Wonder and Awe

Matthew 5:3 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' I get it! I finally get it! For many years I have not understood what Jesus meant when he blessed the poor in spirit. In my life group we are doing the study Connect With God by Bill Hybels based on the Sermon on the Mount, and I finally get what Jesus meant! Tonight, in life group, Matthew 5:3 was illuminated. Bill Hybels explains in this study that the Pharisees saw themselves as 'rich in spirit'. They knew the Bible backwards and forwards and set religious standards only they could meet. The common man and woman saw themselves as poor in spirit because they could never meet the Pharisees standards. The common person did not have the same access to study the scripture. When Jesus blessed the poor in spirit with the kingdom of heaven, he was basically saying, 'Blessed are those who recognize their need for me, for I will meet their need and then some'. Also... Matthew 5: 6 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.' Did you know that righteousness is imputed? I didn't, and now my mind is blown. im·pute–verb (used with object), -put·ed, -put·ing: Theology. to attribute (righteousness, guilt, etc.) to a person or persons vicariously; ascribe as derived from another. (www.dictionary.com) Here is an excerpt from Connect With God: Sermon on the Mount on this topic. I would try to summarize, but Bill Hybels says it best: "In every other religious system, a person finds righteousness through following a set of religious rules and regulations. The more you follow the rules, the more righteousness you find. In Christianity we experience imputed righteousness. It is given to us by God not earned. When we realize that we have insufficient righteousness in our heart and life and come to the point where we know we will never measure up or achieve God's standard of perfect righteousness, we have taken the first step. At this point we begin to hunger and thirst for the righteousness we can never find on our own. Finally we look heavenward and cry, 'I want to be in a right relationship with You, God, but I know there is no way I can do it! Help me God!' In that moment, God hears our cry and orders the transfer of righteousness of jesus Christ to our account. We are made righteous because of Christ, not by anything we have done." How awesome is it that not only does God freely give us grace and mercy and love, but also righteousness. I find it interesting that in Matthew 5:1-12 hungering and thirsting for righteousness, follows a recognition of poverty in spirit. Coincidental? I think not. Jesus was a deliberate man, and I believe his semantics were deliberate as well. Wonder and Awe. Wonder and Awe. -Alison p.s. How do you like the red-letter edition of the blog? ;o)