The Kingdom Culture

Read: Matthew 5:3-12

God blesses . . . Matthew 5:3-11

IN WORD

We live in a Kingdom of blessing. Not every citizen knows that. Many people think God’s Kingdom is a culture of demands and expectations, of impossible purity, of feigned lifestyles, or simply of crushing burdens that are somehow meant to develop our character. But the Son of the King says differently. When He began to teach, He first described the Kingdom culture and the attitudes of the citizens who are most highly favored and blessed. He decreed the happiness of His people.

That’s what “blessed” means: happy, content, thriving in your sweet spot. When people move to another country, they want to know how to fit into the culture and avoid unnecessary clashes with its people. The Beatitudes are Jesus’ explanation of how to minimize culture shock in His Kingdom. Those who maintain these attitudes are those who are most likely to fit in and enjoy the experience.

The Beatitudes are filled with important insights about the Kingdom of God, but near the top of the list are these two: (1) This is what the Kingdom culture is like, and (2) the King wants His citizens to be happy. In spite of sermons we might have heard contrary to these two points—that the Sermon on the Mount is only for a specific era or dispensation, and that God wants us to be holy, not happy (as if the two were unrelated)—the words of Jesus are very clear. The Kingdom is home to people who hold these attitudes, and the Kingdom is a happy place.

IN DEED

There are plenty of paradoxes in the Beatitudes—like how it’s possible for a mourner to be happy—but this Kingdom has no shortage of paradoxes anyway. Jesus doesn’t ask us to fully understand eternal truth; He asks us to embrace it. Those who do will discover a kind of contentment and peace that the world—our culture of origin—can never offer. Our spirits are truly at home when immersed in the attitudes of the Kingdom.

ADDITIONAL READING: Deuteronomy 28:1-6

The character we find in the Beatitudes is nothing less than our Lord’s own character put into words.

BILLY GRAHAM