Theirs! The Kingdom!

A Banquet for Beggars. The Beatitudes – The Bliss of Poverty

Beggars Only, No Exceptions.

In the last post we stood outside the entrance to the Kingdom. The sign over the gate read: Right of Admission Reserved — Only Destitute Beggars. That is the great paradox of the first Beatitude. Spiritual poverty is not a barrier to the Kingdom, it is the doorway. Those who come empty-handed are welcomed by the King Himself.

Not Someday. Today.

But what exactly is this Kingdom the poor in spirit inherit?

Many Christians think only of heaven when they read Jesus’ promise: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Yet Jesus meant far more than a future destination. His Kingdom has already come, it is here now, and one day it will come in all its fullness. The King came when Jesus entered history. His life, death, and resurrection established God’s Kingdom on earth. Everyone who trusts Him already belongs to that Kingdom, living under His rule today and experiencing its blessings — His forgiveness, His peace, His presence, His transforming power. Yet this is only the beginning. One day the King will return, and sin, death, and suffering will be gone forever as God’s reign is made complete.

An Appetizer.

Some dismiss the Kingdom of God as “pie in the sky by and by”,  a distant dream with no present value. Yes, there is a great pie in the sky: a future world made new, where everything is healed and whole. The surprising truth though, is that we already get a foretaste, a slice of the pie now. That taste is not imagination or wishful thinking; it is the result of what Jesus has already done. In His life, death, and resurrection. He has already “baked” the Kingdom, secured it, established it, and brought its first taste into the present. That’s why Jesus says, “Theirs is  (present tense) the kingdom of heaven.” Not will be, but is. The future has already broken into the present. As the book of Hebrews notes, “We have tasted heaven’s gift and received the Holy Spirit;  we know from experience that God’s word is good, and nourishing and we have felt the powers of the coming age.” (Hebrews 6:4-5)

The Ingredients.

So what does the pie actually consist of? Paul answers plainly in Romans 14:17: “the important thing for us as Christians is not what we eat or drink, outward conformity to rules, but stirring up righteousness and peace and joy from the Holy Spirit.” The Kingdom isn’t a set of rules about outward things — Jesus said it plainly, too: it doesn’t arrive with signs to point at, because it is already “within you” (Luke 17:21). It’s an inward reality the Spirit produces: a heart that wants what’s right, a peace that replaces worry, and a joy that isn’t circumstantial. Scripture keeps pairing righteousness and peace together, “kissing each other” like old friends (Psalm 85:10) — one rarely shows up without the other. And none of it is self-generated. It is fruit — Galatians 5:22 calls it that — the natural yield of a life staying close to God, the way apples are the natural yield of a healthy tree.

Already Theirs

Those who are poor in spirit, then, don’t merely receive a promise for someday. They belong to the King today, already tasting the first fruits of the world to come. Grammatically, this promise is linked to the proclamation “Blessed” or  “Supremely Contented” . It is a shout of vindication, a celebration of victory, a dance of joy. All is based on the doing and dying of Jesus, and as a stadium erupts at the victory of the representative athletes, so do followers of Jesus participate in His resurrected life. 

The Menu

• You are Seated in Heavenly Places: Ephesians 2:6 teaches that believers share a present spiritual position with the resurrected Christ. 
• You are A Partaker of Every Spiritual Blessing: Ephesians 1:3 notes that God has already blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
• You are A Partaker of the Divine Nature: 2 Peter 1:4 explains that God’s precious promises allow people to escape worldly corruption and share in His divine nature during earthly life. 
• You are A Partaker of the Heavenly Calling: Hebrews 3:1 describes believers as holy brothers and sisters who share in a heavenly calling right now.

The Invitation

In Jesus’s parable of the great banquet, (Luke 14) the “qualified” turned up their noses, too preoccupied with their own stature to accept the invitation. So the master sent his servants to gather the poor, the crippled, and the blind.

Yet even after the room filled, there was still space at the table.

So the master ordered his servants out to the highways and hedges to compel the homeless, the wanderers, and the outcasts to come in!

You have an inner sense of alienation, do you not? In quiet moments, you wonder about the meaning of things, disoriented by thoughts of a world that seems to be a madhouse, pondering death and dying.

In a sense, you feel homeless.

The Greek word for “compel” means to constrain, urge, or necessitate—pressing someone so forcefully by persuasion, love, or urgency that their hesitation gives way.

The homeless, the wanderers, and the outcasts had to be urgently persuaded, almost dragged inside because they could not imagine that such a feast was meant for them.

And if you are willing to look into the hidden depths of yourself, that is you.

Those who rely on their own qualifications miss the banquet. But the King’s love compels those whose credentials disqualify them to enter.

The table is set. The bill is paid. The feast is ready.

And the right of admission belongs to the you, the beggar.

The King Himself insists: come and feast!

Linger. Savor it. Both now and forever.

NEXT UP:

The profound bliss of shedding appearances.

Up to now

The Portico to the Cathedral of Blissful Contentment:

The Be Attitudes, attitudes of being, present a hologram of Jesus, They point the way of blissful living since they invite us to become holograms of Jesus in turn. The bliss envisioned is enviable since God bestows it freely. But be warned! This Way is completely counter intuitive. Nor is it bestowed as a completed action. God is building you into a cathedral befitting His Majesty, not making cosmetic adjustments.

The Entrance to the Stadium:

The first attitude of being is one of poverty: I come, now and always, as a beggar. This requirement, ironically, opens the door to everyone who discovers the truth about themselves. It brings a shift of tectonic proportions: I no longer need to focus on past achievement. I am free to realize my future potential. Add to this the promised reward – THEIRS! (Beggars!) THE KINGDOM!