: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21. Everything we must live in the Word of God should be with our sight looking forward, looking towards eternity. The Christian should live with their focus always towards God, with the hope of encountering God in not such a distant future. That’s why the Word of God also exhorts us with the following: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. So then, everyone that calls themselves a follower of Christ should always have very present that this body is coming undone day by day, and those of us that are older know that this is happening because we can feel it. And also, they should live with the desire to be clothed and for this mortality to be swallowed up by life, and that God made us for this. The Lord did not make us with the goal that our human body should never perish, but rather, He made it as a temporary vehicle for our soul, so that each soul could have the option of either deciding or not to follow Him out of their own free will, and not only to just follow Him, but also, so that every soul could be transformed and prepared for even greater things. Preparation can only occur through exercising and pressuring the spirit. If we cannot be faithful over little, it is impossible for us to be faithful over much.
So then, how should we live? We should do the same the Lord did through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that is overcome temptation. We read this: “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’’” Matthew 4:8-10. The devil will always try to make the Christian give up on their faith, and in different ways, just as he tried with the Lord. The devil will always try for you to grow weary and stop being, for example, poor in spirit, meek, and so on. Deviations begin to occur when a person leaves aside God’s purposes. That’s why the Word also teaches this: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” James 1:12-14. We must overcome the evil within us though Christ, and we should live doing as He commands, until the end, to be able to receive what we are hoping for; not the temporary, but the perfection that God has prepared for those that love Him. So then, are you living for the present, or for an eternal future where God is the One that rewards you? Lord bless! John