THE BLESSED

The Blessed

Jesus had a central message that formed the basis for His entire ministry and teachings.

He pinpointed this central message in the heart of His most famous sermon—the Sermon on the Mount. He made a statement about what should be the highest priority for His followers: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, emphasis added).

Jesus Christ’s words are clear—the Kingdom of God is to be the No. 1 focus and emphasis in the lives of His followers. In fact, it was the core of His gospel message. Gospel literally means a message of good news.

A study of the Gospel accounts of Christ’s life pinpoints exactly what His message—His gospel—was all about!

Notice Mark 1:14: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.” That statement is pretty plain—Jesus preached the gospel about the Kingdom of God!

There are many scriptures that reinforce this fact. For example, Matthew 9:35 says, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom.”

At one point in His ministry, Jesus was about to leave an area where He had been preaching for some time. The people of that area tried to persuade Him not to go (Luke 4:42). Jesus’ response was, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for this reason am I sent.” (verse 43).

Let that sink in.

Jesus Christ said that one of His primary purposes for coming to earth was to preach about the Kingdom of God! That was His gospel. That was His message. That was His purpose. That is what drove Him.

When we understand that the thrust of Christ’s message centered on the Kingdom of God, we understand better why He made the statement in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” He tells us to seek first the Kingdom because the Kingdom of God was His primary message.

Throughout the entire Bible this was the central message! John the Baptist preached it, Jesus preached it, and the apostles preached it.

The Sermon on the Mount was the beginning of Jesus’ teachings about that kingdom. Jesus had been announcing that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and He had been calling for people to repent. Now, in what has been described as the manifesto of His kingdom, Jesus unveils the foundations and character of life in His kingdom. Therefore, the Beatitudes are just the characteristics of a child of God.

Matthew 5

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

² And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

³ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Other blessed scriptures: 

John 20

²⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

James 1

¹² Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Psalms 1

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. ² But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. ³ And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalms 65

⁴ Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

Psalms 34

⁷ The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. ⁸ O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalms 128:1

1 Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.

Revelation 14

¹² Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. ¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Blessed are those who have died in Christ! (When we are baptized we are buried in Christ)… and their works follow them. What works? The character of life that will show in a child of God! They are blessed!

After Christ was resurrected and ascended to heaven, He founded a Church. The purpose of that Church—that called-out group of people—was to carry on the work He did while on earth. Christ commissioned His Church to go into the entire world and preach the same message that He preached while He was on earth (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:3-8).

The Bible shows that the early Church faithfully followed Christ’s directive and preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Acts 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31).

See next blog "Kingdom of Heaven"

I offer many Bible studies on my site www.womanofgodinlouisiana.blogspot.com and/or from your home or mine. If interested please contact me anytime :). Text or call (318)450-2148.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

Many people have heard the term “kingdom of heaven,” but few really understand what it is. While some believe that the “kingdom of God” and the “kingdom of heaven” are referring to different things, it is clear that both phrases are referring to the same thing. Jesus when teaching about the kingdom made no distinction between the two terms but seemed to consider them synonymous. Throughout the entire Bible, this was the central message! John the Baptist preached it, Jesus preached it, and the apostles preached it. The coming kingdom of heaven is the message that God wants to make known to every person on earth. The crucial question is: Will you be a part of it?

A lot of people think of the “kingdom of heaven” as heaven. And in a sense it is, but in reality it is much, much more than that. The “kingdom of heaven” begins here on earth. It began the day the “King of kings” was born, Jesus Christ. We will not reach that kingdom in heaven until we “see” the kingdom of God here on earth. Jesus stated, “Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Jesus came preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus taught while he was here about the kingdom of God – and He spoke about it a lot. He talked about the way His followers could bring heaven to earth. He even taught the disciples to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Heaven is not spatially determined, it is not “up there” while we are “down here,” nor is it to be thought of in terms of time. We think of earth as now, that is, this life. Heaven then, is later – heaven is what comes after death. The more we study Jesus’ ministry the more we realize that he proclaimed the reign of God as something that was “already and not yet” present. Throughout the gospels Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God, sometimes as coming in the future, and sometimes as a present reality. So which is it? How can we understand the apparently divergent themes in Jesus’ preaching of the reign of God? Could it be that Jesus simply contradicted Himself? Did he speak of the kingdom as present and future without realizing it? I doubt it. It’s likely that Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God as somehow both future and present, and that He knew what He was doing.

Jesus taught while he was physically here that the kingdom of heaven is a silent, invisible, spiritual kingdom which lies all about us, encompassing us, enclosing us, embracing us, waiting for us to recognize it. When we enter the kingdom of heaven we recognize that kingdom, we believe it, we act upon its reality. Jesus, in the Beatitudes, gave us the clue to entering. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,“ (Matthew 5:3). Heaven is not merely future, heaven is also present. Heaven is equally real as earth.

Jesus told Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, “Except a man be born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). When we repent of our sins, are baptized in Jesus Name, and experience new birth through the Holy Ghost, we enter into the kingdom of heaven. We voluntarily place ourselves under the laws and authority of the coming kingdom of God. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). So there is this sense of us being “translated” into the kingdom when we commit our lives to God and begin living as He instructs. Our primary allegiance is transferred from the kingdoms of this world to God’s Kingdom. We are then subject to different laws (God’s laws) and belong to a different community (the Church of God).

“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant…” Hebrews 12:22-24

Jesus taught many parables that he likened to the kingdom of heaven. We need to make sure that our description of the kingdom is compatible with the description Jesus gave. Jesus often preached about the kingdom of God—but what did He say?

Through the parables He taught about the grace of God, and also namely the severity of God. This then led us on to see the importance of obedience to God. Some people do not understand the importance of obedience, because they do not understand the severity of God. There is something else many fail to appreciate, and that’s the enormous value of the kingdom of God. People in every nation may possess these true riches if they enter into God’s kingdom. The parables that Jesus told reflect the great value of belonging to the world-wide kingdom of God. Nothing is worth having, that would rob us of that place.

Jesus told two short parables about the value of the kingdom, one about hidden treasure (Mat. 13:44), and the pearl of great price (Mat. 13:45-46). The similarities of these parables make it clear they teach the same lesson—the kingdom of heaven is of inestimable value. Both parables involve a man who sold all he had to possess the kingdom. The treasure and the pearl represent Jesus Christ and the salvation He offers. And while we cannot pay for salvation by selling all our worldly goods, once we have found that prize, we are willing to give up everything to possess it.

The most important thing we need to know about the kingdom of heaven is how we get there in the first place—and when Jesus described the kingdom, that is what he talked about. (Consider the parables in Matthew 25) Through the teachings of Jesus we can know how to enter this kingdom, how to live in this kingdom, and how to work in this kingdom, here now on earth! When we die and enter into heaven eternally it will not be unfamiliar. We will already be familiar with the kingdom of God because we entered it here on earth. You won’t be afraid of God because you came to know him, here on earth.

The “kingdom of heaven” is not just the kingdom that exists in heaven, but also the reign of God over both heaven and earth.

I offer many Bible studies on my site www.womanofgodinlouisiana.blogspot.com and/or from your home or mine. If interested please contact me anytime :). Text or call (318)450-2148.

Bible Studies by Kim

To see other blogs with Bible Studies by me click:

The Children of Israel Bible Study

The Parables of Jesus Bible Study

Bible Stories with Kim

Pondering Upon The Questions Jesus Asked

The Churches of Revelation

I offer many Bible studies on my site www.womanofgodinlouisiana.blogspot.com and/or from your home or mine. If interested please contact me anytime :). Text or call (318)450-2148.