Heirs of God – 431

As believers IN Christ Jesus we are HEIRS — OF — GOD. Do you believe it — and act accordingly? My friend, read that parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, with attention to the elder brother. He was miserable because he did not know how much his father loved him. And he was miserable because he was working for what he already possessed.

Similarly, many of us Christians are miserable because we are striving to EARN what God has ALREADY GIVEN us. We are slaving away because we are unaware of our inheritance in Christ.

For example, believers in Christ are:

heirs of God himself (Romans 8:17)

heirs of the kingdom (Colossians 1:12)

heirs of the earth (Matthew 5:5)

heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14)

heirs of eternal life (Matthew 19:29, and elsewhere)

heirs of God’s promises (Hebrews 6:12, 17)

heirs of blessed and gracious life (1 Peter 3:7, 9)

heirs of ALL things (John 17:10, also in Hebrews and Revelation)

In Luke 15:29, the elder brother complained that his father had not given him so much as a young goat for all his years of service. Maybe you have said to God, “Why haven’t you rewarded me for my faithful service?” But the father in the story could not reward the son with a goat because all the goats and cows and livestock ALREADY BELONGED to the son. The father had divided up the property when the younger brother asked for his inheritance. The whole farm belonged to the older brother. But the older brother couldn’t see it. He saw himself as a servant working for a wage — and not a son with the privileges of an inheritance, and so he was unable to enjoy what was ALREADY HIS.

Many Christians see themselves as servants rather than sons. And notice this, in the parable the father says to the older brother, “Everything I have IS yours.” Not ‘will be yours’ but IS YOURS NOW. Our heavenly Father says the same thing to us in Genesis 15:1: “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” God gives us Himself and when you have Him you have everything else besides. As Romans 8:32 says, “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?

As Dr Paul Ellis says, if we Christians knew how rich we are in God, we would stop slaving for wages and we’d stop asking for skinny goats. Instead, we would thank him for every blessing and privilege that is ours in Christ. Ephesians 1:3. We would stop running after rusty trinkets, and we would praise Him for His lavish generosity. And then we would tell others the Good News so that they too could —  COME ALIVE!