God Has An Inheritance

Uplook – January 2009 – Grace & Truth Magazine

God Has An Inheritance

“Making mention of you in my prayers ... that ye may know ... the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” Ephesians 1:18 KJV

This verse tells us that the all-sufficient God has an inheritance. And this is not the only Scripture that mentions it, as Deuteronomy and Psalms do as well. What an amazing truth! Man’s wildest imagination could never conceive of God having an inheritance. Let’s consider the following questions: What is God’s inheritance? How did He secure it? When did He secure it? How does He speak about it? How much does He treasure it? How can we possibly enrich God?

What Is God’s Inheritance?
Ephesians 1:18 answers this question: God’s inheritance is His people. This world is not His inheritance, as it is evil, has Satan as its prince, and one day will go up in smoke. And heaven, with all its glory, is not His inheritance; while God calls the angels His “ministers” (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:4), He never calls them His “inheritance.” Only His saints, the trophies of His grace, are His inheritance.

“For the LORD’s portion is His people ... His inheritance ... the apple of His eye” (Dt. 32:9-10). “Blessed is ... the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance” (Ps. 33:12). “For the LORD will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance” (Ps. 94:14). We are His inheritance.

How Did God Secure His Inheritance?
God obtained His inheritance in the same way man does, through the death of a testator, in this case His beloved Son. Thus we read of “the Church of God which He has purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). This verse does not say that Christ purchased the Church with His own blood. Nor does it speak of the blood of the Father. The Greek in this verse reads “by the blood of His own” – that is, His own Son. Since Christ is “God manifest in the flesh,” then it is appropriate to speak of “the Church of God purchased with His own blood.”

When Did God Secure His Inheritance?
This question can be answered in two ways. First, in eternity past God purposed to have such an inheritance (Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11; 3:11; 2 Tim. 1:9). God’s eternal purpose is His determination concerning the future. God’s decrees were made before time began and are executed in time. Nothing takes place in time except what God had decreed before the universe was called into existence. In Romans 8:28-30 we read about certain individuals whom God fore- knew, predestinated, called, justified and glorified. These persons constitute God’s inheritance. They are not an afterthought, but were in His mind when He decreed all things in eternity. Before the world’s foundation God set His heart on having the saints for Himself. The second way to answer this question is that God secured His inheritance when He sent His Son to save man from spiritual death. God not only redeemed us from bondage and death, but also for Himself.

How Does God Speak About His Inheritance?
The Scriptures tell us what God thinks of His inheritance. It is amazing that He picks poor sinners to be saved by His grace, makes us His inheritance and says such wonderful things about us: “You shall be My own possession among all the peoples” (Ex. 19:5-6). In Isaiah God calls them “My chosen people,” and also refers to them as “a crown of beauty ... and a royal diadem in the hand of your God” (Isa. 43:20; 62:3). Zephaniah affirms that God’s people are His joy: “The LORD your God ... He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy” (Zeph. 3:17). Why does He find His joy in poor lost sinners saved by His grace? Nothing in sinners brings joy to God’s heart, but saved sinners are “in Christ” and it is this union which makes them His joy. Malachi adds to the list of what God utters about His inheritance: “They shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels” (Mal. 3:17).

In a parable in Matthew 13, our Lord speaks well of His saints and His inheritance: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Mt. 13:45-46). That merchant is a picture of Jesus Christ who through His death redeemed those who believe on Him and become His “goodly pearls.” The “pearl of great price” is the Church for whom Christ “sold all that He had” – that is, gave His life. God owns the entire universe, but His most precious possession is the pearl of great price, the Church. When we put real faith in Christ, His own merits are communicated to our account. The "unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8) become ours and His eternal glory is lavished upon us.

Peter says four interesting things about God’s people: “Ye are a chosen generation, an holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9). First, God’s people are a “chosen generation.” In the Scriptures there are two elect groups of people – the nation of Israel, and the Church. The Lord Jesus said of His disciples, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (Jn. 15:16). We say that we have come to Christ, but He says that He has chosen us. Second, the saints are “a royal priesthood.” Christ has “washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests” (Rev. 1:5-6). In the Old Testament God chose His priests from the nation of Israel. Today every believer is a priest. Third, unholy people become “an holy nation” when they trust Christ as their Savior, because Christ is their righteousness. Fourth, the saints are “a peculiar people” – a people of His own.

How Can We Possibly Enrich God?
An inheritance makes the heir rich. How can the God of everything become richer because of our faith, love and worship? Doesn’t He have everything? Is He not all-sufficient? In one sense He is, yet in another sense, there is something He needs – vessels to fill. Just as the sun needs the earth on which to shine, so God needs vessels to bear His glory and His love to the world.

God Will Never Forsake His Inheritance
This assurance is found in many scriptures: “For the LORD will not cast off His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance” (Ps. 94:14). God is faithful to His people until the end and will not cast them away (Rom. 11:1-2). “The LORD thy God is a merciful God; He will never forsake thee” (Dt. 4:31). “For the LORD will not forsake His people ... because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people" (I Sam. 12:22). “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). God’s inheritance is His people. Are you among them?

By Maurice Bassali