Kingdom, week 2, part 2

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
Matthew 5:5-6     

In describing the character of saving faith in His Kingdom, Jesus has said that it's only the humble who get in.  As with any "group" or "organization", there is a prerequisite for entrance, and with His Kingdom, it's humility.  We've seen that this humility includes poverty in spirit (5:3) and mourning (5:4).  
Now Jesus continues by showing that the next two characteristics are meekness and an appetite for righteousness. 
These are in keeping with how the Kingdom of God works exactly opposite the way the world works.  In the world, it's self-seeking, self-building, smiley-faced optimism that makes you worthy of glory.  Jesus' Kingdom works the exact opposite.  It's self-slaying that gets you into His Kingdom.  "If anyone comes to me and doesn't hate...even his own life, he can not be my disciple" (Luke 14:26).  The attitude is hatred of all one has known up until that point.  Then he is called to "renounce all he has", because without this, "he can not be (Jesus') disciple" (14:33).  Thus Jesus calls for meekness--an attitude of one not trying to build their own kingdom and set their own self up, but instead having a hatred of all that he's known, so that they love all that Jesus is and all that Jesus has. 

If this be you, you are "blessed", because Jesus says you will inherit "the land" (Gk).  This refers to the final restoration of Israel in the "Promised Land" as promised in the OT prophets, and then clarified in Revelation 21-22.  One day all of God's people will be brought together for eternity in "the New Jerusalem" (Rev21:2).  Whereas those who "lay up treasure for their self" will die, those who are "rich toward God" will find rest (see Luke 12:20-21), which begins now, and is fulfilled then.
Jesus then says the next characteristic is a hunger and thirst for righteousness.  "Righteousness" in the Bible simply refers to holy character and actions that are in line with what glorifies God and His revealed word and holiness.  It's not based on what seems right to man (for "there is a way that seems right to man, but its end is death"--see Proverb 14:12), but that which is right according to God.  The trust is that one can lie to their self and really be convinced they're doing things for God and righteousness, only to have Jesus tell them "I never knew you...depart from me, you workers of lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23, emph. mine).  The question isn't do you think you know Jesus--it's "does Jesus know YOU?"  Well, does he?

This is what "hungering and thirsting for righteousness" means: having a hunger for right-relatedness to God.  It's not about feeling good about yourself or being lifted up and exalted by others (Jesus says the glory of man keeps people from believing in Him--see John 5:44 w/ Romans 2:28-29).  Rather, it's about truly wanting to be lined up with God's perfect righteousness.  It's being over the world and others, and wanting God alone.  Only then does Jesus and His coming to us shine forth in all of its glory.
Are you over the world?  Do you long for being more obedient to His Word?  Do you long to glorify Him and make much of Him?  Jesus says that those who do will be satisfied.  Because Jesus has come.  

The glory of the gospel is that Jesus came to give us His righteousness.  Sin is deadly in that the wages of sin is death.  Since God is infinite, sin against Him deserves an infinite punishment.  So who could stand before Him?  "If the Lord were to mark iniquities, who would stand?" (Psalm 130:3).  "How could man be in the right before God?" Bildad asked while "comforting" his suffering friend Job (Job 25:4).  The answer to these questions are "No one", and "no way" respectively.  No one could stand before God, and no way could one be "in the right".  God is too holy and perfect, and you and I not only have sinned too much, but have hearts with sinful intent. 
So Jesus came to save us.  He is the God-man who lived the sinless life and paid for our sins on the cross so that we'd be made righteous.  We were lost, and Jesus came to find us.  "The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10).  When the Word of His seeking and saving is proclaimed to us, the Holy Spirit regenerates us and gives us new life (see 1 Peter 1:23), we believe it (Ephesians 2:8-9), and God counts the righteousness of Christ to our account (Rom 1:16, 3:20, 5:17-19), justifying us free of charge because Jesus paid for it (Rom 3:25, 4:5).  It's a work of grace, because no one but Jesus could pay for it, because He's the only one with the currency for it (perfect righteousness).  And He paid it so that we'd receive it as a gift, "to the praise of His glorious grace" (Ephesians 1:6).  He does it this way so that grace reigns supreme for what it is: the gift of eternal life. 

This is why one must be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, and hungering for righteousness.  It's because only with that character does one receive the gift.  Otherwise they still think they're good, righteous, and worthy of credit for being a "good person".  Only when people mourn for sin and hunger for God's righteousness (which, by the way, implies that they don't HAVE God's righteousness) does the gift of salvation by virtue of Jesus' seeking and saving make them be satisfied. 

Not only do we get "satisfied" by His gift of righteousness, but we change.  God's grace changes us into new creations in Christ. 
Many hear this grace message and say "well that's cheap grace and it'll lead to loose living".  Friend, you're not understanding.  It couldn't be cheap if Jesus paid for it with His blood, and it couldn't lead to loose living if in it people die to sin, the world, and their self.  On the contrary, the grace of God here changes the person's mourning to rejoicing, their poverty in spirit to filling with His Holy Spirit, their meekness into inheritance, and their hunger for righteousness to satisfaction in Christ's, and hungering for more!

Don't be deceived.  Many think they're doing things for God, but they're really only doing it for man, and it starts with wrong ideas of God's mission.  God doesn't need us to meet people's felt needs, because He does this--Matt5:44; Acts 14:17, 17:25.  He wants us to give people Christ, who is the True Bread from Heaven.  Don't try to avoid offending people and then call what you're doing "Gospel ministry".  It's far from it.  The Gospel does offend people.  A God fashioned in our own image might not offend, but the real God will (and you can see which one you lean towards by monitoring your statements about God--do they start with "I think..." or with "God...").  People need to know Him, not just "love".  They need to be offended by Him, so that they can be melted by Him, and then satisfied in Him.  Only in light of His holiness is His love seen in its glory.

What are you hungry for?  More money?  A warmer climate?  More "equality"?  Acceptance by others?  Jesus never promises any of those things in this world.  But He promises that if you hunger for God, you'll be satisfied, because Jesus gives Him to us.  "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father".  Stop hungering for that which doesn't satisfy.  Feast on the True Bread.