Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.(Matthew 5:1-2)
Did You Know?
That Zeus was one of the most popular gods at that time. And conjecture has it that perhaps Jesus name was changed to please the pagans in the empire who were reluctant to accept the new faith of the Roman Emperor.
Here, Jesus saw crowds of people who heard of him and were following him around obviously curious about him.
Jesus then went up on a mountainside and began to teach. Many call these teachings The Sermon on the Mount or The Beatitudes. In my view, they are neither. They are simply teachings of Christ.
He begins by teaching, “Blessed Are The Poor in Spirit, For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Jesus did not say blessed are the poor as in materially poor? No, he taught blessed are the poor in spirit. What is this?
Those poor in spirit have no hope. They see no way out of their condition. They could be persons who are depressed. Enslaved. Sick. In fear. Not spirited and full of life and free, but tamed and controlled. The population of the world since man has been ruling man is in a state of being poor in spirit.
The world in which we live is all about the exercise of power and control of and over the masses. The nations of the world are set up that way. Laws are written that way. Everything in the world – religion, corporations, military complexes, educational institutions – are all fashioned to wield power and control over people.
That Satan is the god of this world and seeks our worship, this should not be surprising. (2 Cor 4:4)
Jesus is speaking to people who lived more than 2000 years ago. So, how will those poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven? How will those living today and tomorrow who are poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven? Die and then go to heaven?
No!
When Jesus spoke to the people back then on that day, he had not died yet. Thus, he had not ascended. His ministry of three-and-half years had not begun yet. So, at death, no one back then would have preceded him into heaven. Plus, Jesus later taught that no human born of the earth (and all are) will ever go to heaven. (John 3:13 and John 8:23)
Those living today and tomorrow – at death – do not go to heaven either. When we die, we return to that from which we were taken, the dust of the ground. (Genesis 3:19)
There is no going to heaven at death. Jesus never taught this. It would defeat the purpose of the future great resurrection that Jesus promised all would have. (John 5:28-29)
So, how will those poor in spirit – past, present, and future – receive the kingdom of heaven?
Well at Matthew 6:10, in what many know as The Lords Prayer, Jesus taught that God’s kingdom will one day in the future come down to the earth.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
At Revelation 21:2 we read that after Christs’ future 1000-year kingdom has come and gone after Satan is released from the Abyss after he establishes his Beast (throne) upon the earth, after The Great Tribulation, after Armageddon, and he (Satan) and everything he establishes on earth in those future days is destroyed, God’s Holy City comes down to the earth from heaven.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
This event is thousands of years yet future. However, it should be understood that when God’s kingdom comes down to the earth, it simply means that rulership over the earth is from heaven. No more man rules over man. That God’s kingdom envelops the earth and all who reside on earth will be richly blessed, even given eternal life in it.
That God’s kingdom will one day come down to the earth, there would be no need for anyone to go up to heaven. We are not from heaven. We did not originate from there. We are of the earth. It is our home.
Christianity has established many teachings that hide this great truth. It teaches at death one either goes to heaven or a fiery hell. It teaches a Rapture. These teachings reveal Christianity is unable to articulate Christ’s teachings, so they make up their own. By doing so, Christianity short-changes the masses and misleads them from the truth about Christ (and his teachings) and the one who sent him.
Because of man’s inability to successfully govern himself, he has made a big mess of things. Just look around you. Turn on the news.
Those poor in spirit had no choice in the matter. It is not their fault that they are in that condition. Jesus is teaching here that one day their condition will end when God’s kingdom comes down to the earth. They will be in that everlasting kingdom where there will be no pain, crying, or death. (Revelation 21:4)
