Our Inheritance In Christ Part 2…

We will continue in this post where we left off in the last post:
What are some of the details of our inheritance in Christ Jesus?

Like a pilot flying low over the ocean and pointing out
where swimmers should dive deeply to find pearls,
we will skim the surface of some details of our inheritance in Christ.
These are passages for all of us to dive into deeply
this week and moving forward together…

Perfect Character In Heaven:

Colossians 1:21-22:“Once you were alienated from God
and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death
to present you holy in his sight,
without blemish and free from accusation…”

Jude 1:24-25: To him who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you before his glorious presence
without fault and with great joy—
25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

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Be Where Jesus Is & See His Glory

John 17:24: “Father, I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am, and to see my glory,
the glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world.”

The Lord Jesus wants us to be with Him forever!

• Even best friends staying at our house,
  usually at some point we kinda want them to go :). Not Jesus!
• We know what it’s like to just put up with or tolerate someone.
  But Jesus desires us to be with Him!

And also to see His glory: Many of us struggle with wanting more of God
& not feeling Him, not enjoying Him as much as we want to;
we have a hunger for righteousness that won’t be filled until heaven…
but it will be filled—we will see His glory & be fully satisfied
in ways that nothing on this earth can satisfy, not even good blessings.
The Lord Jesus wants this for us!

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The Lord Jesus Is The Architect & Interior Decorator
Of Our Eternal Home (& Our Pilot To Get There)

John 14:1-3: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God;
believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms;
if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there
to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am.”

Imagine your favorite celebrity telling you:
I’m building a new wing on my house for you & I’ll pick you up
to hang with me for the weekend. You’d be excited, right?

Now think of the God of the universe saying this to you,
not just for the weekend, but for eternity! 🙂

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God Will Actually Forget Our Sins

Isaiah 43:25: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions,
for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

We know what it feels like to be reminded of/haunted by
the sinful things we’ve done and the good things we’ve failed to do.

But not in heaven…even the LORD,
against Whom we committed our sins,
will not remember our sins. Oh the gospel!

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A Forever Body Transformed By Christ
To Be Like The Lord Jesus’ Forever Body

Philippians 3:20-21: “But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
²¹ who, by the power that enables him
to bring everything under his control,
will transform our lowly bodies
so that they will be like his glorious body.”

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Our Inheritance Is Eternal—It Won’t Ever Run Out

When someone leaves an empty bag of chips in the pantry—
how disappointing! Even earthly inheritance/wealth
can run out/be squandered…but not our inheritance in Christ!

Hebrews 9:14-15: “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ,
who thru the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,
so that we may serve the living God!

¹⁵For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant,
that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—
now that he has died as a ransom to set them free
from the sins committed under the first covenant.”

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Our Inheritance Is Kept In Heaven For Us

(We don’t experience its fullness now; it won’t go obsolete like a phone)

1 Peter 1:3-5: “Praise be to the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope 
thru the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 
⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 
This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 
⁵ who thru faith are shielded by God’s power 
until the coming of the salvation 
that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

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God Himself Is Our Inheritance

Deuteronomy 18:1-2: “The Levitical priests—indeed,
the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or
inheritance with Israel [in terms of land].
They shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord,
for that is their inheritance. 
² They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites;
the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24: “This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches…

[Oh dear friends,

• we want wisdom to untie any knot &
  have life easy & understandable,
• we want strength to handle any problem & fix it asap,
• we want riches, don’t we, to write a check
  out of any corner we paint ourselves into.

And God does give us these things in different amounts/ways;
but we are not to boast in them/rely on them.

Our eternal inheritance is better, more lasting, more valuable…]

²⁴ but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, 
who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.”

And this too is so practical: as we know Him better now,
we will more & more do the things He does:
exercise kindness, justice & righteousness on earth,
we will delight more in what He delights in…

Maybe this is why we aren’t anxiously waiting for heaven,
why we’re sometimes inappropriately tied to this world:

if we aren’t learning to enjoy & delight in the LORD now,
perhaps the thought of knowing Him
as the central purpose/blessing of heaven
seems boring/disappointing.

It won’t be then, and it isn’t boring now.

Let’s repent of this, let’s seek Him &
start enjoying our inheritance now together!

Practical Results From Focusing On Our Inheritance in Christ

Acts 20:32-35: “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace,
which can build you up and give you an inheritance 
among all those who are sanctified. 

³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 
³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine
have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 
³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work
we must help the weak,
remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Because we have this inheritance coming in the future,

• we can be content now to not have the
  silver & gold that others have,
• we can be ridiculously generous now 
  in supplying the needs of our Christian companions,
• we can work hard now to provide for others &
  help the weak when we think of our inheritance
  which Christ’s hard work has provided for us.

Contentment/satisfaction in Christ & His inheritance for us 
leads us to say no to the sin/idols that try to

• catch our eyes,
• turn our heads,
• gain our trust,
• capture our allegiance,

the sin that has devastating impacts on our
spiritual growth, relationships, our local churches.

We’ll browse/window-shop less for sin with our behavior 
when we know what Christ has bought for us—our inheritance—
with His blood.

What do people sometimes do when they have a big dinner
that they’re looking forward to?

• They’re often content to skip food in the day;
  they want as much room as possible to enjoy dinner.

& so we can be content in Christ now to say no to sin/temptation,
trusting there will be a feast of righteousness as our inheritance,
the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

Opposite is also true: the less we know of our inheritance,
and the less confident we are that we will get it,
the more likely we are to seek smells, then nibbles, then snacks,
then all-you-can-eat buffets of sin on earth,
thinking this might be all there is.

Focusing on Christ’s inheritance for us then 
leads us to be ridiculously generous now.

I’m much more likely to share $20 now—or $20,000 now—
when I know I’ve been given full access in the future
to enjoy the entire Kingdom of God in heaven;

I’m much more likely to be generous in endurance—
not giving up/quitting is a kind of generosity—
enduring suffering & continue following the Lord Jesus,
even to the point of tears,
when I know He will eventually wipe away all of my tears;

I’m much more likely to be generous in Gospel & Bible risk:
sharing the Gospel with non-Christians in my neighborhood
& around the world

• (I don’t need to create a cocoon of constant safety/comfort
  on earth because heaven will be eternally safe/comfy);

I’m much more likely to be generous with forgiveness to others
for their sins against me
when I focus on God choosing to forget & never remember
my sins against Him;

I’m more likely to be generous with sacrificing time now
because of the eternity that my inheritance in Christ will last

• (I don’t need as much “me-time” during my short stay on earth
  because of all the “Him-time” I will get face to face
  during my eternity in heaven!)

Focusing on Christ’s inheritance for us leads us
to work hard in this life…for the right reasons.

Not work hard to get self-worth from earthly success,
not achieve to make myself important.

Work hard to thank Him for giving me worth
by giving His life for me.

Not to do the minimum just to get by,
but do my best in everything
(“when you carry a bedpan, carry it like a king/queen”)
because Christ gave His maximum,
gave His best, gave His all for sinful me.

Not use grace as an excuse for laziness/cruise-control
but give sustained effort to grow as a Christian
because of what it cost the Son of God
to make me alive as a Christian in the first place.

Some pro athletes just want to enjoy being in the league,
not work extra hard getting better. We are not to be like that.

Working hard as a Christian means we’re not content with

• riding the bench &
• collecting my check (blessings) &
• goofing around with teammates,

but honoring the Father for choosing me to be on His team,
honoring Him by becoming the
self-less/contributing/improving teammate He made me to be.

Work hard at our career? Yes!

• But also work hard at studying the Bible together,
• work hard at prayer,
• work hard at sacrificially serving each other.

That is tied to knowing our inheritance in Christ…

Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord
as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Oh loved ones, do you see how practical God’s Word is,
how relevant to daily living?

What a privilege for us to
study, agree with, and live out the Bible together! 

Closing Challenge

How Did We Get This Inheritance?

The Father Has Qualified Us By Rescuing Us

Colossians 1:12-14: “…and giving joyful thanks to the Father, 
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people
in the kingdom of light. 
¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and
brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

By His grace & choice,
the Father has rescued us from a death sentence &
given us an eternal life inheritance.

• We didn’t qualify ourselves by our goodness…He has qualified us.
• We didn’t bring Him our resume
  for why He should adopt/rescue/forgive us,
• He gave us His Son Jesus’ resume
  for why He should adopt/rescue/forgive us.

Have you received the Lord Jesus’ resume
for the forgiveness of your sins?

Have you turned from/repented of your sinfulness &
turned in faith alone to Jesus Christ & His death on the cross &
return to life?

Oh the Gospel!…Let’s live it & share it out there…