The Sermon on the Mount, Part 2

[HKHaugan]

The Sermon on the Mount, Looking Forward Part 2

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt.5:3)."

The first blessing has to do with personal spiritual poverty.

Remember, the word 'blessing' has to do with the Lord God touching us in mind, heart and spirit through His Spirit. It's to get us to realize how unspiritual we are, to refocus and see ourselves as spiritual beings having a human experience. Therefore, it's how much we need to be in the Spirit which is only possible through Jesus and His Word. The Kingdom of Heaven is a relationship with Jesus. “I am going to prepare a place for you that where I am you may be also (Jn.14:2).” The Cross was Jesus' means to allow a relationship with Him because He would return through the Holy Spirit into a believer's heart. The Body of Christ is the experience that brings us together in Him, therefore, we are in the Kingdom when He is our personal Lord.

This first blessing sets the stage, prepares the mind for its created purpose, to think spiritually. Paul made that quite clear when he said we have to be transformed by the renewal of our mind (Rom.12:2). Transformed from conforming to the world. Sin gets us to think about how we can be right all by ourselves. We rely on 'common sense' which is the first trap the devil sets to grab our uncertainties and anxieties. Where sin leads us is to look around us for human wisdom to get through a momentary issue. But Jesus wants us to fix our gaze above where what is permanent is spiritual. Thus being spiritual means we are looking up, vertically, instead of sideways, horizontally. See the Cross here? The vertical and horizontal beams, Jesus looking up and his arms reaching out. His words to His father and then to us. Taking up our cross is to first look up and when we do God gives us the direction to look around us. Then we see as He sees. So the first blessing is the foundation for the rest of the Sermon from Ch.5 through Ch.7.

Also the first blessing reorients our five senses. We can see, hear, taste, touch and smell physically. Apply the Spirit and we see with the eyes of our heart (Eph.1:18), hearing “He who has ears, let him hear (Mt.11:15),” “Taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps.34:8),” “If I only touch His cloak I will be healed (Mt.9:21)” and smell, “To those who are perishing we are the smell of death, to the ones being saved we are the fragrance of life (2Cor.2:15).” The point of these is that everything can be seen in a spiritual context and that's where we start our every next moment.

So the first blessing is personal in that it gets us to start spiritually within. Jesus tells us that “the Kingdom of God is within you (Lk.17:21).” The Kingdom of God is relational. “Love one another as I have loved you (Jn.13:34). The Kingdom is spiritual, personal and relational. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal (2Cor.4:18).”