BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN PERSECUTED FOR THE SAKE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN PEOPLE INSULT YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU, AND FALSELY SAY ALL KINDS OF EVIL AGAINST YOU BECAUSE OF ME.

REJOICE AND BE GLAD, FOR YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN IS GREAT, FOR IN THE SAME WAY THEY PERSECUTED THE PROPHETS WHO WERE BEFORE YOU.

“If we are not receiving some type of ridicule for our beliefs, we are probably doing something wrong.” – Dillon Burroughs

 This part of how we should respond to the gospel of the kingdom takes us in a different direction. Prior to this Jesus focused on our personal attitudes. Now His message moves outside of our nephesh into the world around us. Just as each of the attitudes Jesus speaks of progress from one to the next, these warnings of what life will be like when we are conformed to the image of God come after becoming a peacemaker, and for a good reason. When we become what we are supposed to be we will have established peace with God and desire that harmony for all people. The purpose of every person born since Adam and Eve is to become a peacemaker because all humans live condemned by God. Only when we are truly at peace with God through justification and our correct response to the gospel of the kingdom can we live in harmony with God’s purposes. As we walk in the Spirit reflecting the image of God one thing will stand out loud and clear. We will have the same desires, passions, appetites, emotions, thoughts and reasoning as the Holy Spirit does. If we are surrendered to the Holy Spirit, then what is important to God will be what is important to us. This is why a peacemaker will be persecuted, because God’s will becomes our purpose in life and the will of God is growing His family.

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) 

 It is pretty obvious here what is important to God. He is not willing that anyone would perish, but that we all come to repentance. The Greek word translated repentance simply means, to change. What needs to change is determined by the context of the passage around it. According to this passage in 2 Peter what needs to change is what we think about the return of Jesus. He is coming back and each of us needs to repent and have His return as the focus of our lives.

Everything in our world runs contrary to this desire of God. From little reactions of disinterest in the gospel of the kingdom message to great physical torture and killing of those who preach it, God’s desire that no one should perish is a tremendous source of hostility to those who do not want to surrender to God’s sovereign, righteous rule.  

What may appear to us as Jesus being slow in keeping His promise to return is really only His desire that no one would perish. God wants as many as possible to join His family and live forever under His sovereign, righteous rule where He will lavish them with grace and kindness. To be restored to harmony with God would mean we would want what God wants and He doesn’t want anyone to perish. He is so strong in His feelings for this He would die a brutal death, be insulted, spit upon, mocked, and become all the sin ever committed throughout the entire history of the world to make it possible for us to escape from perishing. Look at the emotions Jesus felt while going through all this:

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2, 3)

 He endured hostility while despising the shame yet He rejoiced because of what this would do for us transgressors/sinners in the future. Jesus knew that those who choose to live the makarios life in the image of God and become a peacemaker will be persecuted and insulted. He was the full expression of the image of God and was the greatest peacemaker in the history of the world, yet He was persecuted and insulted by us sinners to the point where He was crucified. When He was, He endured it with a joy that looks to the future, to the kingdom rule of God. Jesus is warning all those who want to follow Him, who believe the gospel of the kingdom, that to live the life we were meant to live, we should expect nothing less than what He received.

“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:20)

       “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

 This part of the gospel of the kingdom would not be used in too many how-to-win-friends and influence people seminars. But then Jesus wasn’t trying to simply win friends and influence people. His goal was to restore transgressors/sinners to be at peace with God’s purposes, will and image. To be in harmony with all that is good and right we must surrender our living being to God’s sovereign, righteous rule. This is the greatest point of conflict with the gospel of the kingdom and this is why those who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted. There is no room for other religions or other ways of going to heaven. There will be no one in the new heaven and earth who has not willingly surrendered their will to God’s will. It is easy to be religious but it requires strenuous effort to be a makarios Christian living in the image of God.            

According to Jesus those who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted and insulted because of Him. I like the simple and honest way Ray Stedman addresses this:

“Those who think godly living makes them invulnerable to trouble are living in a fantasy world.” – Ray C. Stedman

 Many people think the goal of the gospel is to make their life easy, one of material riches or one where they will never be sick or downtrodden. Often we think that whenever someone doesn’t like us or says something mean about us behind our back that we are experiencing this hostility because of our beliefs. The persecution and insults that Jesus speaks about here are for one reason only, because of Him. Not because our transgressor/sinful nephesh makes us difficult to get along with.

It is impossible to live a godly life in a world hostile to God and His righteous ways and not be persecuted. We need to never forget this. We are to live in such a way that our merciful actions and peacemaking overtures focus on God and not on ourselves. Then the reason for our persecution and insults will truly be because of Him.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

 So how does one get persecuted and insulted because of Jesus? The first thing we do is step away from the herd by seeking first the sovereign, righteous rule of God in everything we do. The herd follows a wide path of self-interest. A peacemaker follows a narrow path concerned with God’s interest. The second thing is to be focused on the future kingdom rule of Christ. When we are, what happens in this world is secondary. Our comfort is not the most important thing. God’s will is. We only have this time on earth to live for God in a world hostile to His rule. This is our moment to stand up for God under any circumstance and let the world see we are a reborn follower of Christ. The third thing is to desire God’s righteous ways more than anything else. We cannot tolerate our transgressor nephesh and its sinful responses while at the same time seeking first the righteousness of God. These are as opposite as anything is on earth. God hates our transgression and sin so much He would rather have His Son die to free us from its grip than let transgression and sin determine the destiny of our life. The fourth thing is to remember that God sent His Son Jesus because He loved the world. That not only means He loves me but it also means He loves my neighbor, my enemies and those of the herd walking out of step with God. This is the narrow path we are meant to walk and according to Jesus there are few traveling on this road. Probably because there will be persecution and insults for those walking on this narrow path.

Where will this persecution come from? You might be surprised at what I am about to say, but pay particular attention here. Understanding this may help you smile more when persecution and insults come. Job was a man who desired to live a godly life and by God’s own admission Job succeeded at it. Because he lived such a godly life Job was persecuted mightily and it came directly from Satan whose purpose was to get Job to stop being so godly and walk away from God.

How did Satan persecute Job? By destroying all of Jobs material possessions through what we would call acts of nature and by stirring up marauding bands of evildoers to steal them. Satan also persecuted Job by killing all of his family and those who worked for him through these same methods. He even brought a horrible sickness on Job that was almost unbearable. With no remedy Job had to suffer in pain twenty-four hours a day. Satan also caused Job’s wife to speak out against him. And when none of these other methods caused Job to walk away from God, Satan stirred up some of Job’s good friends to speak against him, insult him, condemn him and create doubts in Job’s relationship with God. Each of these acts of aggression against Job was directly from the hand of Satan and nothing has changed in our world today. All who desire to live godly in Christ will suffer persecution – from the hand of Satan and he will use the same methods he used on Job against us, tweaking them to fit the culture we live in.

He will bring sexual temptations, not once, not two times but hundreds of times. If he does not succeed through this method he will bring lies against us as if we actually did succumb to sexual temptation. Satan will bring any type of persecution in the form of a temptation to get us to stop living the makarios life. From porn to pain, from riches to poverty, from busyness to laziness, from fear to apathy, from insecurity to arrogance, and a thousand other ways. He will use whatever means he can to reveal a weakness and when he does find a small hole in our armor he will then try to drive a tank through it. He has been around a long time and he knows what will prompt, motivate and fire up our transgressor/sinner nephesh far better than we do. God knows well of Satan’s ways and warns us so we can be ready for them.

“Stay alert! Watch out for your enemy, the devil, He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”     (1 Peter 5:8 NLT)

Everyone is fair game to Satan, but those who desire to live a godly life are the ones most often in his crosshairs. The last thing Satan wants us to do is to live the makarios life. Adam and Eve were living this life when Satan persecuted them by getting them to doubt God’s goodness through Satan’s enlightened discussion with Eve. That is what he does. If we desire to live a godly life, if we respond to the gospel of the kingdom accordingly, if we walk in the Spirit and surrender to God’s will for our life, make no mistake about it, Satan will try anything to get us to stop. He hates us living the makarios life. But should we fear him? No. We just need to always be on the alert for him. Jesus defeated Satan while He hung on the cross and there is nothing Satan can do to reverse that. Jesus, our King is the victor!

        “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8b)

        “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4b)

“And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

 And what should we do when we have felt the teeth of the roaring lion and fallen out of harmony with God? We should begin again with an attitude of poor in spirit, mourn, be gentle, hunger and thirst again for righteousness, be merciful, be pure in heart, and return to being a peacemaker for the grace of God is greater than all our sins and failures.

       “but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Romans 5:20b)

 We may have fallen but we can never plummet beyond God’s gracious reach to help us rise and live once again in harmony with all His ways. The only way we can remain out of the makarios life is if we stop trying. God will never force us to live the makarios life but He always stands ready to comfort us when we become poor in spirit and mourn for our ways whenever we want to start again.

Keep in mind that God wants us to enjoy the makarios life far more than Satan desires to stop us. All Satan can do is persecute and insult those who want to live a godly life and Jesus says the proper response to Satan’s persecution and insults is to rejoice exceedingly and be extremely glad. Why would Jesus want us to have this kind of reaction to persecution and insults? Because persecution and insults for Christ sake are living proof that we have been restored to the way we are supposed to be. So celebrate! This is worthy of praise and thanksgiving to God for we are building a treasure in heaven and bringing glory and honor to Jesus as we do. With each persecution and insult we receive because of Christ, the deposit God makes into our account in heaven is immense!

Should we wake up tomorrow and try to be persecuted? No, absolutely not. We need to wake up instead and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness more than what we eat, what we drink and what we wear. We need to walk in the Spirit every moment of the day. We need to surrender to the rule of the Holy Spirit, go where He sends us and respond as Jesus would to our life’s circumstances. That will bring persecution and insults to our life eventually, because Satan will not like us living this way. He will stir up varying circumstances in our private and public world to push us into rejoining the herd. If persecution and insults come, rejoice just as Jesus did. We will be in good company for even the prophets of old were treated the same way.

Now pick up your cross and go follow Jesus wherever He may ask you to go. Smile and be happy for you are at peace with the God of creation. Nothing can remove you from such a place of honor for you are a son of God! Go, live the makarios life in the restored image of God. This is the best revenge against all Satan has done to destroy God’s creation. Rejoice, be glad and be happy for this is the way you were meant to be.

Blessed are you…

            When you fully understand how devoid you are of the righteousness of God.

            When you weep for the condition of your brokenness.

            When you surrender to the sovereign, righteous rule of God.

            When you have found forgiveness and comfort from the One who died for you.

            When you hunger and thirst for the same desire God has for you.

   When you are compassionate because you have experienced the mercy of Jesus.

   When you can rejoice through the difficulties of restoring your nephesh to the image of God.

   When you have made peace with God in this turbulent world and live to bring this same peace to others.

Rejoice…

        You are God’s child, God’s friend, God’s favored one and the makarios life is yours.

 

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