Born to an Inheritance
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
“To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:3-4).
When a great man passes from this world, he passes his possessions to his heirs. He leaves behind a great estate for his children. He might also leave behind a last will and testament, in which he might have specified how his estate is to be divided among his heirs. The Holy Ghost speaking to us through Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians says:
“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph 1:11).
Note that the Holy Ghost is not saying here that you and I have been chosen to receive an inheritance, or that we might receive an inheritance. He says you have obtained an inheritance, and I have obtained an inheritance. There may be some additional inheritance heading our way in the future, but for right now, He is saying that we have obtained a portion that God Almighty planned for us to enjoy today. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus our Lord today.
The moment we were born into the family of God, we automatically became partakers of the inheritance of our Father God. You do not need to do anything to qualify for this. You do not need to pray or have faith for this. It became yours by the virtue of your second birth into the family of God. The qualification comes from God being your father.
“Giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for a share of the inheritance of the saints in light,
“Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins” (Col 1:12-14).
The Spirit of God is telling us here that it is God who has “made us fit” or qualified us to obtain our share of the inheritance reserved for the saints. This inheritance is not just for the mighty men and women of faith we read about in the Bible, not just for the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, not just for those believers who are filled with the Holy Ghost, but for all men and women who have been born of God. Every born-again child of God has obtained an inheritance.
Although all saints of God have received an inheritance, very few of us understand what we have been given. Many of us simply think that the inheritance is eternal life. Well, in a way, the eternal life of God, of which we partake at new birth, is an eternal inheritance. In another way, we can say that eternal life became ours as a result of our being born of God and inheriting the life and nature of God in our inner selves. We can therefore say this is the beginning of our inheritance where we become partakers of the divine nature. It is also clear that eternal life is what qualifies us for the inheritance of the saints in light, for all the inheritance that we obtain comes to us as a result of having eternal life.
Seeing that God has told us that we have each obtained an inheritance, we must ask the following important questions:
What is an inheritance?
What is the inheritance that he said we have obtained? What is the heritage of the saints of the Lord?
Is this inheritance worth possessing? If yes, how do we possess it? Is it accessible to us today? Can we cash in on this inheritance right now? Can we withdraw provisions from this inheritance today in the midst of the prevailing economic recession?
These, indeed, are the questions that we must address to help us hold and enjoy our portion of the eternal inheritance which the Holy Ghost has allotted to us. By the grace of God and with the help of the Holy Spirit, these are the questions we shall be meditating upon in this little book.
“Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath to Isaac; And which he confirmed to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
“Saying, To thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it” (1 Chr 16:16-19).
An “inheritance” is an estate, property, genetic characteristic, or other possession that is passed down to an heir. It is the common term used for property or any possession that an heir receives from his or her parents. “Heritage” indicates something that is bequeathed to a subsequent generation by an individual or by society—for example, the cultural heritage of a people. An inheritance or heritage can be an immaterial possession received from predecessors by succession: an inheritance of family pride.
A third term related to those above that is very important to us as saints of God is “legacy.” A legacy is also something handed down from an ancestor or predecessor—for example, the legacy of a righteous man, or the legacy of ancient Rome. Erecting an altar unto the Most High God as the first order of business on arrival in a new place could be said to be the legacy Abraham left for his descendants.
As members of the family of God, we have obtained an inheritance, and the church of Jesus Christ has a heritage to be proud of, since we are the royal priesthood and God Himself is our portion. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Forerunner and Predecessor, left us a legacy.
From the exploration of the meaning of “inheritance” above, we see that the first component needed for an inheritance is a testator, or the one that makes the will. This testator is the original owner of the property or estate to be passed down. This testator also needs to die before his estate is divided among his heirs. His will or testament will only take effect after he dies. In this testament, he states how his property or estate is to be distributed among his heirs. The heirs are then partakers of the inheritance left for them by the owner after his death.
“And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
“For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
“For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” (Heb 9:15-17).
The Holy Spirit is saying to us through the writer of the Book of Hebrews that through His death, Christ became the mediator of the New Testament. He is the Testator of the New Covenant. In other words, the New Testament is His Will, which He left for us at His death. And every one of us who is born again is named in His last Will and Testament, and thus is an heir with the promise of an eternal inheritance. The writer goes on to say, “For where a testament (will) is, there must of necessity be the death of the testator (the one who made the will)” (Heb 9:16). Nothing is more certain than this! A will is worth nothing to the heirs until the person who made the will has died. This is how our eternal inheritance has come to us. The Lord Jesus loved us and died for us, leaving us a goodly inheritance.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
“To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:3-4).
In the passage from the Epistle of Peter discussed in the previous chapter, we read that we have been born again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away. This incorruptible inheritance is reserved in heaven—the invisible realm of the Spirit—for us. The spirit of God speaking here through the apostle Peter did not say that heaven is our inheritance: He said that this incorruptible and eternal inheritance is reserved in heaven for us.
Your inheritance is in a place where it will never fade away. Even gold kept in the earthly realm will fade under the elements, but your inheritance will never fade. The inheritance is undefiled. It was acquired for you legally and righteously. The Lord Jesus, who is the righteousness of God, obtained this for you, so it is pure and untainted by the corruption that’s in the world.
Our inheritance is accessible because we are citizens of heaven, and so we can approach heaven and make withdrawals on our inheritance. We have access to the heavenly realm because we’ve been born again through God, who is the Spirit. The heavenly realm of the spirit is open to us. And we’ll do well if, as the apostle Paul admonishes, we “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor 4:18).
The sixth chapter of 2 Kings gives us a powerful illustration of this in the life of Elisha the prophet of God. He and his servant were in a small town surrounded by the entire Syrian army. When the servant got up, he was afraid because he saw an army of horsemen and chariots surrounding the city. He rushed to Elisha and said, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?”
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “For they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kings 6:16). “And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17).
Elisha’s servant could only see the Syrian army, which was on the physical plane. He could not see the army on their side, which was located on the same scene, but in a different realm. The Syrian army was in the earthly realm; the army on Elisha’s side was in the heavenly realm. Both armies were co-located, surrounding the same location in Elisha’s town, but in two different realms. Elisha’s servant could not see the heavenly host, but Elisha could see both the Syrian army and the heavenly horsemen and chariots of fire there to defend him. Elisha was living in both worlds: he was standing on earth, but the heavenly realm was also open to him. His defense and his victory came from the heavenly realm.
If only we could see the horsemen and chariots of fire camped around us for our protection and the angels God has placed in charge of our circumstances, we would rest easy and see the salvation of God in our situations.
“There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psa 91:10-12). This is part of the inheritance of the children of God.
