“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:2-12)This Kingdom is upside down. God stoops to lift the brokenhearted, the poor, the meek, and the mourning. We would not build our own Kingdom this way.
How do we enter this Kingdom?
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This is the Kingdom where the dead are brought to life. We rest in this because we worship a resurrected King.
Just as the Kingdom is upside, so is salvation. By grace we have been saved, through faith. The only thing we must do is believe. Getting saved is not about being good. Staying saved is not about being good. Salvation brings glory to God because it is about the work of Jesus, the work I couldn't do.
Boasting is just silly when it comes to Jesus. He is perfect. I am saved because of him. Not because of me. I am saved in spite of me. Boasting?! What a ridiculous idea. What a God-belittling idea. It must be excluded.
In being saved I am brought from death to life. I could not cause this. Dead people cannot spring themselves to life. Jesus himself was raised to life in the power of the Spirit. So our dead hearts are brought to life by the power of the Spirit.
I am saved, not because I am smart. I am saved, not because I looked for God really hard and found him. I am saved because God fished me right out of darkness when I cared nothing for him, when I was turned the other way, when I was chasing the passions of my flesh, when my eyes were glazed over to his glory, when I was blind. I was not looking for God, but he sent his Spirit to do an awakening work, and he lives in me now, giving me life! Amen. Praise Jesus!
Oh, how refreshing it is to live in a world that is not about me, in a Kingdom where the King is the main deal. I will screw up royally, but I live in the Kingdom of the King who rubs shoulders with screw-ups, the King who stoops to wash the feet of screw-ups, the King who poured out his blood for screw-ups. I am thankful for my King who has called me his friend.
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