The Ideal Christian Character Profile
And he came...and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people...who came to hear and to be healed of their diseases....And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Luke 6:17-20, RSV.
Luke puts the Sermon on the Mount in context, with massive crowds thronging Jesus for healing and spiritual blessing. And here we discover a basic principle of His life and ministry. Jesus knew that hurting people do not hear well. Therefore, He did not separate the physical and the spiritual. First, He healed their bodies, and then He offered spiritual healing.
In the Beatitudes the Lord provides His followers with the ideal Christian character. Unlike the gifts of the Spirit, of which some go to one person and others to another, each Christian will have all eight characteristics. Thus a follower of Christ is not either meek or pure in heart, but one who is both meek and pure in heart. The eight characteristics are to form the moral profile of every Christian. They are the essential traits of kingdom citizens.
The second half of each beatitude describes the eight blessings that God desires to shower upon His people. Like the kingdom itself, the blessings are partly a present experience and partly future. Thus, for example, those comforted by the gospel message in their present daily life will find exceedingly more comfort at the Second Advent. The consummation of the kingdom will bring to fullness the present foretaste of each promised blessing.
The simplest division of the Beatitudes is to separate them in the same manner as the two tables of the law. Thus we can see the first four as describing a Christian's relationship to God, while the second four focus on a person's attitude toward other people. Unlike some church people, Jesus never separated a healthy relationship with God from a wholesome one with people.
The last thing to note about the Beatitudes is that they are progressive. Each characteristic leads to the next. As a result, those who recognize their spiritual poverty mourn over that fact, are humbled in the process, are led to hunger after righteousness, and after being filled are sent out into their communities to be merciful and pure in heart.
Help me this day, Lord, to internalize more fully each of the characteristics You set forth in the Beatitudes. I crave Your blessing.
And he came...and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people...who came to hear and to be healed of their diseases....And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Luke 6:17-20, RSV.
Luke puts the Sermon on the Mount in context, with massive crowds thronging Jesus for healing and spiritual blessing. And here we discover a basic principle of His life and ministry. Jesus knew that hurting people do not hear well. Therefore, He did not separate the physical and the spiritual. First, He healed their bodies, and then He offered spiritual healing.
In the Beatitudes the Lord provides His followers with the ideal Christian character. Unlike the gifts of the Spirit, of which some go to one person and others to another, each Christian will have all eight characteristics. Thus a follower of Christ is not either meek or pure in heart, but one who is both meek and pure in heart. The eight characteristics are to form the moral profile of every Christian. They are the essential traits of kingdom citizens.
The second half of each beatitude describes the eight blessings that God desires to shower upon His people. Like the kingdom itself, the blessings are partly a present experience and partly future. Thus, for example, those comforted by the gospel message in their present daily life will find exceedingly more comfort at the Second Advent. The consummation of the kingdom will bring to fullness the present foretaste of each promised blessing.
The simplest division of the Beatitudes is to separate them in the same manner as the two tables of the law. Thus we can see the first four as describing a Christian's relationship to God, while the second four focus on a person's attitude toward other people. Unlike some church people, Jesus never separated a healthy relationship with God from a wholesome one with people.
The last thing to note about the Beatitudes is that they are progressive. Each characteristic leads to the next. As a result, those who recognize their spiritual poverty mourn over that fact, are humbled in the process, are led to hunger after righteousness, and after being filled are sent out into their communities to be merciful and pure in heart.
Help me this day, Lord, to internalize more fully each of the characteristics You set forth in the Beatitudes. I crave Your blessing.
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