Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life… Then the King will say to those on His right: Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 19:29; 25:34)
This post builds on: Christ is My Inheritance; Our Bigger Inheritance; Our Imperishable Inheritance; and Our Inheritance Cannot Spoil or Fade
A Surprise Inheritance
Pastor Chuck Swindol retold the testimony of Mark Jones, who had become a new follower of Jesus Christ. Mark recalled, “I got off at the train depot one day as a tramp. I was at my most desperate point and begging on the streets. Starving, I touched a stranger on the shoulder and said, ‘Mister, please give me a dime.'” In 1900, ten cents could buy two loaves of bread, while today it would cost $5 at Walmart.
Mark said, “As soon as I saw the man’s face, I recognized him as my aged father! I asked, ‘Don’t you know me?’ Throwing his arms around me, the father cried, ‘Mark, my dear son, I have found you at last! All is forgiven, and all that I own is yours!'” Mark commented, “Think of it, I was a tramp, begging for 10 cents from a man I didn’t know was my father. And for 18 years, Dad had been looking to find and pardon me and give me all his possessions! 1
Mark’s story reminds us of Jesus. Hebrews 2 says that Christ makes His believers holy and brings us into His family. And the Lord is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters. Amazing! Christ also says: Here am I, and the children God has given Me. He calls us His little siblings and also His children, heaping up analogies to strengthen our assurance, joy, and peace. Jesus wants His followers to be super-sure of His everlasting love.
Everything earthly decomposes bit by bit. I read that even solid granite eventually rots and crumbles. Human empires, dynasties, and kingdoms all eventually fail and fall because of human sinfulness. But Christ’s kingdom and our inheritance in Jesus can never perish. Around 500 BC, even the Persian King Darius the Great had to admit: “People must fear and reverence God. For He is the living God, and He endures forever. His kingdom will not be destroyed, and His dominion will never end. The Lord rescues, and He saves people. God performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth.”2
Another Look at 1 Peter 1:3-5
Peter writes about our Christian inheritance: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead. We have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept (guarded) in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded (guarded) by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Notice several more things from this passage:
Our Inheritance in Jesus Is Guarded, Kept, and Reserved for Us
The Lord keeps the treasures safe in heaven for us until He comes to take us home. The ancient Jews were taken away from the Promised Land several times. In the book of Acts, New Testament Christians were forced out of Jerusalem and scattered because of persecution.3 But God had something better in store for them and for Christians today. Right now, worldwide, God is shaking the earth and removing what can be shaken (created things) so that Christ’s unshakable spiritual kingdom may remain and flourish.4 What is now seen is only temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.5
Jesus has gained a better and lasting inheritance for us, eternal salvation, through His life, death, and resurrection. And Christ is gradually restoring and renewing His believers from the inside out. And Jesus will return to restore and renew His creation in the new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells.6 Believers’ inheritance in Christ is safe and secure because His followers have been chosen by God the Father. And we are set apart by the sanctifying work of God the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus and sprinkled with His blood.7 Our inheritance is secure because of God’s faithfulness, not ours. That’s the greatest news.
We Are Guarded, Preserved, and Shielded until We Receive Our Treasure
Don’t miss what Peter is telling Christ’s followers. Our inheritance is kept for us, and we are kept safe by the Lord until we come to possess the inheritance. Jesus has gone to prepare heaven for us and sent the Holy Spirit to prepare us for heaven.7
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms and I am going there to prepare a place for you? And I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going… I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:1-6 excerpts)
Through the faith the Holy Spirit gives us, we are shielded by God’s power until we come to enjoy all our spiritual riches. Psalm 121 says that the Lord guards our going out and our coming in, everything that we do, forever. We can’t be more secure than that!
Remember The Three Tenses of Salvation:
- Christians have been saved once for all from sin’s penalty when God brought us to faith in Christ. (We call this justification)
- We are presently being saved from sin’s power as the Holy Spirit polishes and purifies us. (We call this progressive sanctification)
- And we will be saved finally from sin’s presence when we meet Christ face to face. (We call this glorification) The best is yet to come!
Christians, you were included in Jesus’ family when you first believed in Him. Christ marked you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us our full inheritance soon. God, the Holy Trinity, did this so we would devote our lives to Him in grateful service.8
Glorify the Lord with Me
Glorifying God means honoring, praising, and magnifying His greatness, character, and works. It involves imitating His character and living in obedience to His Scriptures. revealed will. Christians are to make God’s glory visible through our daily actions and attitudes.
We are to:
Honor God in mundane tasks like eating, drinking, cooking, cleaning, and paying bills.
Give the Lord and other people our time, specialized skills, and resources
Spread Jesus’ message of salvation by words and deeds
Give God credit for every single good thing we enjoy
The Holy Spirit is the first installment of the Christian’s inheritance. When Christ returns, He will open the treasuries of heaven for His followers to delight in. Until Jesus comes for us, the Spirit gives us the assurance that God’s very best is coming around the corner!
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit. Empower us to live for You and not for ourselves. Encourage us when we are downcast. Fill us with the Spirit’s goodness, peace, and joy. Make us a blessing to others. Forgive us and purify us from our wrongs and make us quick to forgive those who have sinned against us. Help us not to yield to temptation and deliver us from the evil one. Lord, have mercy upon us. We pray in Your name. Amen.
Notes (various Bible translations): 1 Swindol read of this story from J. Wilbur Chapman (1859-1918). 2 See Dan 6:26-27. Darius the Great (522–486 BCE) was a devoted follower of Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of Persia (modern-day Iran). After the Lord rescued Daniel from the lions, Darius issued a decree requiring all people to fear and reverence the God of Daniel (that is, the God of the Bible-Father, Son, and Spirit). 3 Acts 8:1-3. 4 See Heb 12:25-29. 5 See 2 Cor 4:13-18. 6 2 Peter 3:13. 7 1 Peter 1:2. 8 Eph 1:13–14.