We all like to receive an inheritance, although we are, of course, sad that the one who leaves it to us had to die in order for us to get it. However, most of us who have lived into middle life have learned that receiving an inheritance does not always go smoothly. The world has a saying, “You do not really know someone until you have to share an inheritance with them.” All too often families quarrel with one another as to who should get what, and hard feelings develop when some feel that they were short-changed in what they received. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, a man asked Him to persuade his brother to divide the inheritance with him (Luke 12:13). Also, sometimes there is less of an inheritance than the inheritor thought. I remember when my wife and I were named in a will, but when it came time to distribute the funds, the money that had been allotted to us had been spent by the individual, and there was nothing left (not that it mattered to us, as we were quite surprised even to be named in the will).
The Land Promised to Abraham
We read quite a bit about inheritance in the Word of God, and especially in the Old Testament. Israel was given an earthly inheritance, and much is said about how they possessed it, how the land was divided up, how they failed in living for God’s glory, and how they ultimately lost that inheritance. However, God has not given up His people, and in a coming day we know that He will bring them back into their land, not in unbelief, as they are doing today, but with a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 36:26). At that time, they will have the full inheritance that God promised to Abraham, and not merely part of it, as they had in the Old Testament. It will be a wonderful day for Israel when this happens and when God’s blessing will rest upon them during the millennium.
However, even in that wonderful day, they will not, in that sense, share the inheritance with Christ. Yes, the land is the Lord’s, and they will receive it from His hand in that day, but they will not share the inheritance in the same way as the church. We will speak more of this later, but for the moment let us look a little at what man has thought to do with Christ’s inheritance. In Matthew 21:33-44, Mark 7:1-11, and Luke 20:9-18, we have repeated three times over the parable concerning the vineyard that was let out to husbandmen. Clearly the owner of the vineyard is God the Father, and after sending out his servants a number of times to receive fruit from the vineyard, he finally sent his beloved son, who is obviously a type of the Lord Jesus. In all three cases the wicked servants said among themselves, “This is the heir: come, let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be ours.” With Satan’s power behind him, man has usurped God’s claim to this world and has disposed of it as if it were his own. But it is part of Christ’s inheritance, and one day the usurper will be taken away and Christ will be given His rightful place.
The “Master Usurper”
I say the usurper will be taken away, for while man has indeed tried to take the inheritance that belongs to Christ, Satan has been the “master usurper.” In the temptations in the wilderness, the Lord Jesus faced Satan on this very subject, and Satan dared to tempt the Lord Jesus by showing Him “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” (Luke 4:5). Then he said, “All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it” (vs. 6). His offer was, “If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine” (vs. 7). This approach had worked to some extent with every other human being since sin entered this world, for sinful man responds to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But here was One who did not have a sinful nature to respond to such temptations and who recognized the usurper when He saw him. Satan may use small things to tempt man, but if necessary can “up the ante” to all the kingdoms of this world, in order to manipulate sinful man. It is instructive that the Lord Jesus did not argue with Satan’s claim to the kingdoms of this world, for He was content to wait until the Father gave them to Him.
Further on in the New Testament we get the inheritance mentioned in connection with Christ and our part in it. Paul could commend the Ephesian saints “to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able ... to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Later, while standing before some Roman dignitaries, Paul told them how that he had been commissioned to tell the Gentiles, among other things, about the “inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me” (Acts 26:18).
The Inheritance Promised in the New Testament
What then is this inheritance of which Paul speaks? It is given to us in Revelation 21:7: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” The inheritance that Christ will have is not only this world, but all created things, for God has given everything into the hand of His beloved Son. But the wonderful thing is that He is going to share it all with us. The hymn expresses it well:
That love that gives, not as the world, but shares
All it possesses with its loved co-heirs.
Aspects of the Promised Inheritance
There are several things that Scripture brings before us about this wonderful inheritance. First of all, we are predestinated to it. The earthly inheritance for the nation of Israel and others with them is “from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34), but those who will be part of the church were “chosen ... in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). We “have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11).
Second, we have received the Holy Spirit as “the earnest of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14), and thus we have the complete assurance that God will fulfill His promise of giving us, with Christ, this inheritance.
Third, it is considered part of our reward, for we shall “receive the reward of the inheritance” (Col. 3:24). This was, no doubt, a special encouragement to slaves, who were told that even in their work for their masters, they served “the Lord Christ.”
Finally, we are reminded in Hebrews 9:15 that we receive the “promise of eternal inheritance.” Israel’s inheritance in the Old Testament was never spoken of as being eternal, and we know that through disobedience they lost that inheritance, at least temporarily. But we have an eternal inheritance, and we can never lose it.
In summing up, while we may dwell on various aspects of our inheritance, and rightfully so, yet the most wonderful aspect of it is that our Lord and Savior inherits it all, yet shares it all with us, as His bride. We have no claim on that inheritance in our own right, but our blessed Savior, who loves us and died for us, has secured it for us and is pleased to share it all with us. All heavenly and earthly creation is to be put under Christ and under those who are united to Him. Do we realize this and live in the joy and anticipation of it? Yet there is something even more precious in it all, as another has said, “Even more blessed than coming glory will be the celebration of the grace that brought us there.”
W. J. Prost