The Daily Word

This week I want to take another look at the Beatitudes. Just in case you can’t recall what they are, these are some teaching statements from the Lord Jesus early in His ministry, given to His Disciples and found primarily in Matthew chapters 5-7. In many ways, they are the start of the teaching of the New Covenant that God would establish with His people, the Covenant that Jesus’ death and resurrection would ratify and move into place to supersede the Old Mosaic Law, in terms of acceptance by God of fallen mankind. The key to the implementation of the New Covenant is salvation by faith, not works.

Jesus begins His teaching in many cases the verse begins with “blessed”. This is a word used many times in the book of Psalms and whilst we can have in general a nice warm felling about the meaning, I want to perhaps define it more tightly because we will be using the word many times in the future. A quick definition is ‘happy’ and certainly that meaning would be included in the teaching Jesus has given. To follow His teaching in the Beatitudes Will makes us happy or content. But there is another shade of meaning to the word which we see in a different context. I used to drive past a school which had the title of “The blessed Henry Newman Academy”. Here the word has more of the meaning of ‘holy’. And we can certainly see that in the Beatitudes. To follow any of Christ’s teaching will increase the strength of our relationship with Him and bring us closer to Him because it will develop His character in us. Above all our ambitions, heavenly or earthly, should be that desire to become more like Him. That should cast all our personal and earthly aims way into the distance.

It was well said by possibly Spurgeon, that the world has yet to see what God will accomplish with a person who is totally dedicated to God. We need to be blessed that we too can bring blessing to others.

Article written by Brian Preston, Elder @SFGH Church