Bible Studies

SONS AND HEIRS

by Luella Campbell
10/23/14
Not For Sale
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SONS AND HEIRS

"Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.' So you are no longer a slave, but God's child and, since you are His child, He has also made you an heir." Galatians 4:6-7.

Imagine that! In Romans, Paul said, "Sons of God and co-heirs with Christ."

Our past as slaves of sin has been wiped out. Now we are God's beloved sons and daughters, born into His family through the Spirit of God just as Jesus was born into a human family by being fathered by the Holy Spirit.

Not only have we been born of the Spirit but we are also indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We wear God's name, just as human children wear their father's name. We belong to the family of God. We can never be "unborn", no matter who we are or what we do. We have an inheritance because we are legitimate children and not slaves.

When do we receive our inheritance and what have we inherited?

We are not waiting to receive our inheritance at some time in the future. It is already ours because the testator (Jesus) has died.

"In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it because a will is only in force when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living." Hebrews 9:17.

Our inheritance consists of two parts:

1. God appointed Jesus to be heir of all things, and we are co-heirs with Him.

"...In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He also made the universe." Hebrews 1:2.

"Heir of all things." What does that mean? Jesus Christ is the owner of everything He made. As co-heirs with Him, believers are also heirs of "all things". All the resources of His creation are ours through Jesus.

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it." Psalm 24:1.

"He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" Romans 8:32.

Since God has made all His resources available to us in Christ, why are so many of us still poor, battling to make a living with a promise like that? For at least two reasons: we do not follow God's instructions to access His resources (Matthew 6:33) and we do not receive when we ask because our motive for asking is selfish (James 4:2, 3).

2. The other part of our inheritance is even more amazing. We are heirs of all things but we are also heirs of God's nature. Just as children inherit their father's property when he dies, so we inherit the earth because Jesus died. But we also inherit God's divine nature, just as human children inherit their father's sinful nature, which also makes us heirs of eternal life.

God is perfect; He has no sin, therefore He cannot die since it was sin that brought death into the world. When we are reunited with Him by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus, we receive His nature as a gift, just as Adam did in the beginning. God always sees us "in Christ", perfected and complete, and therefore we also, just like Jesus, cannot die because we now have His nature.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so that, through them, you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:3-4.

While we are still in this life, we are to become what we are, sons and daughters of God who are just like Jesus, having the very nature of God - gracious, generous, compassionate and merciful. God is working it in us as we work it out.

"And we know that in all things God is working for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:28-30.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.