In a short ten verses Jesus delivered His manifesto to the world... The Beatitudes. His followers wanted to make Him King, but The King of Kings declared a Kingdom not of this world, in words intriguing, counterintuitive, and no doubt shocking to His hearers, as well they are today. Each saintly virtue with its accompanying reward is prefaced by the Greek word makarios: A state of being characterized by being enviably happy and fortunate, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous, with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace, and experienced regardless of one’s outward conditions and circumstances. But don’t miss the subtle innuendo here; makarios is itself a blessing, so each virtue is graced with makarios in addition to its reward! In a nutshell makarios means to be spiritually prosperous... Possessing the spiritual favor and fullness of God. His followers wanted an earthly kingdom... The Good Life Now. Jesus offered the Best Life Ever... The spiritual favor and fullness of God... a foretaste of Kingdom life in the here and now... The Keys to His eternal Kingdom.
The Apostle Peter admonished saints to diligently exercise their faith adding Virtue, Knowledge, Self-control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, and Christian Love, partaking of the divine nature: “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”, and “you will never stumble.” It is through partaking of Christ’s nature that we become Humble, Mournful, Meek, and Merciful, Peacemakers with a Pure Heart who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, Sons of God willing to suffer persecution for Righteousness’ sake.
The reality of living in "Makarios", clothed in “Blessed” as a daily way of life, is progressive and transforming... for this is the source of our Salt and Light... And the grace to re-present Christ in our daily environment. These ten statements list the personal attributes of Kingdom people (Matt. 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23) and are worthy of most diligent contemplative meditation.
THE SPIRITUAL FAVOR AND FULLNESS OF GOD
No comments:
Post a Comment