100% Kingdom Joy

By now you may be wondering if, perhaps, I have misplaced my theme.  If we are concerned about letting the pure essence of Jesus shine through our lives, is the subject of the kingdom of God really this important?

Absolutely!  In fact, if we approach the gospel in any other way we have missed one of Jesus’ key teaching points.  We also risk insubordination since we can easily become prideful of our methods and forget who is ultimately in charge.  It is, after all, the kingdom of God we are building, and regardless of how much of our lives we invest in His work, the finished product will never bear our name.

This is where Jesus’ Beatitudes take center stage.  If, as Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones claimed, the Sermon on the Mount is the “best means of evangelism” and a tool for building “true Christians”, those who want to point the world to Jesus must embrace its principles.  The Beatitudes are a preamble to the Christian life and the embodiment of lasting happiness.

We know the gospel is the power of salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16), but it is the “unashamed” kingdom joy found in those who proclaim it that prompts people to listen.  Even those who find the cross through an independent reading of the scripture owe their discovery to the first disciples who passionately recorded the things they witnessed.  Pure Jesus shines in the hearts of sinners made pure and their inward and outward joy is purely irresistible.