HEIRS OF GOD
Rom. 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
What is the significance of being an heir? I guess it all depends who you are an heir to. The heir of a king inherits a throne and all that goes with it. The heir of a wealthy man inherits wealth. Even more than all of the possessions, you inherit their name. Today’s verse tells us that we are heirs of God the Father and fellow heirs with Christ. I have heard teaching on this over the years that really missed the whole point. The focus has often been all of the wealth and possessions that we inherit from our relationship with Christ. This aspect of our inheritance pails in comparison to our true inheritance. We have inherited God Himself. We are heirs or have inherited God. Here are some insights from Matthew Henry on today’s verse.
“The Lord himself is the portion of the saints’ inheritance, a goodly heritage. The saints are spiritual priests, that have the Lord for their inheritance. The vision of God and the fruition of God make up the inheritance the saints are heirs to. God himself will be with them, and will be their God.”
Some have focused on heaven as being our inheritance; you know, the gold streets, the foundation of precious stones, wealth beyond compare. All of those things are really lagniappe, heaven is heaven because He is there. Here is how Adam Clarke describes our inheritance.
“It is neither an earthly portion nor a heavenly portion; but GOD himself, who is to be their portion. It is not heaven they are to inherit; it is GOD, who is infinitely greater and more glorious than heaven itself. With such powers has God created the soul of man, that nothing less than himself can be a sufficient and satisfactory portion for the mind of this most astonishing creature. Joint heirs with Christ. Partaking of the same eternal glory with the glorified human nature of Christ.”
If you are born again you are far richer than you can imagine. We have inherited the Lord’s name, His authority and His wealth. More than all of that, we have God Himself as our portion, it doesn’t get much better than that.
