Blessed are the poor in spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God."  

Jesus (Matt 5:3)

How many times have we heard that someone "made a decision for Christ" but afterward walked away unchanged?

Are we counting on some apparent decision as the primary reason God should let us into his Kingdom? Or should we look elsewhere? 

Is there a different indicator of true citizenship in the kingdom? 

Should we instead be focused on the disposition that without seeing our desperate need for Christ we have no hope of entrance? 

The former (making a decision) may be something we do in our head but the latter - poor in spirit - is a disposition (attitude) of our heart.

"Poor in spirit" is the first of a list of core teachings of Christ, commonly referred to as "the Beatitudes." 

Some argue the order is important. I agree. Context is always essential and needed for a proper understanding of any passage.

This first beatitude addresses having the kingdom... "theirs ¹is the ²kingdom..." This suggests this first beatitude is not just the starting point but the foundation on which the rest are built. This also indicates nothing else in this list happens unless we possess this foundational disposition first.

What is it to be "poor in spirit"? In a word, humble. It is recognizing all we have to offer God is our need, spiritual poverty, and moral bankruptcy. There is nothing we can do or goodness we can offer that will cause God to receive us into His kingdom. The only thing we can offer God is empty hands in need of Him. 

Recognizing and admitting we have empty hands spiritually and morally is the greatest evidence that we are already participating in the kingdom. But also the most difficult to admit.

If this is the foundation and starting point, we do well to pay closer attention. In fact, we must be careful we have this attitude before we can even consider the rest of Christ's teachings. We must have the kingdom before we can live it out as laid out by the rest of Christ's words.

We also do well to explain the gospel of the kingdom as Christ does, not as the evangelical church often does. What do I mean? Within the church, we usually hear ³faith is the key to entering the kingdom, with no mention of humility. Whereas Christ stresses ³humility but makes no mention of faith - at least not directly as he does humility. A different emphasis, wouldn't you agree? And not an insignificant one.

Though faith and humility are interconnected, we will not turn to Christ in faith without humility first.

According to Christ, without humility, we do not have the kingdom. Possessing the kingdom is the fruit of being poor in spirit. Being poor in spirit is evidence we possess it. The use of "for" indicates a direct connection between humility and possession. This suggests no one will have the kingdom without it. 

Is this only emphasized here? Do we see any indication of this elsewhere? 

In several other places, we are told that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble*.

"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' " James 4:6 

"...Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' ” 1 Peter 5:5 

These and other verses suggest without humility, there is no grace or salvation. 

So the question isn't whether we believe certain facts about God or not. James tells us that devils believe and tremble (Jas 2:19), yet they are still rebels against God. There is a kind of belief that does not include humility.

Do you recognize your desperate condition before God and the only chance of his acceptance is if He provides the solution -- that you are spiritually bankrupt and can only come to God with empty hands morally? Without this recognition, there is no chance of entrance. 

If you do recognize this, Christ says you are blessed and a child of the kingdom. If you do not, you do well to search your heart.

Does humility save us? No, only Christ can. But humility is the greatest indicator of true saving faith. Without it, there is no salvation. 

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¹The only other beatitude that mentions possessing the kingdom is of those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Interestingly, a willingness to be persecuted for doing the right thing also requires humility.

Another verse outside this sermon mentioning possessing the kingdom is...

Matthew 19:14
But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

This verse tells us the kingdom of God also belongs to "such as these" i.e. those who are like little children. What is a quality children possess that adults often do not? Humility. Why? Because children naturally recognize their dependence on those who are more capable than them.

See also, Job 22:29, Isaiah 2:11-12, Isaiah 2:17, Matthew 23:12, Luke 1:52, Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14.

²What is the significance of the kingdom of God? It was Christ's central message and the very 1st thing He mentioned after his test in the wilderness which He also called us to at the outset of his ministry.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 ESV

³I'm not saying that faith and humility are mutually exclusive of each other. I'm saying there is no true faith without humility i.e. humility is the greatest evidence of genuine faith. Whereas you can acknowledge and agree with certain things being true but never actually benefit personally from those truths.

We can agree to certain things/truths in our heads but they will never take hold of our hearts without humility.

This was true of me for years and I think it is true of many within the church today.

For a discussion on the difference between grace-driven believers in Christ and cultural Christians click here. 

prayer...evidence of humility

When we pray God always gives us what we need most. If he doesn't give what we request, it's either not what we need most or we are not sufficiently humbling ourselves (i.e. praying) to receive it.

To say it another way, we may need humility more than what we are asking for or think we need or want, so keep praying and when you are truly humble/dependent on God he ¹may grant it. 

Prayer isn't about "getting things" from God for ourselves, it's about being in a posture -- of humility -- to receive things so we might advance God's kingdom and glory more effectively. 

Our greatest need is God himself. The primary disposition necessary to experience him to the fullest of his infinite glory is humility expressed in or by our dependence i.e. a sense of desperate need for God above a need for anything and everything else. Prayer is the greatest evidence of this humility/dependence.

If God withholds providing for our secondary needs, it is to strengthen awareness of our primary need for Him, thereby increasing a closer union/communion with Him.

The greatest evidence of our awareness of a primary need for him is prayer. Prayer is the language/expression/fruit of humility. You may have tremendous gifts, skills, and resources, but if you do not have humility you can not truly walk with God as you were designed to. He is the infinite Creator, we are his finite/dependent creatures. 

A focus on others

The best way to know we are truly dependent on God is when we seek (pray for) things for the honor/benefit of others; Christ first and our neighbors second.

We can ²not focus on others if we are not drawing from the love of God first. We must receive God's (sacrificial) love to give/love sacrificially.

The more connected we are to God the more love we have and the more lovely (more able to love sacrificially) we become.

And we are not drawing from the love of God unless we are in union/harmony with him.

And we are not in union with him without humility.

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¹actually he will grant it when we are truly humble. I say "may" only because God alone knows when our hearts are truly in a sufficient posture of humility to receive it as God intends; we just think we know. And if we think we are when we are not, we will wrongly expect what we are praying for.

This is why we are encouraged to persevere in prayer. Our persistence itself is a humbling process. If we persist long enough we will be sufficiently humbled to receive the answer we seek or over time God will show us what we are seeking is not honoring to God and we will stop asking.

Often what we seek is not the issue to why our prayers go unanswered. Sufficient humility is i.e. our disposition in asking and seeking it.

²Why is this? We were never designed to be the source of love but rather conduits of the true Source i.e. God. Unless and until we are "plugged in" to the Source, infinite love cannot flow to and through us. 

We can love -- give and receive it -- because we are like God. But we are recipients and responders to love, not the cause or source of it. 

Is God self centered or humble?

God appears to be self-centered and in one sense ¹he is. However, due to the nature of his being three persons while also only one God, there is an "otherness" within the very being of God; he is outward and other focused and oriented - i.e. he is not inward focused or selfish.

And his other orientation is rooted in that other person being perfect, ²exactly as he is perfect. For God to be infinitely attracted to another, that "other" person must be ⁵like him...infinitely and equally perfect and beautiful. 

God is the ³greatest, most perfect, infinitely beautiful, and attractive being of all. To behold Him as He is, is to be filled with wonder and awe. 

God can not admire something infinitely that is not of infinite beauty, value, and worthy of infinite admiration. He alone is most worthy of infinite and eternal admiration. For Him to admire another equally, that other person must be equally beautiful and glorious as Himself. 

With Christ, he is the co-eternal, exact, and perfect representation (image -"other") of the Father. 

And what makes God so ³attractive, admirable, beautiful, and glorious? Certainly, the common things we recognize, such as love, wisdom, power, majesty, creativity but also His humility, an often overlooked but central part of his very being.

The greatest being in the universe is also the most humble and experienced the greatest ⁴humility of any other being. Not only did Christ go to the lowest of any being, but he also came from the greatest heights to do so. You could say the distance Christ traveled - from the "penthouse to the outhouse" of his existence - was infinitely greater than anyone had or will ever travel by virtue of His greatness and the height he came from to go to the depth he went to. No one is higher than the eternal Son of God and no one has ever gone lower or "traveled" farther - or ever will. Part of what makes Christ so great is that he went so low and He did so for others i.e. for both His Father and for us. As a result, he will be exalted above all others for all eternity. To Him be the glory, honor, and praise! AMEN!

Humility is and will always be a central quality he possesses that will evoke our adoration for him throughout eternity. His is not a humbling he experienced and took part in for its own sake but the sake of others, i.e. for His Father first (to honor and draw attention to Him) but also for you and I. 

In and through Christ, God not only knows humility, but is humble. Christ is not only the lion; but also the lamb of God. It is hard to grasp how the greatest being in the universe (the Creator and ongoing Sustainer of everything that exists) experienced the greatest humility of all and is, in fact, the most humble of all beings. 

For this and other reasons, God loves it when he sees humility in us. It is when we are most like His Son.

For a further discussion of the humility of Christ click here. 

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¹God is the cause of all things, through which everything issues forth, on which everything depends, and by which all things continue. He is, therefore, the greatest and most valuable being i.e. the beginning, middle, and end of all things. To say it another way, he is the center of attention because he is the highest being of all; not just for all things He created but for himself as well. And because he is, he is complete within himself. He needs no one and nothing but himself; everything and everyone else needs him. 

However, being the center — the Creator and Sustainer — of all things, and keeping that to oneself - i.e. being "self-centered" (selfish) - are not the same thing but two different things. God desires to overflow His love to others. He is the opposite of selfish. This was demonstrated by the Father - out of love for us - sending His Son and the Son emptying himself of His "Godness" for us. 

²It is interesting and worth noting that we are called to be perfect as God is perfect; not in the fullest sense of God's incommunicable attributes such as being all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present but regarding His communicable ones i.e. things that are a part of God's character that can also be a part of ours, such as love and humility. 

This adds new meaning to the truth that a great leader (King) will never ask you to do what they aren't willing to or have not done themselves. They lead by example. (A true king earns the right to be king. To have it simply bestowed on them is not being a true king. Christ was not only born the King of kings and Lord of lords but he earned the right to be fully recognized as such by his example of humility).

If we resist humility, submission, and suffering it is good and helpful to remember he did not, and that for our sake. 

Hebrews 12:2  looking to Jesus, the founder, and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

³A great part of what makes the Son so great, glorious, beautiful, etc - and the Father via the Son - is humility. We are all attracted to someone humble? Why? In part, because they aren't about themselves, but about others. When we meet someone truly humble, we aren't impressed with their humility but their interest in us (and others). It is far more enjoyable talking to someone who wants to get to know us or share things that might help us, rather than someone who talks about themselves, is it not? 

⁴Rooted in the essence of God's nature is the quality that enabled Christ to humble himself. However, this was not a character quality acted out and experienced to the fullest extent of its potential. We are told Christ learned obedience (humble submission and reverential trust) through the things he suffered. Christ entered into and experienced humility in a way he had not before the incarnation. 

How is it possible for the all-knowing God to learn? This is a mystery and likely had something to do with Christ's humanity. John Piper offers the following... His learning obedience was not Christ going from disobedience to obedience but from untested to tested obedience. The inclination to submit and obey the Father was inherent in the nature of Christ (God), otherwise, he would have never submitted when He was put to the test. Christ's trust in and love for the Father as a man was genuinely put to task, for the first time in a new and unique way. And in facing the most daunting suffering imaginable, he held fast and came out the other side victorious as the Lord of Lords and rightful King over all things. He is the Alpha (the Creator) and the Omega. He was raised from death to life!! This was not a hypothetical theory but as real as it gets. 

⁵The more that other person is like him the more attracted he is. Christ is the exact representation of the Father. The perfect image of God. Therefore he is most attracted to Christ. 

However, we are also in God's image, and therefore, he is also attracted to us. We are as close to being like God-Christ as possible without being Him. 

The central theme of the beatitudes?

Virtually everyone agrees that the "sermon on the mount" is the most significant compilation of Christ's teachings in one message.

Prayer - the "Lords prayer" - happens to be at the ¹center of this sermon. Was this intentional?

Could it be that prayer is central (in theme as well as ¹structurally) to this compilation of Christ's teachings?

Isn't prayer the greatest expression and indication of humility? 

And isn't humility the main disposition needed by us to know and walk with God? 

Isn't knowing and experiencing God ²most, based on our disposition or posture of humility before Him?

What does scripture say?

"God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble" is a main refrain in the Bible. The importance of humility (or lack of it) is a theme woven throughout virtually every story in the Bible from beginning to end and for good reason - a critical reason. We will not and can not truly know God without it.

Buying into the lie that we can be our own god was the first step in the opposite direction, away from humility and the path humanity has been on since. As a result, everything has come unglued.

If you (we) want to know the level of your (our) humility, look at the significance of prayer in your life. How big a role does it play? 

The more humble you are, the more you will pray. The less you pray, the less humble you are. 

The more humble we are the more we experience God's grace and love. Praying without ceasing may be the best indication of the deepest humility.

For a discussion of the humility of Christ click here. 

For a further discussion of the humility of Christ click here. 
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¹Christ's starting the sermon with "blessed are the poor in spirit" - i.e. the humble - is not without good reason. For a further discussion, click here.

²and chronologically

Matt
5:2-48
6:1-34 (The Lord's prayer 9-15)
7:1-27

The sermon consists of 108 total verses making verse 54 the halfway point structurally.

The subject of prayer starts at verse 55 and ends at verse 64 with 44 verses following. Of course, there were no chapters or verses in the original text but this helps us see that prayer is near the structural and grammatical center of the entire sermon as well as central to the sermon's theme.

the appeal of humility

Why is it that when we see humility in others we find it so appealing? 

No one likes someone who is arrogant and thinks they are "all that." Everyone likes someone who is humble. 

The reason? 

Humble people treat others (us) with dignity and arrogant people do not. 

A truly (*genuinely) humble person is other (you and I) oriented not self-oriented. 

We like it when others treat us as significant/important and don't when they think they are the only one in the room who is.  Nothing is more boring then someone always thinking or talking about themselves.

In truth, we are all significant in the eyes of God. For someone to act as if they alone are significant is not only unappealing (and even repulsive), it's simply not true. 

The bottom line is when someone is all about self, they have no time for others (including you) unless it is to use you or others to advance themselves in some way. We find these kinds of people boring at best and often obnoxious. 

On the other hand, we are drawn to truly humble people. We like them. We like it (even admire it) when someone recognizes they are who they are because of others and are focused on recognizing and/or helping others. True humility is always **other-oriented and always refreshing. 

As Tim Keller likes to say, "humility isn't thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less"

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*...there is also a false humility which no one likes. False humility is not humility at all but actually self-pity which is also about self only masked as humility. 

**Given this understanding tells us something very significant about God, doesn't it? Ironic when you consider most interpret God's call to recognize his glory as only being self-focused, when in fact God knows the best thing for us, is our recognizing his glory. 

Which comes 1st, grace or humility?

Which occurs first? Our seeing God as the Source of life, love, and all created things more clearly or our being weaned from an ¹inordinate delight in created things? 

Several places in scripture teach that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. This indicates humility comes ²before grace (i.e., the gift of ³God revealing Himself more fully to us) or at least it is the means of experiencing ongoing and increasing grace. 

We must recognize attempts at being our own God - our arrogant independence - do not work long-term, i.e., we must humble ourselves. We must die to live. Death to our attempts to save ourself comes before life. 

God is our greatest happiness. Anything that increases our union with Him is good, even (and maybe especially) pain.

For a discussion on the necessity of humility click here

 

How do we discover God's love in our pain? click here

For a further discussion on the primary role of pain click here

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/

grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job, click here.

For a discussion on the value of paradox, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Why do we hold on to and pursue created things so tenaciously? It allows us to temporarily cling to our independence from God. We want the delights of creation without the humility of admitting they are all gifts from our Creator or the necessity of our submission to and dependence on Him. 

²The old saying is you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. 

However, you can also salt its oats. 

The choice to not drink is up to the horse. Salting its oats is up to someone else. 

While the choice to humble ourselves precedes our experience of grace, pain is often a means by which we are humbled. We often have no control over painful circumstances, even though we have control over how we respond to them i.e. we can either humble ourselves in response to pain or become defient and rage at God for it.

³it is not because God is hiding that we can't see Him, but because our pride - our tenacious clinging to our independence - blinds us to seeing Him clearly. It takes humility to see and appreciate humility i.e. to see Christ as the humble servant He is. We can't see or grasp what Christ is truly like without humility because He is humble. 

Without humility we project on to God arrogance when He says we should honor and praise Him i.e. we don't see Him correctly. We suppress the truth in our unrighteousness i.e. our unbelief -  and value (worship) created things over our Creator (Rom 1:18-23).

Yes Christ is the Lion of Judah but he is also the Lamb of God who willingly humbled and submitted himself to the Father to be slain... and that for our sake and the Father's glory i.e. he did this for the sake of others. 

Hardship ---> humility ---> love.

When going through hardship, humility is what God is after and ultimately what we need (and should seek). Hardship is only a means to that end and valuable to the extent it helps us acquire greater humility. 

If we seek humility directly, we may not need to experience self-induced hardship; at least not as often.

There is also self-imposed hardship (i.e. self-denial) as well. Taking up our cross would be an example.

Either way it seems we can not obtain sufficient humility and necessary dependence on God without self deprivation (or denial) in one form or another. 

Self-induced hardship is hardship that comes as a consequence of violating God's law i.e. Disobedience 

Self-imposed hardship (self denial/self discipline) is hardship we experience as a result of choosing to follow God i.e. Obedience

There is also hardship that simply comes by virtue of living in a broken world full of broken people who are disconnected from the Source of life and love. 

(foot note: Being disconnected from the Source of life and love can only result in pain and suffering. Why? Because we were not designed to operate apart from our Creator/Source, no more than the body was designed to function without food and water. Deprive the body of food and water and what happens? We die i.e. we experience pain and suffering) 

The ultimate goal of humility is so we might more fully know and experience God in the greatness of his love, majesty, beauty, wisdom, power and glory.

Arrogance and pride is what we should avoid with everything we have for it is the enemy of unity and harmony with God.

Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

Luke 14:11  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Weakness OR power?

We must be careful not to have an "either-or" mindset when it comes to weakness/humility vs power/effort. To say it another way, humility does not negate the importance of excellence in execution. It only addresses the disposition (motive) with which execution is carried out. 

Excellence in execution should always be how we seek to honor -- bring glory to -- God. In fact, it is a significant part of how we do so. 

Many Christians exercise false humility as an excuse to not pursue excellence. As a result, many things "Christian" are often of inferior quality. I know, because I used to think this way. I took the attitude, "God loves me no matter what, so the quality of my work or the diligence of my effort doesn't matter." In one sense, this is true. As far as God's love for us, it does not matter. His love is based on the work of Christ, not ours. But as far as our flourishing and participating in and experiencing all that God has for us, all he designed us to be and accomplish, and bringing him the greatest glory possible, it totally matters. 

How can doing things with less than excellence be more honoring to God than things executed excellently? They can not. God is the overflowing God and author of excellence, beauty, majesty, bounty, love etc. 

How many times have we heard (or felt) regarding a "Christian" enterprise - such as a movie or song - that this is a "typical"  Christian production i.e. implying it is inferior -- not in substance/content of the message, but in presentation or form -- compared to what nonbelievers produce?

This has not always been the case. Think of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach or Michelangelo or the quality of education provided by some of the earliest higher learning institutions, such as Harvard and Yale. These were all the fruit of a desire to honor God through the diligent use of God's gifts to produce something excellent for his glory. 

Paul gives us an example of how we are to go about things. 

Col 1:29  For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. 

We are also told that whether we eat, drink or whatever we do, do all to the glory of God 1Co 10:31. This suggests we act not just with the intent of pointing others to him but with the degree of effort necessary to produce the best possible result/outcome for his honor. Loving God with all our strength (energy, effort) is part of the greatest commandment, is it not? This says great effort driven by a desire to honor God is superior to efforts seeking to exalt self i.e. God is superior to self.

If we have to choose between operating with humility and operating with excellence the former is always the better choice. No amount of excellence in itself will bring the greatest honor to God -- at least not deliberately i.e. it is not the intent of the producer. But if we can operate with both humility (1st) and excellence as a fruit of humility, that is the preferred option and should always be our ultimate desire and goal.

For a further discussion on the importance of excellence click here. 

For a further discussion on how a great outcome is in proportion to great effort click here. 

What does God value in us?

Why is humility so important? 

What best brings it about? 

Is there any connection between our value, as bearers of God's image, and humility?

We will start by looking at humility and then how this is connected to being like God - Jesus i.e. in His image.

There are at least three foundational truths to grasp for humility to increase in us...

1. We must know - in our heart, not just our head - that all that we are and have comes from God - especially our being in His image with the capacity to partake of and participate in the union of Father, Son, and Spirit.

2. We must know God values us regardless of our failures (or struggles). In fact, He actually uses struggles to advance us and strengthen our relationship with Him.

3. We must know God values us regardless of what anyone else thinks or says about us - i.e. we don't need to ¹promote ourselves and derive our sense of value through the praise (or criticism) of others. 

We are already fully and eternally valued and cherished by God. If God is for us, who can ultimately be against us? Hint...nothing and no one...including ourselves! 

What is the basis of God's value of us? It is threefold.

1. God made us like Himself. It is His image in us that He values. Or it may be more accurate to say he values us because we are in his image.

But why does God value his image in us? What is it about His image He finds so attractive and appealing, even though we are so broken, often ugly, full of doubts and distrust of Him? (...or maybe in part indirectly because of these - i.e., because of the humility our failures and struggles help develop in us.  Plus what normal fathers care isn't more heightened when his child is in more distress, not less). 

Christ also being in the image of God may be an important first clue to our value and humility. Let's take a closer look.

God knows our capacity and sees fully what we are becoming and will be that day we are finally and fully glorified and perfectly united with Him in ²eternity (because we are in his image we will be more ³like God on that day than we can even imagine or now see).

2. God no longer holds our failures against us - Christ already fully addressed them ⁴legally. 

In Christ, there is now no barrier between God and us on his side of the relationship (though we wander back and forth in our trust of Him i.e. our side of the relationship always fluctuates, but His never does). 

Therefore, He fully and perfectly receives and embraces us in His love. He will never love us anymore (now or in eternity) more than He already does because of Christ. To use a description by Paul, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ, at this very moment and every moment since we first trusted Christ! 

 

3. He knows where our struggles and failures are ultimately taking us. Since, in Christ, our rebellious distrust of God is no longer a legal issue, He now focuses on how to maximize the use of our failures and struggles ⁴practically i.e., how to use them to humble us - if we let Him - and how they advance our increased participation in Him in all His infinite glory, both now but particularly in eternity. 

Our eternal reward is God Himself. The more we humble ourselves, the more we see and experience Him in the fullness of His glory and the greater our joy.

God is thrilled and delighted in us - because He is thrilled and delighted in Himself and His Son first, and how we are becoming more like His Son through our struggles - and how we will finally be like Him when we are fully in union with Him and fully glorified alongside Him the moment we step into eternity. Because, at that time, our union with Him will be complete and perfect in the same way His Son's is - and was from eternity past and is again since his resurrection - the Son who is already and fully in the perfect image of the Father. 

We will be like the prodigal son that his father lost, ⁵who returned. For now, God eagerly watches our progress as we grow in greater trust. He awaits our perfect restoration and union with him (in the same way the prodigal son's father did). At that time God will throw His arms around us, kiss our neck and throw a feast for us, ⁹celebrating our complete union and exaltation with Him forevermore. We will fully experience our glory by fully partaking of His. 

Like Christ, His only begotten Son, we too are his sons and daughters (even though Christ is the only eternally begotten Son; like Christ, we are the sons and daughters of the all-glorious Creator God). 

Because of what Christ did for us, He earned the status of being the first born of many "brothers" i.e. of additional sons and daughters. 

He was also the first (first fruits) to go through death and come out the other side fully glorified and victorious. This suggests there are others like Him to follow i.e. others who put their complete trust in Christ (as Christ did in the Father) and what He did to restore us to the Father. As God's sons and daughters in Christ, we are next, for we too have died in Christ and therefore will also be resurrected in glory.

Imagine the delight the Father had in His Son from all eternity past and the excitement he felt upon His return to Heaven and being restored to His full glory and by His side again. The Father has this same ⁶eager anticipation and excitement for being with us and our being united with Him. He values us as His sons and daughters in the same way He values Jesus, His eternal, only begotten Son.

And what a day of joy and celebration that will be for God and us! The greatness of our capacity to be like God (Christ) and enjoy and reflect him throughout eternity will only be 2nd to Christ Himself! 

And the greater our ⁷humbling in this life - whether self imposed (through self denial and sacrificial love of others) or through painful circumstances - the more fully we will participate and engage in, experience, and enjoy the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit - both now, but more importantly throughout eternity. At that time we will fully join in the celebration and divine dance of glory and love between the Father and Son in, through, and by the Spirit. The greater our humility and trust now the more we enter into and partake of the only true God now but especially in eternity.

So never shy away from discipline, obedience to the Father, struggle, disappointment, setbacks, suffering, but embrace them - in the same way Christ did. The more we do, the more we become like Christ, and the more fully we will partake of glory (God's and our own), in the same way Christ does.

God Himself is our reward and struggle is often the primary means by which we draw nearer to Him. The ⁸more you partake of challenges of any kind - either self imposed or externally imposed - and let them humble you, the more fully you will be able to engage and participate in God in all His wonder, majesty, beauty and glory both now but especially throughout eternity.

So count it all joy when you go through various struggles. Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the greatest pain. Get ready for His celebration of you and your joining Him in the greatest party you will ever have or experience. A celebration that never ends! This is the essence and glory of heaven.

For a discussion on what makes Christ unique as the only begotten son click here. 

For a discussion on the humility of God click here

For a discussion on why evil exists click here.

For a discussion on if we are accountable for Adams rebellion click here.

For a discussion on who we are but who we are not yet but will be click here.

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¹Self promotion - exaltation - is at the heart of pride and pride is the opposite of humility. We seek to promote ourselves to fill the void caused by God's absence, brought about by our rejecting and distrusting God in all His care, love, value, support, advancement and promotion of us. To lay down attempts to advance ourselves and receive the love, care and support of another requires humility and trust (and not just any "other" but the all wise, loving and powerful Creator God). It is acknowledging our dependence on another versus being our own god i.e. vs being independent. It is the reversal of the spirit of distrust and rebellion displayed by Adam in the Eden.

²We have the short view. God has the long view which happens to also be the most important and true view.  

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient (temporary, fleeting), but the things that are unseen are eternal (permanent, unshakable)" 2 Cor 4:16‭-‬18

³The potential of our being like God and fully experiencing Him lies dormant in us as bearers of His image. This capacity was not lost in our rebellion but lethally suppressed i.e. we died spiritually the day we rebelled and chose to be our own god. When we rebelled and broke trust with God, our spiritual light went out (though the capacity for that light to be turned back on remained). When we turned away from God, our full brilliance - glory - went dormant. What was left was a spiritual void - hunger - that we now seek to fill. But due to our rebellious distrust of the only One who can fill it, we seek glory outside of and apart from God through creation, instead of in and through Him who is the Creator.

Now we treat God as our enemy and the one that blocks (prevents) us from obtaining fullness of life - or so we think - through created things instead of the Creator of them. 

 

But is this true? Do we really think he's our enemy? How do we know? How can we tell?

If we get angry, when our plans to gain life outside of God are thwarted, we are ultimately shaking our fist at God. We believe He's the cause of our pain when it is His absence - due to our distrust of Him - that is the actual cause.

Physical death is evidence and the outward manifestation of our internal spiritual death that occurred at the rebellion of our original parents, Adam and Eve. In order for our true spiritual brilliance to be completely manifested in and through us again, we have to abandon our pursuit of being our own god and be fully united with - plugged into - the source of life and love - the all glorious, brilliant, majestic, and beautiful God who is our Creator and the Source of us and all things. God alone is our true life source - the source of all glory and brilliance...and of our glory and our brilliance - we are not. 

Being reunited with God - the source of life, love and all things - only occurs in and through placing our trust in Christs efforts on our behalf, not our own.

⁴Our rebellious unbelief (sin) is addressed in 2 ways:

Legally - objectively. Our rebellion is no longer held against us because of Christ and His bearing the full legal consequences of that rebellion i.e. God's condemnation and judgment for our rebellion are gone, removed forever and never revisited again by God. Christ bore all of it when He died and came back to life, putting these away from us forever.

Practically - subjectively. As we become more aware of the depth of our rebellious distrust we are humbled and increasingly understand the significance of Christ fully removing the legal consequences of our rebellion and our desperate need for Him.

⁵Due to his son humbling himself because of his failure to make it on his own.

⁶And not the Father only but the Son also eagerly anticipated His return as well.

⁷Challenges will either make us distrusting and bitter or better. It is our choice. We must choose to believe He is working for our good or not i.e. we are tested on whether we believe he is for us and not against us, just as Christ was tested in the wilderness, in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross.

⁸Do not question God's love and the good intentions He has toward you when allowing you to enter into and go through struggles or fiery trails. He is working in you things you do not yet fully see or understand, to humble you and enable you to be more like his Son so that you can better feast with Him in eternity as the Son does.

So "count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing..." - Jas 1:2‭-‬5

 

⁹If this is the response of a finite and flawed human father, imagine the response of a perfect, infinitely wise, loving, and all powerful heavenly Father. I would say we can't and won't be able to fully grasp this until that day we are looking face to face into His eyes.


A personal note regarding this post...

I used to dread dying and have always hoped I would die quietly in my sleep some day but after understanding the truths above I am inclined to accept the most challenging death, and now recognize going through such a death might humble me further so I might be exalted even more when I finally step into eternity with God. 

The closeness of our union with God and extent of our partaking of God in eternity is in proportion to our humility in this present life. 

Don't shy away from the things that humble you, embrace them. Doing so increases your capacity to experience more of God's embrace of you. Not His actual embrace (i.e. He already perfectly receives us now in Christ) - but our more fully receiving and experiencing His embrace of us now emotionally. This is already perfectly ours in Christ because of His efforts (not yours) on your behalf.