Watch as Ray David opens Romans 8:12-17, and shows us our breathtaking inheritance in Christ.
One of the Greatest Promises
Romans 8:17 is one of the greatest promises in all of scripture.
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:16-17
We are no longer slaves, we are adopted children and heirs of God.
Forgiven and Restored
Jesus did not only die to forgive your sins. The forgiveness of your sins, was for a purpose. Jesus didn’t just die to forgive your sins – He died to bring you back to God. He died to change and restore your place in the cosmic order. He took you from being a slave to sin and self, fully estranged from God, and restored you to your rightful place, restored to His family, right along side His Son Jesus.
What is Your Inheritance?
If you are an heir of God, along with Christ, then what is your inheritance?
First of all, whatever it is, the promise is that it will be so great that it will make the pains and struggles of this life seem worthwhile. The struggles of this life will not be worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us. The sufferings of this life pale in comparison to the inheritance that is ours as heirs. The Apostle Paul says that as a child of God, we can endure anything because of our inheritance.
A Breathtaking Inheritance
What is your inheritance as an heir and child of God? Everything – the world and everything in it. We are heirs according to the promises made to Abraham. We will inherit the World. We can give everything away now, knowing we will get it back in the end. When something precious is taken from us, we can know that one day it will be restored. Everything that God has made is our inheritance. Psalm 24 says that, “The Earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof; the world and those who dwell therein.” What does God give to you as your inheritance? Everything, because the Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. It’s all yours. It’s a breathtaking claim and if you believe it, everything will change.
Nothing is Wasted
The scope that belongs to God is limitless. Every thing, every moment, every good thing, every bad thing – it all belongs to Him and serves His purpose. None of it is wasted. Even the suffering you experience is under God’s fatherly care.
In the moment when you receive your inheritance, and all things are restored to your possession, these possessions will be restored to their original purpose. Everything in the world will make you glory in the goodness of the Father.
Too Good to be True?
God has given you everything and, more importantly, He has given you Himself. But the problem is that this seems too good to be true. It can be hard to accept, especially when you are in living in the crucible of suffering. But Paul, the writer of Romans, was shipwrecked, flogged, and beaten – right in the center of God’s will.
How Can We Be Sure?
How can we be sure and believe that we are a child and heir of God? How can we be sure that the inheritance is ours?
God has given us the Holy Spirit, so that we will no longer be led into fear, but instead, we will be led into concluding that we are children of God. The Holy Spirit is at work in your life right now, bearing witness to the courtroom of your soul that you are a child and heir of God.
The Spirit Changes Your Desires
The Spirit is leading you in two ways. The first is by leading you to kill the sin in your life. Leading you to hate it. If you grieve the sin in your life, if you hate it, then that is the work of the Spirit in your life changing your desires. He is prompting you to turn away from the sin in your life and to destroy it – not so that you try harder to be a better Christian, but because the Spirit is at work in you and is showing you that those things you used to love lead to death and destruction. If you hate the sin in your life, and day-by-day, the Spirit of God is putting to death the deeds of your body and changing the way that you see and deal with sin, then Paul says that this is the first piece of evidence that you are a child of God and heir along with Christ.
Love Over Fear
Real change in your life doesn’t come out of fear and insecurity – it comes out of the realization that you have been adopted into the family of God. It’s love that changes, not fear. The Spirit of God at work in you causes you to hate anything that comes between you and your Father.
Crying Out to Your Father
The second piece of evidence of your sonship is that the Spirit leads you to cry out, “Abba Father.” He reveals your desperate need for a good Father. He causes you to cry out for your Loving Father. This is not a posture of self-sufficiency, capability, and strength. Christians realize their dependance on their Heavenly Father.
When you are faced with tragedy and loss, remember that God hasn’t given you a spirit of slavery leading to fear, but a Spirit of adoption. You are a child of God and everything that He has is yours.
