Blessed Are the Humble

It is often difficult to live a Christian life when the world preaches something completely different. As Christians, we spend our lives depending on Jesus instead of relying on our own abilities, working toward a closer relationship with God instead of making a lot of money and living comfortably, or living for selfish happiness instead of living for others. There is nothing wrong with working our way out of a jam. There is nothing wrong with making money and living comfortably. There is nothing wrong with being happy, but these things should never be our ultimate goal.

This past Sunday in church, we Sang the hymn, “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” The song says, “I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I’d rather be His than have riches untold.” Given the choice, would we choose Jesus over the riches of this world? Would we choose to depend on God for all our needs? That is exactly what the humble would do.

Matthew 5:5

Matthew 5:5 (CSB): 5 Blessed are the humble, For they will inherit the earth.

The humble depend on God. We may not always understand what He is doing in our lives, but we trust Him to accomplish His will. “His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

And the humble completely submit to God. We do what He says. We live for Him. Every day is a new day to bring Him glory and when we live for Him, what happens?

We inherit the earth. Not this earth. The recreated earth. The new earth. The earth where Christ reigns eternally and we live in the presence of God. We will not inherit the world of sin, broken, and fleeing the things of God.

We are blessed. We are fortunate. No, it may not look like it to the rest of the world. In fact, we may look rather foolish to the world. As a follower of Jesus, we know we are blessed for we know the blessings we have and the promises God has given. We inherit the earth.

Yet He Himself Bore Our Sickness

I love the words of Isaiah 53:4 for they remind us of Christ’s giving himself for us. He bore our sin. He suffered, bled, and died for us and through His resurrection, we are reconciled to the Father. But even though He died for us, it was not for us He died. Christ died for us so that the Father could be glorified. We receive the blessing of being reconciled with God through our salvation, but through our salvation, God is glorified.

Isaiah 53:4

⁴ Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,

and he carried our pains;

but we in turn regarded him stricken,

struck down by God, and afflicted.

Jesus paid the ultimate price to free us from the debt of sin. He gave His life to release us from the curse. He not only died but He suffered. And in the sadness of His death, we should be grateful that we have salvation in His resurrection.

But are we grateful? Do we thank Him for His sacrifice? So often the answer is a resounding, “No!” In our sin, we look at the cross and think that somehow, He deserved the punishment of God. He shouldn’t have said what He said. He shouldn’t have done what He did. He brought it upon Himself and He deserved it.

And then we discover the great love He has for us. Our eyes are opened to the reason He died. We feel the Spirit move within us and it all becomes clear. He didn’t deserve to die. We did. He didn’t deserve to suffer. We did. In Christ’s shame, God the Father turned His face from God the Son and He turned it to us. The creation. And through Christ’s resurrection, the curse of sin was broken, and we could finally be reconciled with the Father. And in our salvation, God is glorified.