What do you think of about kingdoms? We don’t exactly have any such thing in our country. In fact, our history says that kings and kingdoms are bad! But that’s not the way that Scripture speaks about the Kingdom. In fact, the Kingdom of God is so good that it outweighs all the problems we go through in our life. Jesus tells us Yours is the Kingdom.

Jesus tells us “blessed are the poor.” Being blessed is something that Christians often speak about, rightly so. But what does being blessed mean exactly? The word that Jesus uses in these verses might be translated as “happy”. Happiness is something that many people in our world are searching after. You might think of the phrase in the Declaration of Independence that speaks about the importance of “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” What does that mean to people today? Probably something like not having to worry about money, getting to do what you choose to do, and generally having positive feelings all the time If something bad happens to get in the way of these things, then happiness is gone. This is even very similar to the way that the people of Jesus’ day would have understood happiness as well. The examples of happiness in Jesus’ time for the Greek culture, for example, would be the rich or even one of the Greek gods such as Zeus. They are happy because they are contended – who is more secure and self-assured than a god after all?

Jesus flips happiness upside down: blessed are the poor. This is the opposite of what people expect. The poor can’t be happy- there is too much trouble and distress that goes with being poor. A poor person is someone who is dependent on others, or throughout a lot of history someone like a slave who doesn’t even belong to himself is certainly poor. What happiness can be found in the situation of a slave or a beggar?

The blessing for Christians who are poor exactly in that reliance. The poverty of a Christian in this life leads to happiness because of the reliance on God alone. In situations that the world would see as terrible we can rejoice and be glad because God has given us an opportunity to call out to the Lord and turn away from self-reliance- to rely solely on the faithfulness of our God. We can be happy because our helper is the Lord God who created the world, who formed us from the womb ,and who has redeemed us from our sins.

Earthly poverty is not the main thing in focus here. Wealth and poverty themselves do not make a Christian. There is not necessarily a virtue in being poor as the world understands, neither is every rich man in this life necessarily bad. When it comes to wealth and poverty now, there is value in hearing what the Proverbs have to say: Do not give me poverty or riches. Give me food in the amount that is right for me. 9 Too much, and I may feel satisfied and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” Too little, and I may become poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” The dangers of both extremes are clearly spelled out in Scripture- and the danger is what they do to the attitude of a Christian.

True wealth and poverty is found in the attitude toward God. Even the richest man in the world must humble himself before God. The most powerful rulers of the world are nothing compared to their creator. So too Christians must see themselves as poor and needy in the face of our God. That is where true blessing lies- in acknowledging our true spiritual poverty as creations of God who must receive spiritual blessing from God. We have nothing to offer to God. Sin totally kills our spiritual power and separates us from God. God has reached out to us through Jesus Christ and his cross. Through his death and resurrection he makes us alive and fulfills every promise made to us. So then, the true blessing and happiness of a Christian is to be content in the promises of God made firm to us through the Resurrection of Christ.

Jesus makes that very clear: Yours is the Kingdom of God. This promised Kingdom overshadows the very real sorrows of this life. Receiving the Kingdom makes Christians eternally blessed, that kingdom is the eternal reward that Jesus promises. How can this be? What makes God’s Kingdom so wonderful that Christians can suffer any amount in this life and remain blessed?

One model of God’s Kingdom is found in the Old Testament in David and Solomon’s kingdom. David went through great trials to become king of Israel as God had chosen him to be. Through his many battles, persecutions at the hands of Saul, he always trusted in that promise. We go through many trials as well. But David truly foreshadowed Christ in his temporary sufferings while patiently waiting for God’s fulfillment to come. In the end David’s faithfulness in worshipping God alone gave his time as King its blessed character. As a result of God’s gracious promise to David and the faithfulness that David showed, the Kingdom of Solomon his son had total peace and prosperity. The borders expanded and foreign kings came to bring tribute. Solomon completed the Temple as a wondrous place to worship the God who had given them everything they had. Both David and Solomon, though they were kings and very rich in the end, truly received their kingdom from God as an example of what God’s eternal Kingdom looks like.

That’s the key difference and the reason why any earthly kingdom can only ever be a mere shadow: all earthly kingdoms are only temporary. Even David and Solomon sinned, unlike the real thing Christ who has won that eternal kingdom. Jesus describes the Kingdom in other places in the Gospels as well. He shows it as an eternal banquet, with the joy and blessings never ending.

Sometimes people criticize Christians by pointing out that Christians are just waiting around for the world to end. Perhaps there are Chrisitans doing that. We do passively receive the Kingdom, there’s nothing that we do to add to Christ’s bringing of the Kingdom of God into our lives. But that doesn’t mean that we are just waiting around for Christ to come with no concern for the now.

Even while we mourn and suffer in this life, the Kingdom of God is being brought into our lives now. The Kingdom of God is different than any earthly kingdom because it is not of this world. Jesus says it is in our midst. He brought the kingdom near in his preaching and he continues to bring this kingdom whenever the Word is proclaimed among us. He has promised to bring the kingdom of God and be present among us even during this world. The preaching and proclaiming of God’s promises bring Righteousness, Joy , Peace, which makes up God’s Kingdom.

Paul encouraged the elders of Ephesus in the book of acts chapter 14 by telling them “We must go through many troubles on our way to the kingdom of God.” Some of those troubles include the persecution and exclusion by the world. We are able to be blessed when we suffer for the name of Jesus at the hands of the wicked in this world as well. The early church as we see in the Book of Acts in many places even rejoices when they suffer, because they were considered worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus. That it is for Jesus’ sake is important here as well. Those who suffer for their own wicked deeds or crimes are not the ones being blessed. There’s no excuse to just be a jerk. No, but you will suffer for doing good, and for proclaiming the Word of God. Even that is God’s Kingdom even now.