Sadly, many Christians today don’t believe that right now, right here in the present, the kingdom is truly theirs... they don’t believe they’ve been admonished & comforted... don’t believe they’ve inherited anything, never-mind the earth... don’t believe they’ve been filled/satisfied with anything least of all righteousness... don’t truly believe they’ve received or experienced God’s mercy... they haven’t literally seen God... and they aren’t experiencing life as sons or daughters of God.
When Jesus preached to the crowd atop that hill around 2,000 years ago, He didn’t use futuristic verbiage. He used language and grammar IN and OF THE PRESENT! He spoke in terms of reality in the NOW.
What good does it do to tell people about something they cannot experience NOW? That’s what scammers and swindlers do. That’s not Jesus.
The kingdom certainly is something we CAN experience this side of heaven! Kingdom-life is HERE AND NOW in The King!
If you’re not experiencing what Jesus said you would, don’t automatically assume the promises made by The King are merely pending, later, next, after, subsequent. Don’t assume Jesus is a liar or a sham.
Our Lord QUALIFIED each result with an essential condition. Each is a subtle nuance of the exact same thing: intimacy of relationship with Him.
•We will be kingdom people NOW -if- we recognize our spiritual impoverishment (total depravity) apart from Christ.
•We will be admonished & comforted in love NOW -if- we mourn for what Christ mourns, i.e. the lost, deluded, and disillusioned.
•We will be inheritors of the earth NOW -if- in humility we recognize and worship Christ as Creator, Sustainer, Savior, and Eternal King.
•We will be satisfied & filled NOW -if- we hunger and thirst for His righteousness and not live as arrogant, proud, and self-righteousness hypocrites.
•We will be experiencing His mercy, compassion, and unwavering covenant love NOW -if- we live and love others mindful of Christ’s unmerited love and mercy toward us.
•We will see God and His divine hand in everything NOW -if- we are pure in heart, ie have been born-again by the Holy Spirit and perpetually being made new in following, worshiping, and serving Christ alone.
•We will be literal sons & daughters of God NOW -if- we are peacemakers, ie literally serving Christ as His ambassadors of life, truth, mercy, grace, and love by proclaiming The Gospel to the ends of the earth today.
•We are Kingdom people NOW -if- courageous and undaunted by insults, persecution, and the weapons of man in our ministry and service to Christ.
The beatitudes/blessings are all ours to experience TODAY, right NOW in the present in all their fullness. If you’re not experiencing them... do what the Apostle Paul encouraged us to do:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test?”
2 Corinthians 13:5
God is God of the Now. Live now. Find life in Christ.
Blessings!
Kevin M. Kelley
Pastor, PBC
https://www.unstoppablekidsbook.com/
