The Inheritance of the Christian

 The witness of the Holy Spirit gives evidence that if we are God’s “children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17).

The blessings of this great inheritance are reserved for us in heaven. It is being prepared for us now in heaven (John 14:1-3). It is a special place in the presence of God. There we will no longer be in a spiritual warfare with sin and the devil. We will be in the likeness of Jesus (1 John 3:1-3).

We belong to the Father as His heirs. He has loved us, redeemed us, adopted us and made us heirs by His grace. It is something He has done entirely for us of His own free sovereign will. But we also have God as our inheritance. The Psalmist said He is “my portion forever.” The LORD God is our inheritance.

Moreover, we are “co-heirs with Christ” (v. 17). Whatever He inherits is ours also. Whatever we inherit we inherit right along with Him. It is not something we merit; it is strictly God’s gift to His chosen children.

“Christ’s inheritance is the glory of God, which means the vision of participation in, and enjoyment of God Himself.” Jesus said to the Father, “I have brought to you glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. And now Father, glorify Me in your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began” (John 17:4-5). The apostle Paul wrote, “if indeed [absolute certainty, “For sure” in the Greek] we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17).

We have the down payment of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:14), as a pledge of what is actually to come later. He is the pledge of something greater. Since the Holy Spirit is the earnest of God, the full inheritance must be God Himself (Psalm 73:25, 26; Lam. 3:24).

In His prayer for His disciples the night before His death, Jesus prayed: “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:22-24). 

In my estimation the greatest expositor of Romans is Robert Haldane. He wrote, “God is the portion of His people, and in Him, who is ‘the possessor of heaven and earth,’ they are heirs of all things. . . . God is all-sufficient, and this is an all-sufficient inheritance. God is eternal and unchangeable, and therefore it is an eternal inheritance—an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and that fadeth not away. . . . It is God Himself, then, who is the inheritance of His children. . . . He communicates Himself to them by His grace, His light, His holiness, His life.”

To be heirs and co-heirs with Jesus Christ requires that we share in His sufferings (Jn. 15:20; Col. 1:24; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Pet. 4:12). We will share in the glory of Christ in heaven after we have suffered with Him here on the earth (2 Tim. 2:12; 1 Pet. 4:13; 5:10). The servant is not above his Master.

The Spirit of adoption is at work in the life of the believer. He has given us liberty and we willingly follow Him. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:16-18).

Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

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