OUR INHERITANCE - Part 1

I. God is the wealthy Father.

A. The Earth is the LORD's.   "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein"  (Psalms 24:1).

B. The kingdom is the LORD's.  "For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations" (Psalms 22:28).

C. All the silver and gold belongs to God. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts"  (Haggai 2:8).

D. His name is Yahweh. "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."   (All sufficient and eternal present).

II. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.

A. An early prophecy of God having a son. "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee" (Psalms 2:7).

B. Isaiah confirms the prophecy.  "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).

C. The prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:    And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS"  (Matthew 1:23-25).

D. The disciples acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God. "Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God"  (Matthew 14:33).

E. The Father affirms that Jesus is His Son.  "While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matthew 17:5).

F. Jesus is declared to be the "only begotten Son of God".  "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God"  (John 3:18).

G . We must believe in Jesus as the "only begotten Son" to receive life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"  (John 3:16).

III. Since Jesus is the only begotten Son, all of the inheritance of God went to Jesus.

A. Jesus received the heathen.  "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession"  (Psalms 2:8).

B. All the Father had belongs to Jesus. "All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:15).

C. Jesus even received the spoils of the enemy.  "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors"  (Isaiah 53:12).

IV. We receive our inheritance through the death of Jesus.

A. Jesus had to die for us to receive what was in the will.  "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator" (Hebrews 9:15-16).

B. We enter the inheritance through faith in Jesus.  "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:    Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

C. The inheritance is free.  "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  (I Corinthians 2:12).

D. Our inheritance comes along with our salvation from sin. "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me"  (Acts 26:18).

E. What inheritance Jesus received, we also receive.  "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:17).

F. By faith we have become Abraham's seed and therefore heirs of God.  "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise"  (Galatians 3:29).

G. We are actually heirs of God. "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  (Galatians 4:7).

V. . We need to come to understand the extent of our inheritance.

A. Our inheritance accompanies our salvation.  "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak"  (Hebrews 6:9).

B. We have received all spiritual blessings. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).

C. We should pray for one another to see our inheritance. "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:    The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints"  (Ephesians 1:17-18).

D. We have exceeding riches. "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7).

E. We now have the inheritance which only God once promised to His people. "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:    But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:12-13).

F. Our inheritance is now unsearchable in extent. "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the nsearchable riches of Christ"  (Ephesians 3:8).

G. We have exceeding great and precious promises.  "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (II Peter 1:4).

H. We have access to ALL of the promises of God through Jesus. "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us."  (II Corinthians 1:20).

I.  We have access both to promises that come both out of the old covenant and the new covenant, but we need to know them in order to receive them. "Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old"  (Matthew 13:52).