As we begin our series on the Beatitudes, there are some foundational truths we need to know in order to gain greater understanding of exactly what these teachings mean. These could easily encompass several lessons on their own; but for our purposes here I will just summarize them.
In Genesis 1:26, 27, we are told that God originally created mankind in His image. Adam and Eve were pure and holy, without a sin nature, among other aspects. God allowed the serpent in the garden of Eden to test whether they would obey the only Law they were given: Do not eat this one fruit, or you shall surely die. Without the serpent to test them, they simply would not have ever eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, because they had no built-in sin nature.
Satan tempted Eve to make her think she was not already like God, that she was lacking something. So, Eve listened to what the serpent had to say and ate, then gave to Adam who was right there, and he ate, too. Now the power of this was not in the fruit, itself, but was in the eating of it. They were responsible for their choice to heed the serpent instead of obeying what God said.
Their willful choice to disobey what God told them resulted in the development of a sin nature within them – a tendency to sin. This was part of the death God warned them about, for the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). It manifested immediately in their need to cover their nakedness because they felt the nakedness of the guilt of sin, and in passing the blame when God confronted them. This disobedience created a separation between them and God, and they lost the holiness aspect – the moral attribute- of the image of God, and took on the attribute of sin, instead.
About This Video
The video version of this study is presented in a format suited to the medium, rather than simply reading the written lesson aloud. It follows the same teaching structure but is adapted for a more conversational, visual style.
You can watch it below or continue reading the full written study.
About 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ came and paid the penalty for our sin, and crucified that sin nature in His body when He was hung on the cross. Scripture says He became sin (2Cor 5:21), and that we were crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20). The price He paid opened the way for every person to be able to approach God through Him. Upon true salvation, we are born again of the Spirit, and become a new creation (2Cor 5:17). Among other things, we become partakers of the Divine Nature (2Pet 1:4), not becoming little gods as some heretics teach, but our spirit taking on the moral attributes of God. Where we walk in His Spirit, we become the righteousness of God in Him. What Adam and Eve lost in the Garden, we begin to gain back.
As believers, we need to learn to recognize the Divine Nature in us, and to develop that nature, just like a newborn baby must grow toward maturity. But that old sin nature, often called the flesh in scripture, is not going down without a fight. Just as the serpent deceived Eve into believing she was not already like God – that she was lacking – so our sin nature will keep us in defeat through deception and temptation, if we let it. It will keep us from seeing that Christ is in us, and that we can grow in spiritual maturity to continue becoming more and more like Him.
Which brings us to the greater depth of understanding the Beatitudes, for that is exactly what they are about.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught us what we call the Beatitudes, in Matthew 5:2-12. The term “beatitudes” comes from the Latin word “beatus”, which means “blessed.”Yet the English word ‘beatitudes’ works beautifully as well, because they are Be-Attitudes. These are who God calls blessed.
These attributes are what we must develop to grow in spiritual maturity. They are called the BE attitudes because the goal is not to merely act like them, but for them to become our very nature. Instead of merely acting like the beatitudes occasionally, they become our very character, who we are!
Much of the rest of the Sermon on the Mount contains real life applications of the Beatitudes, examples of opportunities we can look for to develop our spirit and put to death our old sin nature. Regardless of our past failing and sins, through faith in Christ we can obtain to become those who God calls blessed.
Now, the Beatitudes are often counter-intuitive; they are typically the opposite of the attitudes the world values. Just consider the stuff the entertainment industry puts out. They often ridicule meekness, making it look weak. They present revenge instead of mercy or being a peacemaker. They glorify sinful behavior rather than true righteousness. And, sadly, we Christians all too often eat it up with the rest of the world, and follow in that way.
We are called to be holy ones, saints. We are called to be different and separate from the world while remaining in the world. (John 17:14-16) Even though we are still in this world, we are not of the world system, because His Word is in us.
Since that time, all mankind has been sold under sin (Rom 7:14). We are all born with a sin nature, which manifests from a very early age, even in the innocence of childhood.
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The Lord willing, in the coming lessons we will look at the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, and learn some of the ways we can develop God’s image in us as we continue to grow toward maturity in the faith.
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This study was originally written and published on a previous blog of mine. It has been revised and expanded, republished here as part of The Bible Stop teaching series.
