Our Inheritance Is Christ, nothing more, nothing less
INHERITANCE: a thing that is inherited. (It can only be inherited after the death of the one who put you in their will)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” - 1 Peter 1:3-7
BLESSED: holy. divine. praised. — It means an inner peace, an inner bliss, an inner happiness, an inward joy that is not produced nor affected by circumstance. This state of unshakeable well-being is how God desires His children to live.
If we are indeed followers of Jesus Christ, do we truly bless God? Do we truly see him as holy? Do we truly see him as the one we can trust to lead, guide and provide for our lives? If we truly bless God than like the definition and meaning says, we are too be the most unshakeable, peaceful people on earth. Yet we are not seen as that.
Recently, Inside Out 2 came out, and we saw new emotions enter the storyline. One of them was anxiety. Wow, was it crazy to see myself in a little emotion like that. See all the crazy scenarios my brain comes up with, and maybe I’ll share about it in a podcast episode, but it is indeed crazy that our emotions can turn into actions when we don’t set our minds on the truth, that God is in control, that He knows every detail of our lives, he knows where we will be from beginning to end, and the fact that we don’t find that comforting is a bit strange when we find comfort in the things in this world that only bring some temporary joy, temporary peace.
These verses should bring us to our knees, should bring us to praise God, why? Because it is only because of him that we can have peace. That even in the middle of unknowns we can trust God, we can trust that he knows all the ins and outs despite our fears. Do we not think he would know our fears? Do we think he would not know our insecurities? Do we think he would not know the enemy would try to tempt us and steer us away from being faithful to God, the one who alone fills our lungs with breath everyday we get up, the one who is able to give us eternal life? Our life is not our own, there is nothing we can do to keep ourselves alive. All over the news and even friend groups, I see so many getting diagnosed with sickness and my husband and I look at each other say, it is only the lord that keeps us, we can do all the right things to stay healthy, but at the end of the day it is the Lord that decides what will strengthen our faith in Him. We can either let him strengthen us where no one will say we have trusted in ourselves, or we can go through those things he chooses to send us through and automatically trust in ourselves to get out of it. I don’t know about you but I’ve allow the enemy to tell me like Eve, that I can handle it and get out of the situation I am in and that the Lord did not foresee these circumstances take place. Clearly, I have seen that in listening to the enemy has done me no good.
EVERYTHING HE SENDS US THROUGH IS FOR OUR GOOD.
There is a purpose for everything. But I also believe that there are things we do that God never wanted to happen, but let it happen that we may like the Prodigal Son return home and realize that it is better with the Father. Not meaning that life is easy but the reward at the end while remaining obedient to our God is worth it.
WHAT IS OUR REWARD AT THE END OF TIME?
It is our eternal home with God.
It is our inheritance for remaining in the faith only by the love of God fueling us to remain in him by the power of the Holy Spirit leading us.
It is our salvation.
Unlike here on earth, we actually look forward to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is kept in heaven for you and I, guarded by God’s power. no one can open it, touch it, steal it, try to burn it, jeopardize it, it is untouchable. Here on earth, we wait for inheritance that can easily be taken from us whenever it is time for us to receive it.
THE BEAUTY OF OUR INHERITANCE
Christ himself is our inheritance. Compared to an inheritance here on earth, it will run out, but Christ never runs out, his blessings are forever.
In the middle of this section in scripture we see how this eternal inheritance that we await for should bring us the upmost joy and hope, that we are not just walking here on earth for no purpose whatsoever, our purpose here on earth is like Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 28:19, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Are we doing that? Are we showing the love of God to those around them? Are we desiring to see those around us come to faith in Christ, that they would know that this life is a vapor. We don’t know the last day, all we know is that there is one and we will either be in the hands of the Father or we will be in damnation, which will not be enjoyable.
“For Christians this present life is the closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven.” — Randy Alcorn
WHY WOULD WE WANT ANYTHING BUT HEAVEN?
WHY WOULD WE NOT SAY YES TO LIFE WITH CHRIST?
Most don’t believe in heaven why? In my opinion is because when the world is promoting so many things to get our attention, to buy more things, to make us think that it will last, all to realize that it will break and we will have to buy a new one, something will happen to our homes, that we will have to replace and remake or even move because it gets to small or a disaster takes place. Yet, people still choose to invest their whole life here on earth rather than invest their life on souls, to make sure that all know the good news of Jesus Christ. This world is broken we need HOPE, we need JESUS.
We know longer have to let the world lie to us that this is all there is.
We can live knowing without any doubt that in Christ we have all we need for now and eternity. The question is will we believe and walk in it or will we just believe it and not walk in it and continue to put our hope on was is wasting away.
TO CLOSE LET’S GO TO THE OLD TESTAMENT AND SEE WHAT THIS TRIBES INHERITANCE WAS.
In Deuteronomy 18 we see the Levitical priests. Now what was their role?
They offered the sacrifices to the Lord
They maintained the tabernacle and the Temple
They officiated in the Holy Place
The inspected ceremonially unclean persons and told them what to do to be clean
With all that responsibility, how the Lord provided for them for their daily needs was through the food offerings that would be brought to the temple by the people who brought their sacrifice of thanks to the Lord. With that being their daily provision, their inheritance was not land but the Lord Himself. It is even written that the Levites got the greater inheritance, God Himself.
If God Himself was the greater inheritance, why do we focus so much on having more here on earth, why do we not strive to lead people to desiring him alone above all else? Do we desire him above all else?
EZEKIEL 44:28-31
“This will be their inheritance: I am their inheritance. You are to give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. They will eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. Everything in Israel that is permanently dedicated to the Lord will belong to them. The best of all the firstfruits of every kind and contribution of every kind from all your gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest so that a blessing may rest on your homes. The priests may not eat any bird or animal that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts.”
Will we choose the LORD himself as our inheritance or will we continue to be disappointed by the world’s false hopes, but also why do we keep falling for their promises?
https://www.masters.edu/thinking_blog/what-it-means-to-be-blessed/#:~:text=This%2C%20too%2C%20is%20the%20basic,desires%20His%20children%20to%20live.
