Joint Heirs With Jesus

Introduction

The multi-millionaire and business Tycoon Donald Trump married Marla Maples in 1998. After about two years of marriage, they divorced. Their little daughter will inherit from her Dad several million dollars when she becomes 21 years of age, and of course, she gets plenty of money from her father before she becomes "of age."

When we take a look at the text in Romans 8:17 we know that we are gazing into the fathomless mysteries and grandeur of our inheritance in Christ. Look at this verse briefly. Let’s read or listen to what Paul writes one more time and then look at the words more closely. We are Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Jesus. What does this verse say?

We are introduced to our incredible inheritance. Again, here is a question: What does being an heir of God and joint heir with Christ mean to us. The verse teaches that we inherit who and what God is. Jesus has become one like us in order to link us to God’s wealth and glory. Look at some reminders of the quality of inheritance that is ours.

I. We Inherit God’s Holiness

As the heirs of God we inherit God’s holiness. God is a holy God. And we become His children and know spiritual kinship with Him. God’s holiness is His purity, His sanctity, His perfection. That’s our inheritance.

We remember the story of Isaiah who entered into God’s temple in the year that king Uzziah died. When that prophet moved into that sacred house, he declared that he "saw the Lord high and lifted up and all His train filled the temple." Then he heard the heavenly beings saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty." God is holy.

Jesus came to reveal God for He was God in human flesh. Jesus had no sin. He was born without sin. He never committed a sinful deed. At his trial, Pilate said, "I find no fault in Him." Neither can anyone else find and trace of evil in Jesus.

God wants us to be holy. In the book of Leviticus the Lord said various times, "Be ye holy, for I am holy saith the Lord." We are holy people of God. We are saints. Paul said in Ephesians 5:27 that Jesus loved His people, the Church, and gave Himself for us. He makes us "holy and spotless" the Ephesians text says. We are to be careful to maintain our heritage of holiness. This is our heritage.

II. We Inherit God’s Glory

We inherit God’s glory. Something of the glory of the Lord now belongs to each of us as God’s people. The passage in Isaiah 6:3 states, "The whole earth is full of His glory." God’s glory is His brilliance, His splendor, His grandeur, His Presence, His kingly nature as the Lord of the universe. Something of that glory now belongs to every believer.

The story of the transfiguration of Jesus is given in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9. We remember that story. Jesus had gone up into that mountain with Peter, James, and John. The other apostles stayed at the foot of the mountain where a multitude gathered. Jesus talked with God. Meanwhile, the three closest associates of Jesus fell asleep. When they awakened (Luke 9:32), they saw Moses and Elijah with Jesus who was "transfigured before them." The disciples recognized Moses and Elijah in their glorified state and they where overwhelmed with the glory of Jesus. That "outshining" of the glory of Jesus is something which we will share with Him one day.

We have studied the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17. In that prayer Jesus prayed and said to His Father in Heaven, "And now, O Father, glorify me with the glory I had with the (a face to face, or like-kind of glory) before the world was." The Apostle John saw Jesus on the Isle of Patmos. John was 90 years of age. He fell at the feet of Jesus as he saw Him in his glory. Paul was blinded by that glory of the risen Christ who appeared to him on the Damascus road. Again, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared again and again in His glorified body.

That’s our inheritance, too. We’re going to be like that immortal Savior. And even if today "the outward man perish, we are renewed" and we share that glory in its initial state. Let’s remember that we’re going to have the glory of the Lord all over our entire being one day.

III. We Inherit God’s Wisdom

We inherit the wisdom of the Lord. In Luke 2:52 we read that "Jesus grew in wisdom." He knows all things in His glorified, heavenly state. He knew so much in His earthly ministry that people felt astounded in His presence. Jesus said to Nathanael, "Before you saw me, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you…"

Jesus said to the disciples who came to Him about a tax problem, "Go out to the sea, cast in a hook and you will pull out a fish. Look in the mouth of the fish and you’ll find a gold coin. Go then and pay our taxes with that gold piece." Jesus said to Simon Peter who boasted that he would never forsake Jesus, "Before the rooster crows three times, you are going to deny me two times."

Paul wrote in Colossians 2:3 that, "In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." You want to know where the source of wisdom really lies today? It’s not in the universities and academic circles. All wisdom is houses in Christ! He’s the storehouse. Romans 11:33 states, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unreachable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out."

God is omniscient. He knows everything. We inherit even now something of the wisdom of God. We’re going to be vastly more intelligent in the future ages because we do inherit the wisdom of the Lord. We can never be "god" nor "gods," but we do have the assurance of a great heritage of wisdom and knowledge.

IV. We Inherit God’s Compassion

We inherit something of God’s compassion. The Lord wants us to demonstrate something of that kindness and compassion today. Ephesians 4:32 states, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you."

President Abraham Lincoln had a visitor to call upon him one day when he was not at home. His son, Todd, said to the man, "You can go down to the railroad station and you’ll find my dad." The man said to Lincoln’s son that he had never seen the President and didn’t know who he might be. The son said, "Just look for a man who is going around helping someone and that’s going to be my dad." We are to be this kind of people. That’s how Jesus revealed God. We inherit this potential, too.

V. We Inherit God’s Power

We inherit something of God’s power. The future glory of God’s people is going to be astounding. 1 Corinthians 15:43 states, "The body is sown in weakness, it is raised in power." We come to the end of life’s journey because our strength fades away. But we’re to be raised with power, like unto the power of Jesus after the resurrection.

How strong is God? Jeremiah states, "There is nothing impossible with God." When the Lord promised Abraham and Sarah a child in their old age, Sarah laughed. God responded, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" He can do all things! And God says we are to inherit some of His power.

VI. We Inherit God’s Immortality

We inherit God’s immortality. A verse that Paul wrote to Timothy states, "Unto the King immortal, invisible, eternal" (1 Tim. 1:17). How long is eternity? How long does "unto the ages of the ages" last? The immortal, invisible, eternal Lord lives forever. We inherit that from God. We’re going to live forever.

What a life we have before us! We’re never going to die. Billions of years ago the Lord brought the universe into existence. Multiply that billions of years of life by billions of years of life and we still are going to be having life with the Lord of the universe. Time will be no more. We enter that eternal age. We inherit eternity.

Conclusion

The heir-ship route has demands. We are the heirs of God. The heir-ship route is not an easy one. We need to understand what’s involved if we are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ."

One must become a child of God if one is to be an heir of God. That’s what the text says, "Then if children, then heirs." We must become God’s sons and daughters, His people if we want to inherit that which God has. That route of becoming a child of God is open for all of us. We accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as Savior. That’s what John 1:12 states. Look carefully at that verse and the previous verse and the one that follows. We must be born again. We become God’s children to be His heirs.

One must submit to God’s rule if one is to be an heir of God. Romans 8:14 states, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God." God’s Holy Spirit wants to direct and control our lives. We yield to God’s sovereign will in life as a proof that we belong to Him. Our following the Holy Spirit shows that we belong to God.

One who is an heir of God is ready to suffer with Christ. The text states, "If so be that we suffer with Him that we may be also glorified together." Jesus didn’t get through life "on a bed of roses." He suffered. We must be ready for that route, too. We follow Him whatever the cost. This shows that we do in fact belong to the Lord.

One episode in Pilgrim’s Progress shows Christian or Pilgrim as he left the City of Destruction on his way to the Celestial City. His traveling companion was Pliable. They came to the "Slough of Despond." They both fell in. Pliable began to complain, saying that if that’s the way to go to the Celestial City, then he was not going! He climbed out of the dirty, swampy water and returned to the City of Destruction. Pilgrim climbed out on the other side and continued on his way toward the Celestial City. He was ready to meet any difficulties and sufferings in the way as he continued on his journey.

We are heirs of God as we come to faith in Jesus. God has a tremendous heritage for us. We need to have our eyes opened to the riches of God’s wealth for us. The ones who have not received Jesus need to confess Him, receive Him, and declare their loyalty and obedience to Him. Let’s not miss out on the heritage that God provides through His Son!