God’s Promise to Us that We are Joint-Heirs with Christ

Way to Success

‍ ‍In the past few posts, we have seen how God fulfilled his promise to Abraham concerning his descendants and the birthright blessings that came with it, and he did so in ways that the Israelites could never have even imagined or conceived. The same is true for us as well. God sent Jesus Christ as the Promised One and has allowed us to become joint heirs with him. The fulfillment of this promise will likely be just as mind blowing to us as God’s promise to ancient Israel was to them.

‍ ‍Paul tells us in Romans 8:17, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” How did he make this possible? By having Jesus Christ fulfill prophecy that yielded this offer to us which was part of his plan all along.

‍ ‍Jesus, the second part of the Godhead, was made to be God’s son by being born of the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary (Mt 2:18) which made him 100% God and 100% man. This was vital to fulfilling God’s plan and provided the necessary means by which mankind could be restored into a right relationship with God.

‍ ‍To begin his ministry, Jesus allowed himself to be baptized by his forerunner John and became baptized not only with water but with the Holy Spirit (Jn 1:32-34) who would be with him throughout his ministry. This set the standard for us needing the Holy Spirit to guide us as we walk and serve Him after we accept him as our Savior.

‍ ‍And what did he do that we need to accept? He became the sacrifice of atonement that the Mosaic Law stated was needed for mankind to have a right relationship with God. Yet, his death became a once-for-all sacrifice as the writer of Hebrews tells us (Hb 10:10). Only he could perform such a feat because he was 100% man to identify with our fleshly nature but was also 100% God so his blood could atone for all of mankind. He took on our sin so that his blood cleanses us; God is then able to declare us righteous (Ro 5:1-11). This is the only way that we will one day be able to stand before a holy God.

‍ ‍But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus not only died for our sins but was raised as the firstfruit of the resurrection (1Co 15:20) which gives us hope for our eternal future (1Co 15:22). Because he rose and conquered death and Sheol, we can know that one day, we too will be resurrected to an eternal life with him and be joint heirs with him to receive the same blessings which God has bestowed on him (Ro 8:17).

‍ ‍Christ then ascended back to heaven to be at God’s right hand and be our mediator, our intercessor, our High Priest (Hb 7:24-25), because he knows we are still not perfect even if we have accepted his work on the cross for our sin and the hope of a future with him because of his resurrection. As humans, we still sin, but he is willing and able to forgive us our sins as we confess them to him (1Jn 1:9). Satan, Lucifer, our Adversary, is still against us to try and make us an ineffective as possible (1Pt 5:8). Yet, Christ stated that he in us is able to deflect Satan’s hold on us and make us more than conquerors (Ro 8:37).

‍ ‍Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, never to be separated from him ever again (Jn 10:28). We can know this is true because Paul tells us in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

‍ ‍We then become grafted into God’s eternal plan which he originally established for the nation of Israel; but because of our faith in him, we are now a part of that same plan and blessing (Ro 11:17-20). Paul tells it this way in Ephesians 3:6, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” This is such an awesome promise which we can’t even begin to comprehend.

‍ ‍The Holy Spirit then begins to help us grow and mature in Christ producing what Paul calls The Fruit of the Spirit (Ga 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) which are characteristics that conform us to be more like the character of Christ and make us effective in the lives of others and be that light which cannot be hidden to allow others to see and recognize who Jesus Christ truly is.

‍ ‍This will eventually lead to the knowledge of God being throughout the world. Habakkuk 2:14 says it this way, “For the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Christ tells us in Matthew 24 that this will be before the end (Mt 24:14). So, what will this look like and how will it occur? Well, just as we saw with Jacob and with the nation of Israel, we cannot comprehend how God will accomplish his plan. What we can know is that if he says it, it will happen, will happen in ways that we likely cannot even fathom, and to be a part of it, we need to relinquish our preset expectations and let God be God, and we his instruments.

‍ ‍Then, one day, we, his bride, will be united with him forever. John stated the following in Revelation 19:7, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” So, that is our job today: to get ready. Are you ready? Do we have preconceived ideas as to how he is going to achieve his plan? That did not work out well for Jacob and he had to be humbled to understand how God wanted to use him, or for the nation of Israel who had to undergo much suffering for being disobedient so they could once again be used in God’s plan, or for the Jewish leaders who though they knew how their Messiah was to come upon the scene. God’s timing can be long or short, but it is always sure. We can’t go by how things may look, because as we saw with the Exodus, they got much worse for the Israelites before they got better (Ex 5:6-14), but their “better” occurred almost overnight and they experienced miracles that were unfathomable to them. Are you ready for the same?

‍ ‍Let’s not put God in a box but allow him to be the God of the Bible: free to do anything that he can conceive – not anything we can conceive. Our comprehension of God is too confining for him. We need to be ready to have our minds blown by what he will do for us and through us, even if things look like they are getting worse. We are asked to walk by faith and not by sight (2Co 5:7). Just remember, as the saying goes: it is always darkest before the dawn. Then dawn comes, and it comes quickly. So, all I can say is, “Let’s get ready!”

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