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SESSION SIX

HAPPY ARE THE GOD-SEERS

LARGE GROUP

MAIN POINT

The our view of God, the more we’ll and Him because of who He is and what He has for us, not what we think He can us.

INTRODUCTION

What is one thing you love about God?

What are some reasons people see God differently? What are some of the different ways people view God?

Last week we talked about how the mercy of God leads us to become merciful—and happy—people. This week we’re going to see how the good life comes to us as we set our on God. In this session, Pastor Derwin teaches us what it means to be in the eyes of God. Once we become pure in Jesus He invites us into life as a -Seer. Happy are the pure because they will God.

WATCH THE SESSION 6 VIDEO FEATURING DERWIN GRAY.

SMALL GROUPS

UNDERSTANDING

ASK A VOLUNTEER TO READ MATTHEW 5:8.

Pastor Derwin said, “Those we admire we see higher.” What does it mean to have a high view of God? Why is it important to have a high view of God?

How do you develop a high view of God?

What comes to your mind when you think about purity? Does this word have good or bad connotations? Why?

God’s holiness means He’s completely pure and separate from sin. Why is it necessary for us to understand this about God?

Out of all the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure in heart” may be the hardest for our culture to engage. People either don’t concern themselves with being, pure, or they don’t understand what it means. Jesus’ original audience didn’t have that problem.

To a Jewish person, purity extended far beyond sexual purity. In this Beatitude, Jesus was referring to the kind of purity God possess. Jesus’ audience knew the only way to see God was in the temple, in the Shekinah glory in the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter once a year. To see the purest vision of God, the priest had to be the purest version of himself. He would be required to have perfect ritual purity and cleanliness.

ASK A VOLUNTEER TO READ 1 JOHN 1:7-9.

How does Jesus’ power to cleanse our sin allow us to see God clearly? How has confessing sin helped you see God more clearly?

Jesus made you pure enough to see God. What impact does that truth have on your faith?

How has seeing God through Jesus transformed your life? How can you be a conduit of transformative grace for others?

Do you ever find it difficult to embrace the truth that Jesus has made you clean and pure? Explain your answer.

Jesus’ original audience would have known no one can see God and live (Ex. 33:20), but that’s where God stepped in. The eternal Son of God clothed Himself in humanity, so we could see Him. Through Jesus we see an exact representation of all God is (Heb. 1:3). Jesus, the Messiah, came as the bearer of the New Covenant. He wants to go beyond external purity and cleanliness to something deeper (1 John 1:9).

The eternal Son of God came to stand in our stead at every single level of our existence. Because we’re impure, He came to be our purity. He purifies our hearts and connects our new hearts to His Father’s heart. All that He is, we are. By the Holy Spirit, when we believe in Christ for salvation, we’re grafted into Him; because we’re in Christ, what’s true of Him becomes true of us. He became like us, so we can become like Him. When this happens we’re able to see God for who He is. This is the good life.

APPLICATION

Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives.

Read Hebrews 10:14. How closely does this verse describe the way you see yourself? Do you struggle to feel pure even though your relationship with Jesus made you pure?

What would change in your life this week if you were to truly set your eyes on God?

How should a proper understanding of who God is change the way you relate to other people?

PRAYER

Jesus, thank you for making us pure and allowing us to see God. Thank you for changing us from the inside out. We’re new, free, and pure because of Your grace.

COMMENTARY

MATTHEW 5:8
The term Matthew used here means pure or “clean.” It can be used literally of physical cleanness, but Scripture often uses it for moral cleanness and purity. A simple but helpful way of looking at the word is to realize that it implies the absence of impurity or filth. It implies a singleness of purpose, without distraction (akin to the concept of “holiness,” being set apart for a special purpose; see Jas. 4:8). Any distracting or corrupting influence a kingdom servant allows into his or her heart makes that person less effective as a servant. The kingdom servant has a heart that is undivided and unalloyed.

This quality is a natural by-product of the preceding blessings and character qualities. Purity of heart is not manufactured by the believer, but is granted by the God of mercy (5:7) to those who mourn their spiritual bankruptcy (5:3-4) and who seek his righteousness (5:6). When the king grants purity of heart, he gives not only judicial purity (forgiveness, absolution from guilt), but also the actual removal of corrupting impurities from the heart. This comes about through the empowerment of the believer to grow into holiness and out of these impurities.

Jesus may have had a dual meaning behind the phrase see God. First, the pure heart is unhindered in its ability to understand the heart and person of God in this life on earth and, in this sense, is better able to see God. Moreover, only the pure (forgiven) heart is able to enter heaven to enjoy the presence of God for eternity.

1 JOHN 1:7
To walk in the light is to live consistent with God’s commands and character. Fellowship, the shared knowledge of God’s light and love, is one of life’s deepest satisfactions. With the phrase the blood of Jesus, John identified the focal point of Christ’s saving work in the cross.