Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matt. 5:3)

The great purpose of Jesus Christ's coming to the world was to establish the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is universal, containing all moral intelligences, willingly subject to the will of God, both in heaven and on earth, both angels and men. The kingdom of heaven is Christ's kingdom on the earth, which will eventually merge into the kingdom of God. We read of that merging period in 1 Corinthians 15, where it says:

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power...And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
(vs. 24, 28)

Now then, in order to establish a kingdom, there must be a basis upon which it is to be founded. When the Revolutionary fathers got together in '76, they laid down the Declaration of Independence—the principles upon which American government was to be founded. They laid down as one of the first principles this one: "All men are born free and equal"—That every man, by his being born a man, is likewise born on an equality with all others. All men are born free and equal before the law; there is no special privilege.

Next, they considered this as the second principle: Man, because of his birth and his free agency, is entitled to "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Third: Government rests on the consent of the governed.

These were the underlying principles upon which the government was to rest. There was nothing little about them. They did not discuss the doctrines by which these principles were to be made effective, but they laid down the foundational principles upon which was built the greatest system of human government in the world's history.

Likewise, Jesus, when He came to found His kingdom, first enunciated the principles upon which His government was to rest. The eight Beatitudes, as they are given in His official declaration in His Sermon on the Mount, were the great principles upon which His government was to be founded.

Now the first principle that He laid down was this one: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). Usually we confuse this with the other one, "Blessed are the meek" (Matt. 5:5)—and we have commonly thought of one who is poor in spirit as being a meek, quiet person, possessing the spirit of meekness. But it is much more than that. The thing Jesus urged upon men was to practice what He had done Himself.

Jesus was the King of Glory, yet He laid down all His glory. He came to earth and took upon Himself our condition. "He took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham" (Heb. 2:16). He took upon Himself the condition of mankind, that is, of human nature's liability to sin.

Therefore, He was "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). And because of the fact that He took upon Himself our nature and understood the temptations that are common to man, He is "able to succor them that are tempted" (Heb. 2:18). He understands. He is a sympathetic Christ. Bless God!

Now see! "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matt. 5:3). Blessed is he who regards the interests of the kingdom of heaven as paramount to every other interest in the world, paramount to his own personal interest. Blessed is he whose interest in life, whose interest in the world, is used only to extend the interest of the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed is he who has lost his own identity as an individual and has become a citizen of the kingdom. Blessed is he who sees the kingdom of heaven as the ultimate to be possessed. Blessed is he who forgets to hoard wealth for himself, but who uses all he has and all he is for the extension of the kingdom of heaven. It is putting the law of the love of God and of one another into practice.

So after Jesus had laid down the things that He possessed, then, bless God, He was able to say to us, as He had experienced it Himself, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3).

First we see that the kingdom is based on principles. Principles are greater than doctrines. Principles are the foundational stones upon which all other things rest. Doctrines are the rules, the details by which we endeavor to carry out things that the principles contain; but the principles are the great foundational stones upon which all things rest.

Source: One Word from God Can Change Your Nation
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers