This morning I felt encouraged to read from Paul's letter to the Galatians. My focus is on the following verses - Galatians 4:4-7 NIV:
[4] "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. [6] Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba , Father.” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."
These are amazing verses concerning our identity and how God sees us. Starting in verse 6, Paul refers to our relationship to God as his children three times. It is because we are His children that He has called us and sent His Holy Spirit to live in us. We are not servants, not slaves, but His child. Because we are His child, we have been given access to the inheritance from our Father.
I know I don't fully comprehend this statement, nor do I think anyone this side of Heaven can, for we don't fully grasp the reality of God, how great He is, what He has available at His beck and call. We don't fully grasp the concept of an inheritance so vast. Baker's Evangelical Dictionary states: "In the theological sense, to inherit means to "receive an irrevocable gift" with an emphasis on the special relationship between the benefactor and the recipients. Unlike legal inheritance, the benefactor, God, does not die, yet he provides material and spiritual blessings for his people." So in common terms, God's gift of an inheritance to us is good forever, and is an indication of His love and affection for us!
In the new testament sense, Paul writes about our inheritance many times. Usually he was talking about eternal life, and the Kingdom of God present here on earth. Additionally, Baker's dictionary continues: "Generally, the promise refers to the possession of salvation (Heb 1:14). The believer's inheritance is described more specifically as eternal and joyful existence with God. Believers are promised "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). Inheriting the "world to come" is a guarantee for all those who belong to God's family."
The important point of all this being that the inheritance is supposed to exist for us in heaven, but is also present here on earth, which Paul is specifically addressing. The inheritance of Abraham, which was experienced here on earth, was the context out of which Paul was speaking in these verses. Our inheritance is meant to be experienced now, today, while we live on the earth. In addition there is a heavenly inheritance, which really is just a continuation of our inheritance here on earth, living as God's children. We are meant to experience the fullness of the Kingdom of God here, for we are heirs of the Kingdom, or using royal terms, princes and princesses, who are directly related to the King.
None of us, once called and saved, are relegated to servanthood, but rather we are all full sons and daughters. We are not some lesser son or daughter, one who does not receive the full blessing the full inheritance. God is not an unfair Father, who favors one child over another. God is not a distracted Father, who has so many children that He barely knows our name. God is not an angry Father who expresses His disappointment in our failures by punishing us or taking away our inheritance. We were not in competition for a bigger piece of the inheritance, for God has more than enough for us all, and then some, because He is infinitely powerful and has ALL good things.
Finally, in the next verse Paul encouraged the Galatians to remember who they were, sons and daughters of God, not living like they used to live in ignorance and as slaves to other things. I think that is a worthy reminder for us all. We are sons and daughters, princes and princesses, and we should live like we are every day. The fullness of the Kingdom is ours for the asking. As Jesus recounted in the story of the prodigal son, the Father replied to the elder son, “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours." Luke 15:31
Amen Lord!
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