Bankrupt

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
—Matthew 5:3

There is a financial crisis in the American economy. Many businesses and individuals have declared bankruptcy. Bankruptcy means that there is not enough money to pay those to whom we owe money. And while many of us have not yet declared financial bankruptcy, we all need to declare our spiritual bankruptcy. In order to receive God’s bailout, we must acknowledge that we are bankrupt spiritually.

Our passage for today is taken from what is known as The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus speaks a series of spiritual truths that outline what it means to enter in and live in Christ’s kingdom presently and what it will mean for our future. Christ’s kingdom exists in two different ways. When Christ returns again, He will set up His kingdom in complete fullness, but the beginning of Christ’s kingdom was inaugurated when Christ came to earth in His incarnation. Or as Christ said in Matthew 14:28, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Like the sunrise, we see the light before the sun is in the sky; so, too, do we now see the beginning of Christ’s light, but the full actualization of day will not be seen until He comes again.

Jesus was laying out the requirements for entering into His kingdom and the attitude of the heart that must be maintained to dwell in it. “Blessed” means more than happiness, but indicates a state of heart and mind in relationship to God that belongs to all of those who trust in Jesus. These “blessed” are those who are “poor in spirit.” “Poor in spirit” means needy and impoverished of spirit, or those who recognize that they are spiritually bankrupt before God and cannot earn His favor. They are in God’s debt and have no credit in the sight of God because of who they are, what they have done or will do. We cannot come to God in our wealth, for we have none in God’s sight. We can only come to God and receive the blessing of knowing Him when we recognize our own spiritual bankruptcy. In other words, we can’t receive God’s bailout until we recognize, in the light of who He is, how poorly we have lived. Once we come to realize and acknowledge our bankrupt state before God, we are ready to receive His blessing, that is, we have positioned ourselves to be beneficiaries of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross. And once we do that, we are given a promise: we will possess the kingdom of heaven. We will be able to live in God’s presence where there are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

My brother or sister, let’s abandon any idea that we may have of God’s desire for us because of who we are, how wonderful our accomplishments, and how worthy we are of God’s affection. We are not worthy of God’s love, but only His judgment. It is only in His grace and mercy that He has made salvation available to “whosoever will.” So let’s stop pretending that our spiritual bank accounts are full, and may we in great humility and joy declare our spiritual bankruptcy before Him and receive the benefits of the bailout made available through His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And may He receive glory because of it. Amen.