The Kingdom of God in the Mind of Christ and
in the Beatitudes
Salvation is not the end of God’s design for
our lives; it is a means to an end. The
end is to be a functioning member of the Kingdom of God. We must move away from a “Save Me” religion, wanting
something for me—rather, it should be something for God.
The best definition of the Kingdom is in the
Lord’s Prayer: “Thy Kingdom come, thy
will be done in earth as it is in heaven…”
We want God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. How is God’s will done in heaven? We have a very beautiful picture in Isaiah 6,
where he is telling us that King Uzziah died.
He was a good king, reigned for 52 years, one of the more powerful kings
of Judah—the nation did many great things under him. Isaiah placed great confidence in him. But the king became very proud, and decided
to reach out and become a priest as well (forbidden in Israeli religion). When he made the offering in the temple, God
struck him with leprosy. And from then to the end of his life, the prophet Isaiah
had to hear this man whom he had admired, shouting repeatedly outside the
congregation “Unclean! Unclean!”
God knew the sadness Isaiah had, but He wanted
to teach Isaiah that we should place limited confidence in Man. Only in God. So He gave Isaiah a vision—he saw the Lord
high and lifted up, and the train of his garment filled the temple. He made
Isaiah see reality--the greatness of God, much more than the greatness of
Uzziah. Then he saw the seraphim—and
that’s where we get a picture of how God’s will is done in heaven. The word seraphim
literally means “burners;” fiery, copper-colored creatures, burning in their
zeal to do whatever God said. They had six wings. Wings covered their faces, their feet, and there
were wings ready to fly. That’s how
God’s will is done in heaven—promptly, with passion, without question—and with
humility. Isaiah then cried, “Woe is
me.” Here is probably the holiest man in
Israel saying, “I am nothing.” That’s
the attitude that we need to perform God’s will on earth. We’re going to have to have the same attitude
the seraphim had. And Isaiah saw that he
was far from that, as we all are.
Romans 12:3 says we ought to be transformed by
the renewing of our mind. Did you ever
notice what is the first evidence of the renewed mind? Read the following verses carefully:
And be not confirmed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind...for I say
through the grace given to me,… not to think of himself more highly than
he ought to think.”
That is the first evidence of a Spirit-filled
and renewed mind—to have a proper view of ourselves. After all, humility ought
to be a prominent theme of the Lord’s people.
Think of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. We want to have the mind of Christ.
Philippians 2 has more to say on this topic,
telling us that we are to have His mind, then telling us what the mind of Jesus
was like. Five things happened in His
Incarnation. (1) He didn’t think it was robbery, or something He had to have, to be
equal with God—although that had been His experience up to this point. He was
willing to step down to reconcile humanity. Mankind thinks the opposite—once you reach a
certain level, you’ll do most anything to at least hold your position. Jesus was at the very top—and He didn’t find
it necessary to keep that. He stripped
Himself of all the privileges and dignity and deity; “he emptied Himself.” This is before He ever left heaven. And then
(2) He would become God’s servant. God will give the orders; Jesus was going to
fulfill them. Through seven chapters of John (4 through 10), we have that
picture. We have something in every one
of those chapters that says, “I don’t do anything but what my Father tells
me.” This was humility. Before, He and His Father had always done
things together. And now He chooses to become a slave, as it were. (3)
And then He became a man. I don’t
think we can imagine the step down to do that; maybe it would be like from us
to being a mouse. But this was a much
bigger step down. I might even do that
if I were sure there wasn’t a cat. Jesus
prayed, Hebrews tells us, that God would deliver His soul from death. From the tomb. Why? He
had come to the most dangerous part of His earthly existence—after all this
mistreatment, could He avoid having a bitter thought, or saying an angry
word? If he did, He would have stayed in
that grave. He begged God to give Him
victory, to come out of that experience and resurrect. Since He was 100% man (as well as 100% God),
since He endured the temptations that we all face, when He came down to be a
man, He took a great risk. Unless you believe that there was no possibility
that He could have sinned—but then He wasn’t like man. (4) He
renounced His position as a man. He
didn’t come as a king, or a priest; He was constantly faced with the accusatory
question, “By what authority do you do this?”
He came as an ordinary person. (5)
He allowed His creation to kill him.
That wouldn’t have been so bad if it were a heroic death, with trumpets
blaring and flags waving. But it was the
death on the cross—the most ignominious death that anybody could suffer. So here we have Jesus—who went from the
absolute top to the absolute bottom—by choice.
It wasn’t a “have to” putting down, it was a voluntary humbling. He chose this. This is the mind of Christ. He modeled humility, obedience, and
self-humbling. People, we should always
take the “low road”—that’s always the right road.
As Philippians says, because He did this
voluntarily, God highly exalted Him.
Scripture says to us, “he that humbles himself, God will exalt
him.” That’s a promise. God will take care of your reputation.
Now let’s move from the mind of Christ to how
Jesus acted in His kingdo. Matthew 5,
the Beatitudes, shows how He exemplified the kingdom in His experience. Many phrases begin with “Blessed.” What does
that word mean?—to be envied. God is
backing up each of these behaviors with tremendous promise; and to place
yourself in His will, means He will pour out His promise on us—this is the best
place to be.
The first character is: “Blessed are the poor
in spirit.” This means we are a learner—able
to get down off our high horse, lay aside all prejudices, all biases, and sit
there like a child—and learn. Most
people can’t do that. Louis Pasteur
discovered the germ theory of disease.
They didn’t even know about germs.
Many people died of infection, since doctors and nurses wouldn’t even
wash their hands going to surgery, or from one patient to another. But despite all his data proving the lowered
mortality where simple washing of hands were done, he couldn’t convince any of
them, and he was heartbroken. Going to
all the trouble of washing, washing, washing was stupid. They were educated! He was simply a chemist. “We are doctors! We have been trained—you have not. You are
not going to tell us.” Folks, you won’t
get into the kingdom until that attitude is done. Did you know Jesus was a learner? You didn’t think He had to learn anything,
did you? He had to learn what it felt like in flesh to obey. And all who follow Him are learners, ready to
obey—no matter what it costs. Dismiss
your preconceptions. Learn.
“Blessed
are they that mourn.” The Bible says that some won’t see the kingdom of God;
but once you want Christ, you get a whole new set of eyes. You begin to really see the world—and you’re
not laughing anymore at its jokes. You’re
not laughing anymore at its sitcoms, which picture stupid fathers, or its
hypocritical preachers. That’s how they
think of religion. That stuff’s not
funny anymore. I heard a sermon that
somebody can tell what you are by seeing what you cry about. Most people cry about their own problems; you
will be crying about the needs of your heart, and the needs of the world. Sam Hadley was the leader of the Bowery
Mission. He had been a drunk on the
street and had been converted and now was the leader of the Mission. One evening he had Charles Alexander, who was
the singer for Billy Sunday, come to the Mission to sing. After the meeting,
Charles Alexander said, “I would like to see the Bowery.” So Sam Hadley took him in his car around to
all its places. Afterwards, Sam said
goodbye. Charles Alexander walked around
the corner. And just as he got around
the corner, he thought he heard somebody cry. As he turned around and walked
back, there was Sam Hadley, leaning against a lamp post, saying “Oh, God! The sin of this city breaks my heart!” He
couldn’t contain his crying. That’s the
attitude you will have toward the world, the broken world you live in, all its
shortcomings. Your own sorrow for your
inability. But the Word says you will be
comforted; you will begin to see results—if you respond in that way to your own
sin, and the sins of the world. You’ll see healing, and changes take place.
“Blessed are the meek.” Meek people are gentle. They’re mild.
They’re harmless. The Word says, “wise as serpents, and harmless as
doves.” They’re strong people, but it’s strength under discipline. They don’t
ever lash out, they don’t hurt other people.
They use their strength in other ways.
A strong man who sets down beside
that little boy; that’s a picture of meekness. You can afford to be meek, I’ll
tell you why. If you’re part of the
Kingdom, the universe is on your side.
In the Old Testament, you remember Sisera? He came charging down over those hills, with
his iron chariots, and there was the Israeli standing army. He thought, “This is a lead-pipe cinch,” but
there was a thunderstorm upstream, and the whole valley was flooded, and his
chariots got stuck, and he ran into the tent of Jael, went to sleep, and she
drove a stake through his head…and he was dead.
You know what the Bible says?
“The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.” (Judges 4:12-23; 5:20). Now, if you’re against the universe, you’re
not going to win. But you can afford to
be meek, because the whole universe is behind you. You will win, because God’s Kingdom will not
fail. So you can afford not to get even
with people, and manipulate to make your “program” work. Just let it go. And do what’s right. You’re
not a weakling. But you will not force, you will not hurt, you will not use those
kind of tactics on anybody. Remember the promise for being meek: “And they shall inherit the earth.” Slavery disappeared in the Roman Empire; and
all the Christians did was obey the Gospel.
It was done without any violence.
Next. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst
after righteousness.” We’re talking about being right. You will be blessed
because that is what you were made for.
You are not constitutionally made, or physically made to hate, or have
anger, or revenge. You were made to
love. What is it to be merciful? To feel
pain when others have pain. The word for
compassion literally means, the spleen.
If you have a deep concern for someone, your digestive system will tell
you about it.
“Blessed are the pure in heart.” Those who are sold out for God; their heart
of desire has nothing else in it. This
person will see God. They will really
learn to know who God is. There are lots
of people who have real problems with God—but if they purify their hearts, they
can really know Him and His love. He is
benevolent, gracious, extravagant.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” To be just like God. He is a peacemaker. Think of Ephesians 1:10: “that
in the dispensation of
the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” If there is any place
with a problem, there is a passion to reconcile.
And finally,
“Blessed are the persecuted.” That is
where the greatest power that is ever on this earth is released—when a person
suffers for Christ. Martyrs often
rejoiced, for they understood something we don’t understand. When the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of
the world clashes, something supernatural is going to happen.
May God help us
to develop these characters, truly following our Savior—and helping to build
His Kingdom.
Acknowledgement: This is a Summary of speech from John M.
Martin, the Anabaptist Identity Conference, 2010, Florida
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