Welcome back to the third part of our series of studies focusing on seeing Jesus and pictures of Him and His finished work, right there in the first part of His sermon on the mount, known as the Beatitudes.
So far we have just begun to scratch the surface as we began looking at the first three of the Beatitudes; and already we have seen some amazing pictures of Jesus.
Today we will obviously continue with more of the Beatitudes as we see more pictures of Jesus
Let’s begin by picking-up right where we ended last week, by reading Matthew 5:6 to start with:
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
Now much as with our last study regarding meekness, this is another area where people tend to focus on their own works, their self-effort and performance. In-fact, a typical phrase that works-focused preachers say often is something along the lines of “we need to be hungry for God! We need to be thirsty for righteousness, and repent!” – and to a certain extend and from a certain perspective that statement is somewhat true, I’m not denying that. However, much like our study last week, it’s precisely what it means to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and how we are ultimately filled that is of the most importance here.
You see, there are two ways to comprehend these words of Jesus, and the entirety of scripture for that matter! We can read these words with a legalistic mindset, and see them as goals to strive for and work towards, and come away with a checklist for ourselves to try and follow – never really seeing Jesus, or appreciating His finished work, but instead focused on what we must accomplish and do ourselves. That’s the first way to read these words.
The second way, is to see that these words are actually showing us what Jesus has accomplished, and who we are in Him today under the New Covenant. This is what Jesus was referring to as seen in the study linked above. And He warned His listeners strongly about the dangers of “hearing with the wrong mindset”, which is precisely why I mention this topic so very often. If Jesus warns us about it, then it must be important.
This is what Jesus taught about continually in His ministry: The coming Kingdom of God; the fact that the Kingdom of God was now among men (Him and His authority); and then looking ahead to after His resurrection, that the Kingdom of God is within us.
Jesus’ entire focus was to fulfill the Old Covenant, be the atoning sacrifice for our sin, redeem us and make us new creations in Himself; thereby ushering us into His New Covenant of Grace where we are in complete union with God as we were always meant to be from the very beginning. (John 6:38)
So even though Jesus came to earth as a man born under the Old Covenant Law, He was always focused on His redemptive mission, which was His Father’s will. (Galatians 4:4, John 6:39, Hebrews 10:3-10).
What this means for us today is that whenever you are listening to a message, or even reading the scriptures yourself in your own private time, you should always keep the perspective of the finished work of Christ and His New Covenant in your mind. The purpose of preaching, teaching and even scripture itself is not to enforce behavior modification, or to give you rules or regulations, but to show you Jesus, to build you up and edify you in the faith of of the Gospel and your new identity in Christ Jesus.
Keeping this in mind then, when we read the words of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount, which we are looking at today, we can begin to answer the question of exactly what it means to hunger and thirst after righteousness as Jesus mentions, and also how we are to be filled.
We explored this one time before, but it’s worth mentioning again because it is another aspect that is very important regarding our union with Christ. This of-course is Jesus’ own statement, so let’s look at it now in John 6:35:
“And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.”
My friend, I want you to pause here and take a few moments to truly absorb what Jesus is saying here about Himself, and how this applies to His words from the Beatitudes, and as you do this, the pieces will start to come together.
Remember what Jesus said, blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness… but He never told them to start striving for righteousness in their own strength; even though that’s what many people start doing.
Instead He says that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled! And in the verse of John 6:35 which we just read, we now see how that filling takes place… It happens as we receive the finished work of Jesus Christ – as we consume His bread of Life… and He says all that come and believe on Him will never hunger and never thirst!
And please take notice of that statement my friend, because there are many Christians today who are still saying, and singing songs about being thirsty for God, and hungry for him, when Jesus Himself says that those who come and believe on Him will never be hungry and thirsty again! There’s a disconnect between what we have been trained and taught by the modern church, and what Jesus says about Himself!
I bring these things to your attention today, to refocus our attention back onto Christ and His truth, and to take a fresh look at what we have believed – even some long-held doctrines that may need to be corrected (or disregarded). My dear friend, if what we have been believing does not actually line-up with the marvelous truth of Christ, then I humbly submit to you that it’s time to throw out our long-held beliefs; because they aren’t worth missing an aspect of Christ for!
Before Jesus came to earth, suffered in our place and sacrificed Himself to redeem us, we all suffered in lack of righteousness! Complete poverty of righteousness to be precise! And regardless of how hard we tried, or how much we sacrificed, and worked, we could never remove the stain of sin or increase our righteousness by even the smallest measure! (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:6-7, 7:18, Philippians 3:8-9, Galatians 2:21)
The amazing thing however is what we find in 2nd Corinthians 5:21:
“For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
You see, Jesus was not a sinner. Jesus didn’t commit any sin, nor was any sin in Him (1st, Peter 2:22, 1st John 3:5), but Jesus was made to be sin for us, that is in our place. When He died on the cross, He didn’t die for Himself, or even as Himself, but He died for us, and as us!
Here’s why this is integral to our understanding of the finished work of Christ, our identity in Him, and how we are filled with His righteousness today… because as the second-half of the verse makes clear, the reason why Jesus was made sin in our place and as us on the cross, was so that we would likewise be made the righteousness of God in Him! And this is the point of it all. This is the foundation. Just as Jesus didn’t commit any sin to be a sinner, likewise you do not commit any righteousness to become righteous. Rather, righteousness is given to you as a gift. It is imputed to you, it is set to your account as you receive the payment of Jesus Christ on your behalf, and you are made a completely new creation in Him. (2nd Corinthians 5:17)
I pray that this picture of Jesus and His finished work has blessed you today.
Be sure to join us next week, as we continue seeing Jesus in the Beatitudes.
Be blessed.