- Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 6:20 Blessed be ye poor; for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Heaven” is another word for God, a replacement word to avoid speaking the Divine Name: thus, kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven are the same thing. The kingdom of God is a broad concept covering all of life here in time and hereafter in eternity. The kingdom of God is the rule, or reign, of God in the hearts and lives of men and women who believe and submit to Jesus Christ as God and Lord and Eternal Savior.
The coming of the Rule of God presupposes the redemption, rescue, salvation and deliverance from the Dominance and Cruel Tyranny of Sin, Death and Devil. Jesus announces the Kingdom has come: Freedom and Light replaces slavery and darkness: “You are hereby transferred from death to life. Your God is in charge. I’m taking over now; your life is in my hands.” Then Jesus goes about the rest of His Ministry until the job is finished at the cross and the tomb.
Here the Pronouncement is proclaimed to the poor in spirit: the Kingdom belongs to you! Eternal Life and unimagined riches are yours! The promise is for the poor: the poor are defined as the poor in spirit. Every single human being is included in the category of “poor in spirit.” We are sinners; sin causes poverty of spirit, indeed, even emptiness of spirit; we are morally bankrupt, steeped in corruption and utter depravity, existing in spiritual squalor. The soul reeks and stinks; it is rotten and filthy. How far we have fallen! And how high we have risen!
This is not a conditional promise but an unconditional guarantee. The only thing for us to do is to recognize our spiritual poverty and admit it: “He’s talking to me! The kingdom belongs to me! I have immeasurable spiritual wealth!” The poverty metaphor pictures a beggar being transferred from living in cardboard and scavenging in garbage cans to living in palatial luxury with the King—except that the difference is even much greater than we can imagine. We can’t see our own spiritual poverty with its squalor and slavery; and we cannot see the spiritual riches and luxurious life of splendor and glory. Therefore, it is necessary to hear the Word of the Gospel in order to believe it. Believe the Gospel.