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TRUE HAPPINESS
A. Introduction: Over the course of this year, we have talked a lot about who Jesus is and why He came into
this world. In this portion of our study we are looking at what Jesus taught about how He wants us to live.
1. Human beings were created to become holy, righteous sons and daughters of God through faith in Him.
But our sin has disqualified us from God’s family. Eph 1:4-5; John 1:12-13; Rom 3:23
a. Two millennia Jesus took on a human nature and was born into this world. Jesus is God become
man without ceasing to be God—a Divine Person, fully God and fully man. John 1:1; John 1:14
b. Jesus took on a human nature so that He could die as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, and open
the way for all who believe in Him to be restored to their created position. Heb 2:14-15; Rom 8:30
2. Jesus not only opened the way for human beings to be restored to our created purpose, Jesus, in His
humanity, shows us what sons and daughters of God look like.
a. Jesus is the pattern for God’s family. While Jesus was on earth, He urged men and women to
follow Him. That is still Jesus’ call to us—follow me (Rom 8:29; Matt 4:19; John 21:19; 21). By
this statement, Jesus meant seek to be like me, imitate me, and copy my example.
b. Because of the first man Adam’s original sin, humans are all born with a corruption that inclines us
toward self or selfishness—to put ourselves above God and do what we want, our own way.
1. Jesus calls us back to our created purpose, to return to what is true normalcy for a human being
—to deny self and follow our Creator, our Lord and Savior. This is the way to true happiness.
2. Matt 16:24—If any one desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself—that is, disregard, lose
sight of and forget himself and his own interests and take up his cross and follow Me (Amp).
c. The most important thing you can do with your life, once you surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord,
is seek to be like Him in character and behavior. Character is a person’s pattern of behavior, his
personality, his moral constitution (his standard of right and wrong).
3. When Jesus was on earth He did a lot of teaching about what Christ-like character looks like, and the
kind of behavior that He wants His followers to express and demonstrate.
a. Last week we began to look at the record of a lengthy teaching Jesus did about Christian character.
It is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Matt 5, 6, 7; Luke 6:20-49
b. Jesus delivered this sermon early in His public ministry. The entire Sermon is a description of how
how sons and daughters of God are supposed to live, their attitudes and behavior—or what Christ-
like character looks like.
c. Jesus opened His Sermon with seven specific statements about Christian character. Each statement
begins with the word blessed: Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed
are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful,
blessed are the pure in heart, and blessed are the peacemakers. Matt 5:3-10
1. The Greek word that is translated blessed means supremely happy, fortunate, well-off:
Blessed—happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous [that is, with life-joy and satisfaction
in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions] (Matt 5:3, Amp).
2. These seven statements are known as the Beatitudes. The word Beatitude is from a form of the
Greek word that is translated blessed. The type of person described in the Beatitudes is one
who is truly happy because he or she has been restored to their created purpose as God’s son or
daughter, and is Christ-like in character. We have more to say about Jesus’ teaching tonight.
B. The Beatitudes are not a list of the “rules” of Christianity, given by a harsh taskmaster who has a set of
impossible standards that no one can meet. This is a description of what a living (vital) relationship with
God will produce in a human being. This is a description of what normal looks like for human behavior.
1. Consider the setting in which Jesus originally gave the Beatitudes. On that day in Israel two thousand
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years ago, the Creator of the universe sat down on a mountain side and began to teach what we now call
the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus came into this world to seek and save God’s family, Luke 19:10
a. Sitting there that day was Jesus, the great I AM. Yet He has humbled Himself by taking on a
human nature, and will further humble Himself by dying a humiliating death on the Cross. Phil 2:6-8
1. In a few years, Jesus will offer Himself as the sacrifice needed to open the way for the sinful,
selfish people who listened to Him that day to be restored to their created purpose.
2. When a man or woman voluntarily surrenders to God, or changes the end for which they live
from not my way, but God’s way, God indwells that person. Almighty God, by His Spirit and
life, comes into that person in what the Bible calls a new birth. John 3:3-5
b. Jesus loved the people sitting before Him so much that He was going to die for them, indwell them
by His Spirit, and then empower and transform them. Why would He give them an impossible list?
1. Christianity is an organic (living) relationship with God. This wonderful Being, Almighty
God, wants relationship with His creation. He indwells us by His Spirit to enable and
empower us to bear fruit, or to develop and express Christ-like character, as we depend on Him.
2. Paul wrote to Christians who had turned from self toward God: For God is working in you,
giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him (Phil 2:13, NLT).
2. The Beatitudes describe someone who sees himself or herself as they truly are in relation to God, and
they live in obedience to God, with full dependence on Him and His power. Let’s review the three
beatitudes we covered last week.
a. Matt 5:3—Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs in the kingdom of God (KJV). This isn’t
financial poverty. This is a realization of your total spiritual poverty before God.
1. It is your attitude toward yourself. You see your guilt before God because of your sin, and you
recognize your helplessness to do anything about it. Poor in spirit is an expression of humility.
2. You see yourself as you truly are in relation to God—I am powerless to meet any need in my
life. I am totally dependent on Him. Without Him I am nothing (Gal 6:3), I know nothing (I
Cor 8:2), I have nothing (I Cor 4:7), and I can do nothing (John 15:5).
b. Matt 5:4—Blessed are they that mourn: for they will be comforted (KJV). This is not mourning
over the death of a loved one. This is sorrow or grief over sin. It’s the realization that we have
offended Almighty God by our sin.
1. It is a godly sorrow that motivates us to change when we initially come to faith in Jesus, And it
continues to motivate us to change when we sin after submitting to Jesus. Paul wrote about a
godly sorrow that leads to repentance, a turning from sin. II Cor 7:9-10
2. This isn’t self-condemnation, nor is it a sorrow that makes us excessively gloomy, miserable, or
puts us a bad mood or state of mind. All of that is self-focused. Instead, we are sorry for the
offense against God and sorry for the effect our sin has on others.
c. Matt 5:5—Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth (KJV). The Greek word translated
meek is often translated gentle. Meekness is the opposite of anger. It is anger under control.
1. Most anger is selfish anger, or anger that is based on self—I don’t get my way or things don’t go
the way I want them to, so I get angry and lash out with words and actions.
2. Meekness is an expression of true humility because the one who is meek is free from pride,
self-protection, self-exaltation, sensitiveness. He isn’t focused on self. Meekness is a true
view of oneself that is expressed in your attitude and conduct toward others.
3. These character traits are sometimes misunderstood to mean that followers of Jesus are supposed to be
weak, timid, reserved, unassertive, or lacking in courage. Or, if you have a strong and outgoing
personality, you must suppress it.
a. When we look at Jesus’ first followers, the men who heard Jesus teach theses Beatitudes, we find
that their natural personalities were not suppressed, nor did they become weak and timid.
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1. In Acts we see the apostles boldly preaching to crowds in Jerusalem: You killed Christ, but
God raised Him from the dead. Now turn from your sins and be converted. Acts 4:12-19
2. Salvation is the complete restoration of human nature from the damage done by sin and its
effects, on the basis of the Cross, through faith in Jesus. This includes your personality.
b. Jesus is the pattern for God’s family, and He expressed all of these Beatitudes. Jesus was not weak
or timid. Our destiny is to be restored to Christ-likeness and to also express all of these traits.
1. The first thing Jesus said about His character was that He is meek and humble. He humbled
Himself, took on a human nature and died for our sin. Jesus told His followers that He came
into this world, not to be served, but to serve. Matt 11:29; Phil 2:5-8; Mark 10:45
2. Jesus mourned over sin—not His own, since He had none. He mourned (was sorrowful) for
the effect that sin has on people and on the world, and the fact that is an offense against God.
A. Jesus was grieved over the hardness of peoples’ hearts when the religious leaders criticized
Him for healing on the Sabbath. Mark 3:5
B. Jesus wept over Jerusalem the week He was crucified. They rejected what God offered
them, and He knew the destruction that would come to them because of it. Luke 19:41-44
C. Let’s examine two more Beatitudes: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for
they shall be filled (Matt 5:6, KJV). Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (Matt 5:7, KJV).
1. Matt 5:6—Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (KJV).
To seek after righteousness (to hunger and thirst) means to desire to be holy, like Jesus, inside and out.
a. Righteousness ultimately means being like Jesus. Righteousness is a full restoration to the image
of God (Adam Clarke Commentary), full conformity to the image of Jesus (Rom 8:29).
b. The word righteousness is used in the New Testament for the gift of God through which those who
believe on Jesus are brought into right relationship with God. However, it is most often used to
mean right actions. Rom 5:1; Rom 6:13; 16, 18-20
1. The word righteousness was originally spelled “rightwiseness”. It means whatever is right and
just in itself, whatever conforms to the revealed will of God (Vine’s Dictionary).
2. Titus 2:14—(Jesus) gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us
his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right (NLT).
c. Note how several translations render this Beatitude: Those who want to do right more than
anything else are happy, because God will fully satisfy them (NCV); Blessed are those who want to
obey him more than to eat and drink. They will be given what they want (CEV).
1. Jesus’ analogy of hungering and thirsting for righteousness would have painted a vivid picture
for His audience. In 1st century Israel, hunger and thirst was always a real threat that we in the
modern world can’t really relate to. Jesus is suggesting the hunger of one who is starving and
the thirst of one who will die if they don’t get food and water.
2. How much do you want goodness? How much do you want to be good according to God’s
standard—as much as a starving man or one who is literally dying of thirst?
d. Jesus said that one who is blessed (happy) is the one who longs for rightness (righteousness) with his
whole heart, because he shall be satisfied. Jesus’ apostles understood that if they stayed faithful to
Him, the process of being fully restored to Christ-likeness (made good) will be completed.
1. John the apostle was present when Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. He would later
write: Yes dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we
will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for
we will see him as he really is. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as
Christ is pure (I John 3:2-3, NLT).
2. Paul the apostle (an eyewitness of Jesus) would also later write: And I am sure that God, who
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began the good work within you, will continue his good work until it is finally finished on that
day when Jesus Christ come back again (Phil 1:6, NLT).
2. Matt 5:7—Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (KJV). Mercy implies kindness and
compassion that withholds punishment even when justice demands it (Webster’s Dictionary).
a. The Greek word translated merciful means to have compassion (or sympathetic sorrow) for the one
who is suffering. The Greek word for sympathy comes from two words that mean to experience or
suffer together with, or literally going through what the suffering one is going through.
1. Although the New Testament is written in Greek, the Old Testament (the Bible of Jesus’ day)
was written in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for mercy means more than feeling sorry for
someone who is in trouble or pain. It has the idea of getting inside the other person until you
can see with his eyes, think with his mind, and feel with his feelings.
2. It is easier to have compassion, sympathize, and forgive if you see things through another
person’s eyes—If I had his childhood maybe I’d act like he does or worse. Perhaps he has had
a bad day. He probably thinks he’s got a good reason for what he is doing.
b. That’s what God did—He became a man. Jesus truly became man, without ceasing to be God.
Jesus knows from experience what it is like to live as a human being.
1. Heb 2:18—Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us
when we are being tempted (NLT).
2. Heb 4:15-16—(He) understands our weaknesses for he faced all of the same temptations
we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we
will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it (NLT).
3. Jesus expressed both Beatitudes. He hungered for righteousness and was merciful and compassionate.
a. When His disciples urged Jesus to eat He replied: I have food you don’t know about…my
nourishment comes from doing the will of God (John 4:31-34, NLT).
b. Jesus was repeatedly moved with compassion when He encountered sinful, suffering people. And
as He was being crucified, Jesus extended mercy to those who killed Him: Father, forgive them.
They don’t know what they are doing. Matt 9:36; Luke 23:34
D. Conclusion: No one understood all that Jesus was saying the day of His Sermon, but they were attracted to
His teaching. Note how the people who heard it responded: When Jesus had finished these sayings…the
crowds were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder at His teaching (Matt 7:28, Amp).
1. Remember, these people were expecting the Messiah, the Savior, to come into the world, bring in
righteousness, and establish His kingdom on earth. The audience was on the edge of their seats to hear
what this miracle worker had to say.
a. At the beginning of His ministry Jesus applied this Scripture to Himself: The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news (Luke 4:18, ESV).
b. Through His teaching, Jesus was creating an appetite, a desire, in the people to respond to the good
news of salvation from sin and a return to their created purpose—which is the way to true happiness.
2. The character traits given in the Beatitudes are not an impossible standard that no one can meet. They
are a description of what normal looks like for human behavior—like Jesus in His humanity.
a. Human behavior in its present state is contrary to our created purpose. We were created to express
our Creator’s goodness, love, kindness, and mercy to the world by the way we live.
b. The crowd doesn’t know it yet, but Jesus is going to open the way for them (and us) to be restored to
all that they (we) were created to be through His upcoming death and resurrection.
3. True happiness comes, not from seeking happiness, but from seeking to be like Jesus. The place of true
happiness is full submission and obedience to Almighty God, restored to our created purpose.
