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LifeLink Devotional

Friday, July 16, 2021

Wednesday was the one year anniversary of my dad’s transfer to heaven. It was a hard day for me as I recalled the moment of his passing into the presence of Jesus. I tried to play golf with my friends, but I wasn’t in much of a mood to be relational. And, as circumstances dictated, I ended up riding in a cart all by myself for the entire round, sentencing me my own thoughts. I’m sure the men I played with wondered what was wrong.

When my dad died, I served as the executor of his estate. As an heir I received my share of what was left after all the bills were paid. I did not receive everything my dad ever had. I received only a portion of what was left.

As I thought about that, I realized the infinite difference between an earthy inheritance and our heavenly one.  As a son of God through faith in Jesus Christ, I am an heir of everything God has. It will not be divided. Have you ever thought about that? Everything that God has prepared in heaven is mine and yours. We don’t share it. We each get all of it. That boggles my mind.

The other astounding truth is that we already possess our inheritance. Now if you are thinking only in terms of material things this will not apply to you. But when we consider the spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus, we already possess everything the Father has promised us as our inheritance.

In earthly families, an inheritance may be promised to the children, but until they reach a certain age they have no access to it. But when we were justified by faith we were given the standing of a child of God. At the same time, we were adopted into the family of God. Here’s how the Apostle Paul puts it in Galatians.

“But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Galatians 3:25-26)

“…to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”(Galatians 4:5-7)

The Greek word for “son” in these verses is not the word for child, but the word for adult son. At the moment of our salvation, being declared righteous as children of God, we are also declared heirs as adults. That’s the doctrine of adoption. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing from on high. (Ephesians 1:3)

I was grateful to receive what I did from my dad’s inheritance. He worked hard to make sure I would get something. But I am overwhelmed with the thought that in Christ I inherit everything that God has prepared for all of us. And I already possess most of it.

So do you.

Pastor John