Inheritance and Summary
Inheritance and Summary
Bruce Billington
- Laying Hold of Our Inheritance
God’s Sovereignty and Our Family
Genesis 12 makes it clear that our inheritance on this earth begins with our family. The call to family is all about belonging and God has made this one of the foundation stones of true Christian life. God sovereignly chose not only the time and place of our birth, but also the family and culture we were born into.
This doesn’t mean He endorses all that has happened in our family, nor the situation it may currently be in – but be that as it may – He still chose it for us and our previous generations have played a significant role, both genetically, spiritually, and emotionally into shaping us into who we are today. There is much for us all to glean from our family for the rest of our life.
This is illustrated well in the following verse.
Genesis 18:19 – “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”
It is then described in a more specific form in Deuteronomy 6:1-9 where the following points are made.
- We shall love the LORD with all our heart, soul and might. It must be a heart relationship, not just religious knowledge.
- All aspects of life must be seen to express the heart of the Lord and how they should be lived out.
- Our children and their children must be taught the Way of the Lord in order to live a blessed life.
A big responsibility for the journey and instruction of this is placed upon the family unit. It is vitally important that we, first as an individual and then as a family – understand what our family heritage is. What emphasis in gifting, talents, possessions, characteristics flow down through our family lines? What is our history and where has God been working in this? It doesn’t matter if our background is not Christian – God has still been working through our generational lines and preparing for our arrival on this planet in this way.
Trained For an Inheritance
Psalm 37 is all about who will inherit the land. It says many times over that the righteous will inherit the land. The intention of God has always been that our family and community should be a dynasty of rulers down through the generations. Each family should both seek this, embrace it, walk it out on their whole of life journey, and teach it to those following in their footsteps.
Parents should give their children a huge head start from where they came from – they are expected to take the ball a lot further down the field than those before them have. Psalm 144:12 expresses this by saying, “Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace.”
And again, Psalm 127:3-4 says – “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.”
Children are arrows that are shot across time – this is how we beat age and our allotted 70-year life span. Children are given to parents to fulfil their own unfulfilled visions and dreams. Obviously, they have their own unique role in this and must add their own faith to it, but we all remain drinking from the same well.
Summary
We need to make these blessings become the focus of our lives, rather than being seduced by all those things (some great) that the world offers. When our efforts are focussed on trying to take our “share” from this present world system and its values, we will only find all kinds of heart ache and distress and disillusionment because the world’s system is broken and as such, can never offer us fulfilment. A key role of the Holy Spirit is to brings us to a place where our delight is in the King, His Kingdom here on earth, and His people.
Today we live in the time between redemption and restoration, sometimes referred to as the “now and not yet kingdom.” It is here amongst us but not yet in its fullness. It is same with our very own beings. We have transformed souls, along with broken and sin corrupted bodies. We also have an enemy that seeks to exploit our fallenness. This presents a constant battle for us – but one that Christ won the victory for us at the Cross of Calvary. We now have the Holy Spirit living within us and are assured that, greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).
Furthermore – we have been shifted from being totally separated from God the Father because of our sin, to a wonderful place of sonship with Him. The blood of the Lamb has cleansed us and made us acceptable in His sight. He calls to us to come boldly into His throne room and fellowship with Him (Hebrews 4:16).
Taking all of this into account, the Apostle Paul finishes this great chapter by pleading with us to lay hold of these blessings as they have been gained for us at great cost. During the chapter he uses words to describe the blessings and what they bring to us such as,
Blessed and blessings
Holy and blameless
Adoption as Sons
Freely bestowed
Riches of His grace
Lavished upon us
Exceedingly
Surpassing,
Unlimited,
Immeasurable,
Beyond imagination.
Mighty, explosive, beyond measure.
His prayer at the end of this chapter is passionate and earnest.
Ephesians 1:18-2 – “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,”
Paul is praying that we may embrace this, not through knowledge, but in our hearts, to the point that these blessings become an integral part of our life, through the power of His might.
We need to note that Paul is praying this for our time in the PRESENT life. It describes the inheritance that is set before us NOW! We need it today. We must have the power of God in their lives.
The POSB Commentary describes it well by saying that as we journey through life,
we are surrounded by expressions of evil and shame, bitterness and hate, lust and immorality, cursing and anger, robbery and assault, murder and war, selfishness and greed, division and strife, disappointment and emptiness, boredom and purposelessness.
Only the power of God can bring freedom from these things. The glorious news is that God offers His power to us, through His Son Jesus Christ. To lay hold of this we must know God personally and intimately, for God only gives His power to those who truly come to know Him. This is the key to receiving the power from on High.
The Power We Have been Given
Three final points about this power.
- It is the power that raised Jesus from the dead. This means it can conquer all the trials and temptations of life. When God exercised the power to raise Christ, He conquered the most powerful trial that faces humanity – death. And in conquering death, God demonstrated that He has provided us with the power to conquer any trial or temptation faced by humanity, no matter what it is (1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9).
- It is the power to gain a new life that is lived out in Christ. Once we are born again, we become a brand-new person – a person that is able to live a sanctified life before God forever. We walk before God in newness of life (Romans 4:6; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 2:6; 1 John 2:6).
- The power to enter another dimension of being. We are born into the spiritual world – the world of the Spirit. Although this is also where the enemy and his cohorts’ dwell, we can take heart by knowing that Jesus rules this domain. Speaking to this Paul says,
For this reason, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name, which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Philippians 2:9-10).
So, in finishing we can proclaim –
The mission is set.
The mission is secure.
The mission will be accomplished.
We will not and cannot fail.
God has decreed that,
the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10).
God Bless.
Bruce Billington