Matthew 5:8
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Apparently I fell asleep yesterday while reading my bible and went backwards a little bit and repeated a lesson on Matthew 5:6. Did you notice? If not, that’s ok. If so, you get a prize! Let me work on figuring out what that prize is, though…
The word pure here comes from the Greek word katharos, which is used in multiple situations. More than just a physical purity, it is used to signify a total purity. When something is purified by fire, it is this kind of pure. When something is pure enough to withstand the presence of God, it is this pure. When it is not corrupted by sinfulness, it is this purity that one experiences. Think, “Adam and Eve before the fall” pure. Think, “when the high priest enters the holy of holies and doesn’t die” pure. Think, “I get to walk hand-in-hand with God the Creator” pure. This is the kind of pure Jesus is talking about. But how can we be pure of heart if we are fallible humans? THIS, my friends, is the good news of Jesus Christ. We are able to walk in God’s presence and walk in His Kingdom every moment for eternity because of what He did for us. He sanctified us and made us holy with His blood so our hearts can be purified and we can see God. This is why the writer of Hebrews wrote in chapter 12:
14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
We must seek God’s sanctification (purification) so that we may live in communion with Him. As I wrote in my article Flip the Switch, it is God’s character that prevents us from being in communion with Him if we are unholy. We must be purified so that we can live with Him or else we will surely die. Just like righteousness, we must seek God’s purification from our sins. We do so by being poor in spirit, mournful, meek, and merciful. These steps through the beatitudes are a cleansing process.
The book of Leviticus details the cleansing process that one had to go through in order to survive the presence of God. There were many rituals and rules to follow and if one of them were missed, immediately the priest would die when entering the Holy of Holies (the room that held the presence of God). This is why they would tie a rope to his ankle in case he fell dead, they could pull him out without having to suffer the same consequences. Thankfully, Jesus took care of this for us. The veil was torn and there no longer is an eternal obstacle between us and God. However, if we continue to live in impurity, our communion with Him is still obstructed. The veil is sinfulness. Those of you who have experienced the presence of God, what causes you to no longer experience it? When our mind and actions carry us away from His purity. He has given us the Holy Spirit so we may fight against impurity and be purified consciously in a way that we are constantly being purified and kept pure. While the priests had to go through a ceremonial cleansing process just to spend one day out of the year in God’s presence, we get to continually be cleansed and continually live in His presence.
Are you pure in heart right now or is there something you need the Holy Spirit to cleanse in you? Must you go through the process of repentance and offering this uncleanliness to God to clean for you so you can live in His presence once more? Maybe you’ve never received His cleansing and you wish to; go ahead and ask Him!
