The Sermon on the mount is Jesus’ for human flourishing in the upside-down of God.
What does it mean to be Blessed?
How not to read the Beatitudes:
“And so he said, ‘Blessed are the spiritual zeros—the bankrupt, deprived and deficient, the spiritual beggars, those without a wisp of “religion”—when the kingdom of the heavens comes upon them.” —Dallas Willard
The Good Life Belongs to…
1. The (lack)
Matthew 5:3-5 NIV
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
2. The (longing)
Matthew 5:6-8 NIV
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“The true disciple hungers and thirsts for righteousness. He longs to live a godly life as much as a starving man longs for his next piece of bread or a parched tongue yearns for a drop of water.” —Charles Quarles
3. The (loss)
Matthew 5:9-10 NIV
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
How to live the Beatitudes—
1. the Good Life
|“Jesus’s beatitudes provide a powerful shock… they overturn our ideas and projects, reverse the obvious, and prepare the soil for new life.” —Jonathan Pennington
2. Stand with the
“A Beatitudes-shaped community leans toward the broken and lifts them as participants in flourishing.” —Jonathan Pennington
3. Bless others before they it
“Christians can never afford to adopt haughty stances toward other sinners. They are never more than poor beggars telling others where there is bread.” —D.A. Carson
Romans 15:7 ESV
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Philippians 3:8-9 NLT
Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.