Our Inheritance

Posted on by korgrocker

“Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan. 
The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.”
‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:11, 14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul continues by informing us that because we are part of His family, united with Christ, we have an inheritance. Note that verse 11 says we have already received this inheritance – it is not something that awaits us “at the right time”, as he said earlier in this chapter. Now normally we would only expect an inheritance to come our way after someone dies, leaving a Last Will and Testament that contains a clause in our favour. But God said that we have our inheritance now. Right now. This very minute. And we are reminded that we have our inheritance because we were chosen, and before we ask about how all this is happening, Paul says that God will make it all work out. All sorted because it’s in His plan.

So what is this inheritance we have? And how do we know we have it? If we list the benefits of being in God’s family, we find that amongst them is the assurance that one day we will be in His presence. Justified. Sanctified. Free of sickness and death. There will be no evil there. We will have a new body. And so on. And as we develop these thoughts, it is obvious that we will not assume all the benefits of our inheritance until we join God in Heaven. In fact, we might think that there are no obvious signs of our spiritual inheritance in this life at all. Except! Verse 14 tells us that God’s gift of His Spirit has been given to us as His guarantee. Through the Holy Spirit we can get a glimpse of our inheritance. Through the Holy Spirit we can start to enjoy our inheritance in this life. Later on in this Epistle we will find that through the Holy Spirit we will enjoy full access to God’s resources; His power can work through us into our daily lives now. 

We Christian’s are blessed people. Let us be a grateful people as well, grateful for this wonderful and amazing gift of the Holy Spirit. Through Him we can tap into God’s very presence, experiencing our wonderful inheritance now. And with Paul we will praise and glorify Him, our loving Heavenly Father. 

A Cup of Blessing

Posted on by korgrocker

“Lord, You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land You have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!” Psalms‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I wandered around the pathways of Dean Woods in the West of Fife this morning, appreciating the new Spring growth, the bird song, enjoying the sense of hope as creation awoke and reached out and up towards our amazing Creator God. Bluebells abound, and other wild flowers are starting to emerge. I’m keeping an eye on a patch of wild strawberries, interested to see how they will do this year. Surely this is a pleasant land. But the word “land” can apply to lots of things and especially to any blessing that God has given us. Even in concrete-slabbed suburbia, God’s blessings can be found, for the ultimate blessing is God Himself. He will one day replace our current inheritance, the natural world we know, with a new heaven and earth, our future inheritance. And what is to come is secure – God is guarding it. It cannot be stolen or destroyed.

So we can be thankful for the land God has given us. And we can be thankful for the inheritance that is waiting for us. And once there we will enjoy God’s limitless provision; a cup of blessing that will never be empty.