Inheritance I

Good morning,

Have you ever inherited anything "of value"?  What makes those items "valuable" to you, anyway? Is it their monetary worth?  Is it their sentimental value?

I have inherited two rings over the years, one from each of my grandmothers.  One is a white-gold setting; the other is a yellow gold setting.  I wear one when I wear silver jewelry, and the other when I wear gold-tone jewelry.  Neither is particularly valuable, in the monetary sense.  But, both hold a great deal of sentimental value.  They are a treasured inheritance for that reason.

In Joshua 13, we find that Joshua has, like many people do, progressed to a very advanced age.  God tells him that he had better get on with the business of parceling out The Land, because he may not have much time left on this earth.  The remainder of chapter 13 details the assignment of the Promised Land to the east of the Jordan, although the Israelites already knew who was going to get that portion as it had been decreed even before they began to conquer the larger part of The Land, west of the Jordan.  Chapters 14 and following deal with assigning the area west of the Jordan to the coast of the Mediterranean.  This is the long-awaited "inheritance" of the Israelites, and though some may disagree, it is a forever allotment.

When I was an elementary school principal I would always eagerly await each Spring news of my "allotments" for the following year.  This was a communique from the human resources department concerning how many teachers and support staff I would be allowed in my building.  It governed the student:adult ratio, and determined in large part how instruction would be carried out in my building the following school year. Some years I was elated, and other years I was horrified by the news.

In the case of the Israelites, we are not told much about how the decisions were made to allot the land west of the Jordan to the 10.5 tribes.  We are merely told "who got what".  We also are not told much as to how each tribe reacted to their allotments, their hard-won inheritances.  There are some stories in the next few chapters, but I won't get into those today.

There are some interesting stories about "inheritance" in the Bible, and indeed, a whole book could be written to examine those.  The Prodigal Son, is one.  Jacob and Esau, another.

But, this morning, let's examine a few verses which tell us Believers of our inheritance as "joint-heirs" with our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In fact, I'll probably spend a few days on this topic.  Yes, I digress!  I'm a bit weary of writing about "war", and want to focus on "pay-off" for a bit.  I imagine you are weary readying about war as well!  :)

Let's first consider the promise of 1 Peter 1:3-4 - - -

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

Here we read that our inheritance - - - 

• is ours through God's great mercy.

We cannot earn it.  We don't deserve it.  It is a pure gift from God the Father.  I know that I don't thank Him for it often enough.

• begins with "new birth"

We cannot have an inheritance from God unless, like Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3, we are born of the Holy Spirit.  This new birth, being "born again", gives us a "living hope" of eternal life.  Living hope is an assurance, as opposed to "dead hope", which is uncertain.  Our eternal life with Jesus Christ is a "sure thing".

• is made possible only through Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead

In 1 Corinthians 15:17, Paul emphasizes this same truth, when he says "If Christ is not risen, then your faith is futile; you are yet in your sins."  The reason that Satan-inspired skeptics want to discredit the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is because without His resurrection, our faith is no different from the false religions of the world.

Tomorrow, we'll continue to examine our inheritance as believers.

Father, thank you for tenderly caring for us, Your children, and giving us the assurance of who-we-are, in You.  Those promises sustain us through "good times" and "bad", because we can be confident in You.  Your promises are true.  They are everlasting!  In Jesus' name, amen.