REVISITING THE BELIEVER'S POSITIONAL RICHES IN CHRIST

Part XXVI: Applying The Truth That Believers Are God's Inheritance

 

I.               Introduction

A.    The rise of Marxism in society and the Church has caused many to promote the value of the collective and diminish that of the individual, for "(g)roup-think, collectivism and group consensus is now deliberately used in many mainline and 'evangelical' churches to emotionally manipulate church members to conform to the desired goals and philosophies of church leaders." (Brannon Howse, Religious Trojan Horse, 2012, p. 15-16)

B.    With this shift in value, one is readily tempted to view himself as insignificant in society, in the Church or even in one's own family, producing apathy or depression that can eventually lead even to suicide.

C.    One of the 33 positional truths the believer possesses when he trusts in Christ is that he is God's inheritance. (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. III, "Soteriology," p. 261)  Applying this truth reveals the great value of individual believers in God's eyes, motivating us Christians to abound in service for the Lord:

II.            Applying The Truth That Believers Are God's Inheritance.

A.    When Paul wrote his Epistle to the Ephesians, he arranged for its first three chapters to contain doctrine and the last three chapters the application of that doctrine to the Christian life.  For this reason, Dr. Ryrie titles the first three chapters in his outline of the letter as "The Position of Believers" and (roughly) the last three chapters as "The Practice of Believers." (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1672, "Outline of Ephesians")

B.    Paul shifted from doctrine to application at Ephesians 4:1, so in that verse, he implied he had written the first three chapters to spur his readers to walk worthy of the vocation to which God had called them.

C.    To appreciate what Paul thus implied was such an important, worthy vocation, we focus on just one of the doctrinal truths he taught in the first half of the epistle, what he revealed in Ephesians 1:18c (as follows):

1.      Paul noted that one highly motivating doctrine was that God the Father would inherit them:

                         a.        The fact that God the Father might "inherit" anything seems impossible to us as humans: after all, God made all things (Revelation 4:1-3, 8-11), so the claim that the Father would inherit us seems illogical!

                         b.        Nevertheless, the individual Christian is an entity God the Father inherits (Ephesians 1:18d), and entity of such VALUE to Him that the individual Christian is the only entity we are ever told in Scripture that God the Father inherits!

                         c.        Other Scriptures give us a glimpse as to why and how God the Father views the Christian as an object of great value that He will inherit (as follows):

                                       i.           In John 17:22, Romans 8:30 and Colossians 3:4, we Christians are said to be glorified in and with Christ, a reference to our being so justified and cleansed from sin and its effects that we will share in Christ's own heavenly glory in eternity, cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:14.

                                     ii.           Ephesians 1:4-6 reveals we Christians will not only lose our sin natures of this life at the rapture, but we will even have the sins of our past lives so eradicated by God's work at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:13-15) that we will be blameless, holy (separated from sin) and ensphered in love in God's heavenly presence, all to the glory of God's grace, His unmerited favor.

                                   iii.           This glory of God's grace will be so great that we believers in Christ will exist eternally as trophies of His grace and kindness to us, Ephesians 2:7.

                                   iv.           Thus, as Dr. Chafer wrote, "Each child of God will serve as a medium or material by which the Shekinah glory of God [God's glory revealed in Old Testament events] will be seen," Ibid., Chafer. 

                                     v.           Thus, like different facets of a large diamond each reflect a unique color or hue of light, we will each reflect a unique and individual hue of the glory of God.

2.      As each believer in Christ is a one-of-a-kind trophy of God's grace, each ought to be motivated to live as a one-of-a-kind trophy of God's unmerited favor!  Self-pity, apathy, depression, etc. should never be a part of our experience regardless of the levels of trial we face, for we should live worthy of our high calling!

 

Lesson: So much of God's unmerited favor has been invested in us believers in Christ that each of us is a one-of-a-kind eternal trophy of God's grace, with each of us being entities the Father is ever said in Scripture to inherit!

 

Application: (1) If we as believers are ever tempted to feel worthless as individuals, may we recall that God the Father inherits each individual believer as a one-of-a-kind trophy of His grace to him in Christ.  Armed with this truth, may we keep trusting and obeying the Lord, living up to the value of our high calling in Christ!  (2) May we also view each other as one-of-a-kind trophies of God's grace and thus relate to one another with respect!