Grace Has Made Us Heirs

If we want to know what God’s grace is, look at the cross. It is an addition sign (+). Through Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we have been miraculously added into the family of God. We are now His children who have the wonderful privilege of calling Him, Abba (Father), the name of God which Jesus came to reveal to man. “For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba(Father)! Father!” (Romans 8:15 The Amplified Bible) Galatians reinforces this by saying, “And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the [ Holy] Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba (Father)! Father!” (Galatians 4:6 The Amplified Bible)

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The best part of this good news is being God’s children means we are now heirs! "and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,..." (Romans 8:17 NKJ) Heirs of God and JOINT HEIRS with Christ! I think this is the best part : JOINT HEIRS with Christ. Wow! That means whatever inheritance Christ is entitled to, I am too! But hang on a second, what self sacrificing deed have I done to deserve such an awesome and fantastic thing? NOTHING. It is a gift that came through the cross, through grace. We cannot work for it. “But if it is by grace (His unmerited favor and graciousness), it is no longer conditioned on works or anything men have done. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace [it would be meaningless].” (Romans 11:6, The Amplified Bible)

How then do we receive this gift? By simply believing Jesus’ finished work on the cross for us. He cried “It Is Finished!” on the cross, to declare loudly that there is nothing more we need to do. The next pertinent question is what does it mean to be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ? There are many phrases in the New Testament that describe our inheritance : heirs of the kingdom, heirs of the promise, heirs of the righteousness that comes by faith, inherit salvation and inherit eternal life. Eternal life is a wonderful inheritance if you ask me. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 NIV) Eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ. How can we do that? In this case we must bear in mind that God is not like a human father who is very rich and his heirs only inherit his estate when he dies. God will never die so how do we inherit? This is not just an earthly inheritance, when we are heirs of God, we not only inherit everything that God owns, we also inherit eternal life and eternal life is to know God and Jesus. This is our inheritance : to know God and Jesus, to know He is our Abba, our Daddy God, not a stern and far away God but One who embraces and holds us in His bosom. And because God is eternal, this "knowing God" is also eternal. Eternal life is to continually be in His presence and know Him intimately.

John in Revelation 21:3-7 sums it up beautifully, “³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.⁵He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.⁶He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.⁷He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (NIV) We inherit the benefits of being His sons and of drinking from the fountain of life. God Himself is our inheritance.

Fellow blogger and dear sister in Christ, Geri, sent me am sms that is so powerful : “He who has God and everything has nothing more than he who has God alone.” (CS Lewis)

Are you an heir of God and joint heir with Christ?