To inherit is to receive an irrevocable gift, a legacy bestowed. In Christ, our spiritual inheritance is both a present, living hope we participate in now and a future possession. Peter tells us that our inheritance, reserved for us, is imperishable, undefiled and unfading (1 Pet. 1:4). We are written in His irrevocable will - what a promise! We have an inheritance in Him that can’t be corrupted, can’t erode, can’t be tarnished in any way. “No higher position or greater wealth can an individual acquire than to become an heir of God through faith in Christ” (William E. Brown).
We have been adopted into God’s family as His children, and now He has “qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:12). This is sheer gift! We cannot qualify ourselves. Only by the death of Jesus do we have entrance into this kingdom and this inheritance which doesn’t change or fade away. He has raised us up and given us a “seat of honor as an inheritance” (1Sam. 2:8). How wonderful to meditate on the truth that, as His beloved children, we have been given “an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Act. 20:32).
How He wants to open our eyes to see “the riches of the glory of His inheritance” in us, He beloved ones (Eph. 1:18). He has already given us the first installment of our inheritance by sealing us with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14). “This sealing of the Spirit produces, in every man that possesses it, a new nature, whereby he is marked, or declared to be, the son of God” (Benson Commentary). We have been given His Spirit, marked eternally as His heirs.
From the Lord we “will receive the reward of the inheritance” (Col. 3:24). He Himself is our very great reward, our inheritance. Considering this, all the more reason to gird our minds and fix our hope on Him (1 Per. 1:13), all the more reason to overcome that we might “inherit these things” (Rev. 21:7). Then we will hear the Lord say: “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34).
