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Lesson OneThe Context of the Beatitudes3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoMajor Approaches3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeReversals for the Unfortunate3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourRewards for the Virtuous3 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveLuke's Blessings and Woes3 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 179
Discussion Questions
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In this lesson, Dr. Blomberg discusses the verb tense used in the second half of each of these beatitudes. What did you learn from this exploration of the verb tenses? Did this shed any new light on your understanding of these beatitudes? Explain.
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55 Replies
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Highlighting the verb tense was especially helpful, as it better clarifies a timeline, if you will. If we read the Beatitudes as if these things are supposed to have been all fulfilled for Jesus’s followers already, it’s a bit confusing, as it doesn’t seem that way here on earth. This lesson helped me, by pointing out that the blessings will be fully fulfilled in the future.
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We are to understand both present tenses as well as future tenses—the now and what’s to come.
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Present and future tenses both, are simultaneously applicable to us right now. This is not an enigma but is quite possible for a God who is Eternal because His existence is Infinite. All time is in Him. His Presence authors time, both chronos (calculated by the sun and moon on the fourth day of creation), and kairos (due season; appointed time). When He hid Moses in the cleft of the rock, the Hebrew word denotes a temporality, a sense of time. Thus Abraham was able to step into that Rock which is Jesus and write “Bereshith Elohim bara…” Time is in God and He is outside of It yet operating within it at the same…time. How the Book of Life is sealed from the foundation of the world (Revelations 17:8), or Jesus died on the cross from the foundation of the World. (Revelation 13:8). Yet Jesus came to destroy the works of sin so that the Holy Spirit can come. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in an unclean place, thus Jesus came and cleaned the place. All of it. The animals, the planet, and everyone that believes. Thus He tells the disciples He must go so that the Comforter will come. The Kingdom is here now. The workings of the Holy Spirit on the inside of us placed the Kingdom in us now. We have now the ability to be sin-forgiven. The old law sacrifices would atone for us in the sacrifice of animals, but now we also, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, have the propensity to be sin-conscious since the blood of Jesus sprinkles our conscience and convicts us by the Indwelling power of His Spirit. Who now gives all who believe the capacity to want to live right before God as His Spirit is in us “crying Abba Father.” (Galatians 4) So we have the Kingdom now. Romans 8 will say we are saved by hope and hope THAT IS SEEN is not hope. So we are saved now but have not physically made the transition. For example, say you are in the ocean drowning. A boat finds you and, in a hurry to get you out of a shark infested area, throws to you a life raft and starts to pull you behind the boat. Well, you are saved…technically. Salvation is nigh and even upon you, but you are still in the water (world). You will experience the joy that your savior has found you with his boat and is dragging you to land. But you will know that you are still in the water with the sharks! Im saved! Happy you found me, but please hurry up and get to the shore!
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Understanding forms of tenses is key, because this is effective in helping to understand What happens. Dr. Blomberg talks about obtaining the kingdom of heaven.You can spiritually obtain the kingdom of heaven now, but in the flesh you will not see it until the coming of Christ. For example, If you are drowning in a river, and someone comes in a boat and throw you a life preserver; you would be rejoicing because to you, you are saved. Yes, you are saved, but to be completely saved is when you are completely pulled out of water and onto land.
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I think that he is being sure as readers we understand the difference between has and yet to come! 🙂 Jesus has walked on the earth among the living and He is returning!