“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” – Genesis 12: 2-3*
“And if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” –Galatians 3:29*
Can you imagine being the son or daughter of a very filthy rich Father? On the natural, I wish I had a billionaire Dad who could pay all my rent, bills, loans, and food expenses without flinching. Nevertheless, I do not, but I still love my Dad. Well as a Christian, I do not have to imagine. Believers in Christ know or should know that in Christ, we inherit all that our Heavenly Father has for us. How is it so? Let us look at the story of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham.
Father Abraham received a promise from God that really blew this 100-year-old man’s mind away! He and his 90-year-old wife Sarah would get a baby boy and he would be heir of all that his father owned. With a little faith, Abraham received his promise: Isaac (Genesis 17-21). Because Abraham put his trust in God, his faith was credited to him for righteousness, meaning he really was in cahoots with God! If we believe God for who He is, we get in cahoots with Him and we become spiritual children of Abraham.
Now if we fast forward to the New Testament, Paul the apostle writes a letter to the churches of Galatia to deal with the issue of legalism. Dr. Paul sees a ‘cancer’ of spiritual bondage in the local body that really needed to be cut out with the sword of the Spirit- the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). He reminds the Galatians that through faith in Christ the Son of God we are ‘heirs’ of the Father. The promise we have is the Holy Spirit, the Empowering Presence of God who is the Strength to live whole, holy lives. When Christ redeemed us from under the law, we received the Holy Spirit whereby we cry ‘Abba, Father’ (Romans 8:16, 17; Galatians 4:6).
Legalism is trying to live by God’s holy standards without the mediation of grace in order to receive God’s approval. Trying to live like this is what Paul calls ‘the yoke of bondage’ (Galatians 5:1). It results in frustration, anger, anxiety, and depression. One of the most terrible feelings to experience is not feeling we can ever please God in what we do…. but we don’t have to live in that bondage! Through our faith in Christ, the Father bestows His everlasting, unconditional love upon us and gave us liberty to live for Him by the empowering presence of his Spirit. We have acceptance without performance in Christ! Know that with liberty comes responsibility. Paul warns the brethren and sisters not to use their liberty as an occasion to the flesh, or our carnal nature (Galatians 5:13). We have liberty to live the fullness of life, to worship God in our lifestyle. We please God through trusting Him (Hebrews 6:11) and knowing that He is the One who justifies us as children of God and no one else; as Paul ask the Romans, “Who can lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” (Romans 8:33).
Being a child of the King has its unbelievable, mind boggling, countless benefits. The righteous never lack. We have access to the Richest Being in existence- Jehovah-Jireh, the God-who-provides Himself. When we have a need like food to fill our mini-fridges, or need money for books, or paying a cell phone bill (smile), we need to encourages ourselves in God. I am reminded of the words of Paul, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). When you feel down and lonely, your professor is getting on your nerves, and/or your life is so stressful that you feel like your going to ‘freak out’, call on the Lord Jesus because in his presence is the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).
All the benefits of peace, joy, comfort, love, patience, meekness, self-control, and righteousness and many others come from being in a right-standing relationship with the living God. I encourage all believers on this campus and around the world to walk in the newness of life and be led by the Spirit fully submitted to the lordship of Christ to the glory of God the Father. This Triune God wants to and is willing to give to you His entire kingdom as an inheritance to them that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I say to you in the words of Gospel artist Donald Lawrence, “Get your inheritance!” Be blessed.
Jason Oliver Evans is a sophomore majoring in Speech Communication with a Broadcasting Option. He is President of Bible Campus Ministries. He can be reached at joevans@marauder.millersville.edu.
* All Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King James Version, copyrighted © 2003 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. unless otherwise noted.
