Ephesians 1: 18-19
:18 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, :19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
We are still on the subject of Paul's prayer for the the knowledge of the believers to grow, the eyes of their understanding to be enlightened. We spoke of the hope of His calling that comes and grows witht the knowledge we posses, today we want to speak of the inheritance we come to know as our knowledge in Christ grows. Now before we move any further I want to recognize that there are varying interpretations on the phrase we are speaking about"The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." Some believe that Paul is speaking of the inheritance we will enjoy and there are others who believe he is speaking of the inheritance of Christ in us, the saints. I want to address both aspects of interpretation and conclude by offering a viewpoint that makes the two inseparable.
An inheritance is something that you receive after the death of a loved one who has left you in their will. That loved one spends their whole life accumulating wealth, land, stocks, bonds and all other material goods and at the end of their life whomever they have written into their last will and testament will be the beneficiaries of the goods. The deceased one spent years of blood, sweat and tears to accumulate the wealth that will be passed on. Now, the beneficiaries receive all this at no work on their part. The only thing that gives them any right to the goods being passed on is the family tie that had to the one who died. No work was done on their part, they simply received what someone else spent their whole working for and earning. Imagine, if you will, someone has died and left you a large plot of land, you know it's big but you never went and seen the land, you never walked the property lines, you never visited the streams and rivers and lakes, you never found the highest hill on the property and viewed the vastness of it. Instead you stayed in the town or city you had been in your whole life and continued to try and make a living and survive the same way you always had, meanwhile there is a property waiting on you to take advantage of it and make it useful, waiting for crops to be grown, waiting for land to be cleared, houses to be built and vast inheritance just waiting for you to come and discovery and put to use. We would call the man who would do such a thing a fool but sadly that is the attitude of many Christians today.
Let's make an application to our spiritual and heavenly blessings and inheritance we have received. Christ came to this earth and spent the years of His life working for a inheritance, not earthly homes but heavenly, not earthly blessing but spiritual blessings in heavenly places. He died there on cruel Calvary and the testament became of force after the death of the testator. Now He spent blood, sweat and tears to earn what he freely gives to the beneficiaries of the New Testament. A aspect of Christ ministry that is all to often forgotten is the life that He spent here before His death, not just the miracles but the day to day life. He was tempted in all points yet without sin, He strove unto to blood in Gethsemane and conquered sin in a body of flesh, something no man before or since has ever done. He won the victory, He did the work, He fulfilled the law and at His death the benefit of those things He accomplished were passed to the children of God. Righteousness, reconciliation, redemption and to many other things to mention here or in a lifetime we could never list every benefit we received through the death of Christ. This inheritance was free to us but far from free but on our behalf we had only to receive it. Do you know anything of the inheritance you have received? Or do you remain in the previous mode of life, striving for what you already have in Christ. Do you strive for righteousness? Walk in the Spirit and you will find that Christ fulfilled all righteousness. Do you strive to please God? Christ has done that also. Do you fear death? Christ has conquered death. Do you fear hell? Christ also has defeated that. Paul said this: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
Don't spend your Christian life here struggling and striving in your own power when Christ has sent His Spirit to lead you into the inheritance you have in Him. Wake up, grab your Bible( the map of your inheritance) and ask God, by His Spirit, to lead you into the knowledge of the great inheritance that you have yet to discover.
We talked about our inheritance in Christ let's talk now about the second viewpoint of our scripture and that is Christ inheritance in the saints. It is true that we are His inheritance.
Here are some verses for reference to that truth:
Deu 32:9 For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
Psa 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
He is our inheritance and we are His. There's no wonder why our relationship to Christ is that of a bride and groom. His choice to save and pardon us is not based on the basis of merit but on the basis of love. I think of Ruth and Boaz, Ruth was a poor Moabite women with no nobility or wealth to offer to Boaz. Boaz was a man of wealth and nobility and had everything to offer to her. His decision to redeem Ruth wasn't on the basis of merit but on love, from the moment He seen Her in chapter 2 reaping in the fields. In chapter 4 the deal was done, the redemption price was paid and what was his became hers and what was hers became his, all be it she had nothing and he had everything. Their inheritance became one, they became one and when you spoke of Boaz's children you spoke of Ruth's when you spoke of Boaz's home you spoke of Ruth's, when you spoke of Boaz's riches you spoke of Ruth's. He got her and all that came with her, which was a hefty redemption price that had to be paid and she got Him and all that came with him, which was wealth, nobility, stability, love, joy and she became part of the Royal lineage of Kings, the same lineage that lead to the coming of Christ.
We can go back and forth all day about whose inheritance Paul was speaking of but he truth is this; He got me and everything that come with me, which was a hefty redemption price that had to be paid and I got Him and everything that came with Him, which is redemption, reconciliation, stability, joy, peace, love, a sound mind and no book in this world can contain the benefits I received when I received Him. When you speak of Christ victory, you speak of mine, when you speak of Christ inheritance you speak of mine. What's His is ours and what was ours was His. He is our inheritance and we are His. This has to a decision motivated by love because He had everything to lose and we had everything to gain, The only thing He gained was us and the only thing we gained was everything. Dear reader, you can rest assured that God loves you, He paid a hefty price to redeem you and He delights when that price and inheritance He gave is appreciated and made of the utmost importance in the life of His children.
According to the riches of His Grace!!