God Made Christians His Inheritance - 09/01/2024

As Paul continues his praise to God for the things God has done for the universal church, Paul mentions that God made Christians His heritage. Christians are the “things” which God has created that in a figure of speech are His “property,” His inheritance that will be “passed on” to the next generation (Ephesians 1:11, 12).

When one considers the word “inheritance,” it is most often thought of as being the money or property or both which an individual receives after another person has died. Another word for inheritance is the word “heritage,” which is usually used to denote something of value that is passed down from previous generations. The point being is the “inheritance” is the “what” that is being passed down.

An “inheritance” is the result of a life-long accumulation of assets. In our Ephesians passage, it is the result of God’s purpose which He devised before the foundation of the world and worked out “after the counsel of His will.” It is the collection of all the members of the church, from all time, who would bring about praise to God’s glory.

Some might think of this verse as Christians obtaining heaven. The word used in the passage is present tense, something that is current. Paul says he was among “the first to hope in Christ [resulting in] the praise of [God’s] glory.” Those who have their “hope in Christ” are Christians. Therefore, this inheritance is something in existence today and not something to be “obtained” in the future.

As Christians think about being the “inheritance” of God, the “assets” or “property” that God is acquiring through time, it should cause us to act with a certain mindset. Having the attitude that as members of this church we are the result of God’s predetermined, prehistoric plan; we are not an “afterthought.” Christians are the result of God’s counsel, His plan of action. Human beings had nothing to do with this plan, which God has executed because they were not in existence when God “predestined” this “inheritance.”

It should be considered by Christians an honor to be part of this group of people called the church. It is something special because it is the result of all of God’s efforts to bring this church into existence. Everything from the beginning of time to the coming of Christ, as recorded in the Old Testament, was for the purpose of bringing this inheritance into existence.

What is so marvelous about this inheritance is that it is growing daily. God is adding to this “inheritance” as people are changing their lives to become Christians. As part of this inheritance, we should constantly be living God’s way. - cgm

Scriptural quotations from the NASB1995.