Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Last Sunday were started the series on King and Kingdom. Today we continue looking at "Kingdom Living: Identity of Righteousness." Last week we heard of Jesus' request to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordon and John saying he should be baptized by the Lord to which the Lord replied: "the is to fulfill all righteousness!" (Matthew 3:15) We heard of the heavens opening or "being ripped open" according to Mark's Gospel. We heard the amazing words "this is my son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased" spoken by the Father, as the Holy Spirit descended as a dove. It is no mistake that immediately Jesus is tempted in the desert to show that even the sinless Son of God is tempted as we are each day but does not sin. Then we see his ministry beginning with his preaching, calling of his disciples and the healing of the sick.
Today we are going to delve into the Sermon on the Mount. This is an amazing sermon! Jesus begins with the Beatitudes, as we hear a radical change in what constitutes a faithful follower of God. Jesus begins by stating in the first Beatitude of Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is so important as we are learning to understand what it means that in Christ we are clothed with righteousness and children of the King! Therefore we who are in the Kingdom, which is "at hand," "near" and "here" all at the same, are righteous because of what Christ did on Calvary through his blood shed for us and proven in the empty tomb! We are therefore identified as the righteous which can give us a sense of pride, as being heirs, priests, children of the king etc.. So in order to keep us from getting too puffed up in the idea that this forgiveness and righteousness that we receive the Lord provided these words in 1 John 1:8-9 "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!" This is an amazing gift that we as children of the king have in the identity we have been given in Christ. It makes us "light and salt" in the world (Matt 5)
The Kingdom of Heaven, as we mentioned last week, is used 33 times in Matthew and we understand that the Lord taught this as a central part of what His Kingdom coming into the world would look like as we live it out. Today we look at the words of Jesus as he taught in Matthew 5:17-20
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
These words are powerful since they show us how the Lord will "fulfill all righteousness" as we heard last week. Matthew uses the word to fulfill OT Scripture 12 times. It is extremely important for us to know that this is the plan.
We are especially interested in the way He teaches on the Kingdom and Righteousness when He tells us that the righteousness of even the most legalistic and faithful to the law (Pharisees and the teachers of the law) will not be enough to gain us the Kingdom now, or for eternity. He wants us to understand that, as in the first Beatitude, we are to be "poor in spirit" or humble. We are called to recognize it is only by grace that we are saved and it is only by the justification of Christ's death on the cross that we get eternal life. We are sanctified and made righteous in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not be our good works. Our works are but filthy rags compared to our Holy God! So we are called to understand that we have this "identity of righteousness" as a gift and therefore we live as righteous saints, not running away from the idea of righteousness but celebrating this gift as we receive it in the Word, absolution and with all of our senses in the Lord's Supper. After we receive this gift we understand our identity and we move forward with practicing our "Kingdom Living" as it says in Matthew 6: 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Please join us tomorrow at ALIVE! Lenawee County at 11:00am, where Paul will be sharing, or at Cross and Resurrection EMU at 9am for Sunday School, 9:15 for High School and Adult Bible Study with Jim Fry teaching on King and Kingdom, 10:15 College Study, 10:15 & 12:15 Worship with lunch in between. I will be at the EMU site and look forward to worshiping with everyone!
Next week I will be going to see my new grandson "Levi" as well as my son and daughter-in-law (Tim and Meagan) in BC, my family in Calgary, Alberta and go to the Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute Board of Trustees meeting in Camrose, Alberta next weekend. Sarah and I will be back next Tuesday.
Blessings and Love in Christ our Righteousness,
Pastor Bryan
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