Jesus blessed certain people: the poor in spirit, they that mourn, the meek, those who seek righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for His Name, to and those who have evil done to them. [i] Although Jesus blesses those who love Him, that is not one of the beatitudes. But Jesus did say, As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9). That is the greatest blessing of them all!
What is “love”… love as the Father’s? In the Greek, it is “agapao.”
The best definition of agape from which that word came is “good
will.” Agapao is the affect of good will and is great content or calmness
(Strong’s Dictionary.) Not by coincidence, “joy” is calmness. God’s love
can calm the Christian and produce contentment. That is love!
The greatest beatitude is, “Blessed are the meek: for they
shall inherit the earth.” The colon was put therein by translators to indicate
cause and effect. Blessedness is the cause and inheritance the effect. God blesses,
and meekness is the blessing.
Meekness is self-estimation; that human beings are not gods
nor even angels because humans are the image of the Son of Man, Jesus. The
purpose of that is, “for the suffering of death” [ii]
Implied therein, is that angels are immortal, human souls are, but the flesh of
mankind is not.
Christians should estimate themselves as lower than the
angels and lower than God who died for them. Christians cannot die to save
themselves, so Jesus took on flesh to do that. Hence, Christians are to exalt God
[iii] and
accept that God who diminishes them. [iv]
“Meekness,” therefore is knowing that humans are no gods and
that they should not act as if they are. Knowing our place in the order of
beings is imperative, and there is a reward for that — to inherit the Earth. With that said, the meek are heirs of God and
the arrogant not so. Those with arrogance are children of the Devil. [v]
Lucifer, the Devil, is arrogant: Lucifer has said, “I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God” (Isa 14:13). Lucifer highly estimates himself! He has
high “self-esteem” and even churches today teach that Christians are to have
high “self-esteem.”
Was Abram meek or was he arrogant. Take Jonas: God gave him
a decree and Jonas rejected it. Jonas was arrogant, and God put him in
whale-jail to diminished him. On the other hand, God gave a decree to Abram — “Get
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house” (Gen
12:1) and what did Abram do? After seventy-five years where he was, “So Abram
departed” (Gen 12:4).
Abram was diminished and God exalted because Abram was meek.
Now for the kicker: Meek Abram would inherit the Earth, to wit:
“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen 12:2-3)
That was a beatitude for Abram. A beatitude is “a state of utmost
bliss” (Meriam-Webster Dictionary). Like Noah long before who found grace,
Abram found grace in Ur. He was blissed with complete happiness. That is “joy!”
Why would Abram not be joyful? He would inherit the Earth! By
not exalting himself, God did the exalting. Those who built the tower at Babel,
endeavored to make a name for themselves and were humbled. On the other hand,
Abram was humble, and God made his name great! Abram is still acknowledged as a
latter-day “Adam” for “father Abraham” is the father of Jews, Christians, and
even Muslims. Jesus is the “Son of Man (Adam),” but Christians are the seed of
Abraham.
God exalted Christians when He exalted Abram. “Abram” means “exalted
father” and “their protector” (Abarim Publications). “Abraham” also means “exalted
father.” The problem was that Abram was
not exalted, so the name was arrogant. God exalted him and made Abraham the
true exalted father! The difference is that Terah, just as with his
idols, had exalted Abram, but God had to be the one to “rebirth” Abram and make
him exalted. Theretofore his parents idolized Abram, and afterward God blissed
him. It depends on who does the exultation, you see.
Blessings, therefore, is God exalting His creatures by
providing them with a new nature. That, my friends, is “born again.” No longer
would Abram be the “shield” but only God who would bliss Abraham and his seed.
How was Abram not the shield? God said, “Fear not, Abram: I
am thy shield” (Gen 15:1). Hence, Abram was not a shield and God was the Shield
for all the seed of Abraham. His faith was not in idols nor himself,
thereafter, and like all Christians, Abraham, “taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” had the
shield of faith put on him by God.
His life was a demonstration of great faith, so much that it
is the reference for great faith; to wit: “Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal 3:7).
Does that sound familiar” It should! The Abrahamic Covenant promises,
“In thee shall all families of the Earth be blessed.” (Gen 12:3). Then two-thousand
years later, Jesus blessed the meek, the persecuted, and so forth. His greatest
blessing was His Son:
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, “And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” 26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. (Acts 3:25-26)
Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Abrahamic Covenant. He was the “Blessing”
that God promised Abraham. He, not Abraham, would be their shield, and He, not
Abraham would exalt the seed of Abraham to reign in Paradise.
The Jews thought God was promising the land (earth) of Canaan’s land. It
was heaven on Earth that Abraham and his meek children would inherit. Heaven
and Earth will pass away, and New Jerusalem will come back to its foundation. A
much later “Paradise” on earth is what God was talking about. Abraham knew
that; the Hebrews did not. Abraham saw Paradise in a much different way than
his seed, the Jews. The prize is not the land of Canaan, but heavenly Canaan
land.
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