Eternal Inheritance
Inheritance implies a family relationship, in most cases, and eternal is a permanent, everlasting relationship. This is certainly the case for every Christian. At salvation, every believer becomes a child of God. One of the amazing things is, that as children of God, we also become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. This means that we share in Christ’s inheritance. The Bible declares that it has not even entered into the mind of man what God has prepared for him. So the questions are, “What is this inheritance and how do we get it”? (Galatians 3:26; 4:26; Romans 8:17)
In eternity past, when God was designing a plan for your life, He included as part of His plan an inheritance. Yes, God was thinking of you in eternity past and predesigned a magnificent plan for your life on earth (therefore you could not have worked for it, earned it or deserved it). He has also designed a plan for you for the eternal state (also, you cannot work for it, earn it or deserve it). God’s plans are always a matter of His grace. (Ephesians 1:11)
God as Our Father
For the believer in Christ, God has become your father, not merely your creator. This family relationship is entered into by faith in Christ at salvation. Therefore, it is not something for which we have worked, nor is it something that we deserved. In other words, this family relationship is based on the grace of God. Therefore, our inheritance also is based on God’s grace. As our Father, God desires only the best for His children. It is a divine decree from our heavenly Father that we have an inheritance and His decrees must be carried out. (Galatians 4:4-7)
Joint-Heirs with Christ
Inheritance implies a family relationship even in the case of Jesus Christ. As the second person of the Trinity, Jesus is the Son of God. It is this family relationship that Jesus has with God the Father that guarantees that He will have an inheritance. As a matter of fact, Christ is the inheritor of all things according to Hebrews 1:2. It is this inheritance that the believer, as a child of God, shares with Christ since he is in union with Him.
Here are some things that we share with Christ:
1) Eternal Life – John 1:12; Titus 3:7; I John 5:11-12
2) Righteousness – II Corinthians 5:21
3) Sonship – Galatians 3:26
4) Kingship – II Peter 1:11; Revelation1:5-6; 5:9-10
5) Priesthood – I Peter 2:5-9
6) His Election – I Peter 1:2; Ephesians 1:4
7) His Destiny – Ephesians 1:5,11: Romans 817
8) His Sanctification – I Corinthians 1:2
It is our faith in Christ that qualifies us to become heirs and it is the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ that secures that inheritance. (Romans 5:8; Hebrews 9:15-16)
Ministry of the Holy Spirit
At salvation the Holy Spirit permanently indwells the body of every believer, which guarantees an inheritance from God. His indwelling is the “down payment” for our future inheritance. Since we are guaranteed this eternal inheritance by God, it contains and expresses within it the doctrine of eternal security. As our teacher and guide, it is the Holy Spirit Who reveals not only the fact of but also the nature of this inheritance to each of us as we study the doctrines of the Word of God. (Ephesians 1:14; Galatians 4:6; I Peter 1:4-5)
Royal Family of God
Upon faith in Christ, a believer is placed in union with Christ, becomes a child of God and becomes a spiritual aristocrat. It is this realization that should be a motivating factor for the believer to live as royalty and not as a mere peasant. What God has provided for us is immeasurable. It is up to us to begin to discover the breadth, length, depth and height of what we have as believers. This can be accomplished only one way – study and application of God’s Word. (Ephesians 3:16-21)
As Royal Family of God it is not only our responsibility but it is our privilege to represent Christ to the world. It is, therefore, imperative that we think, talk and act like the true royalty that we are in Christ. Because of this unique dispensation in which we live, we have a unique relationship with God. Never before has the entire Godhead permanently indwelt a believer as they do now. As never before in history, we have the opportunity to make our experiential sanctification align with our positional sanctification. (II Corinthians 5:20)
Like any “human royal family”, the Royal Family of God is given all the necessary resources to fulfill their duties as royalty. These resources are available to the entire Royal Family of God, though few exploit them to their fullest. It is only by relying upon the resources of God that the maturing believer is able to properly execute God’s plan Any attempt to “play” outside the plan results in failure and divine discipline. God’s plan must be executed God’s way to ensure a successful life. In the Christian Way of Life, the ends never justify the means. A right thing must always be done in a right way. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)
The Eternal Aspect
Eternal inheritance means exactly that – it lasts for all eternity. Our inheritance begins at salvation but will not be fully realized until we enter the eternal state. After the believer is evaluated at the Judgment Seat of Christ, his “escrow blessings” (those kept in his escrow account) will be conveyed to him to enjoy for all eternity. It is the realization of these greater blessings in eternity that should be a motivating factor in the life of every believer. This knowledge becomes part of our personal sense of destiny and the hope (full confidence) of a future filled only with peace and happiness.
In God’s grace He has provided for every believer for the eternal state. For those believers that execute the Christian Way of Life, the rewards will be greater. Nevertheless, all believers will be blessed in eternity and all believers will enjoy eternal happiness. Personal sins are not going to be an issue when you stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to be evaluated, because your sins were dealt with on the Cross. Only what you did or did not do with your Christian Way of Life will be evaluated.
Escrow Blessings
Escrow blessings are grace blessings given to the believer in time and in eternity as a part of God’s predesigned plan. Most of us are familiar with the concept of escrow as related to real estate. When you purchase a home, for example, monies are set aside in an escrow account to pay certain future bills, such as taxes. This escrow money is YOURS, even though it is held until such time as it is needed. The mortgage company also assigns an escrow officer to manage your account. Upon sale of the home, all monies in escrow that are unused are returned to you.
God has set up an escrow account for you. God the Father is the grantor of the escrow, the Lord Jesus Christ is the escrow officer and the Holy Spirit is the conveyor of the escrow. The divine blessings that are in your escrow account are yours forever whether you access them or not. The way in which you access divine escrow (divine blessings) is by possessing the capacity to receive them, which is obtained through spiritual growth. Spiritual growth only occurs when there is consistent study and application of God’s Word. As you grow up spiritually, God is able to convey these blessings from escrow into your life. Lack of capacity from lack of study and application stalls the conveyance of blessings from escrow.
Many believers wonder why God is not blessing them more, not realizing that they do not possess the capacity to receive greater blessings. There are certain blessings that we all receive as believers called logistical grace blessings (food, clothing and shelter). But the escrow blessings that are being held for us are much greater than the logistical blessings that we all receive. These blessings are not always material possessions, but more often are related to spiritual things, such as wisdom, discernment, happiness and peace of mind. These greater blessings are in direct proportion to the amount of Bible doctrine that a person has stored in his soul and is utilizing in his daily life.
Summary
The realization of the fact that you have an eternal inheritance should cause you to have a personal sense of destiny. It is a personal sense of destiny that gives the believer capacity for life by producing spiritual self-esteem. Spiritual self-esteem means that you have discovered who you are in Christ. Capacity for life replaces the temporary pleasures of the world with the eternal happiness of God. (Galatians 6:6-10) Capacity is increased by spending a maximum amount of time in fellowship with God under the filling of the Holy Spirit, in consistent study and application of Bible doctrine and in the use of Divine Viewpoint Thinking.
Having a personal sense of destiny should change the way we think and talk:
1) To self – When we understand who we are in Christ we begin to replace negative self-talk with positive spiritual self-esteem talk. Thinking and talking about what God has done and is doing for us. (Ephesians 5:19, Philippians 4:8)
2) To others – When we get our thinking right we begin to talk differently to and about others. Our talk becomes less about “me” and more about “you”. We begin to think of others the way God does and we begin to look for opportunities to encourage others or share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. (II Corinthians 5:18-20)
3) To God – When we have a personal sense of destiny, we stop trying to coerce God into a course of action. We become thankful for what God has given us and we learn how to pray effectively for others and ourselves. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Having a personal sense of destiny takes us from spiritual babyhood to the beginning stages of spiritual adulthood. We begin to grow up in Christ and realize all the wonderful things that God has done for us, is doing for us and is going to do for us. We begin to see His work in our past, our present and our future. This causes us to put aside anything in our life that is a distraction to our spiritual life. And it causes us to keep looking to Jesus as our only hope (confidence) for lasting peace and happiness. (Hebrews 12:1-2)