Unshaken | Be the Man God Made You to Be: Your Identity in ChristSample

Day 5: You are Called to Live as Heirs

In Day 4, we reflected on our new status before God as His children, as His sons. We discussed how sin creates separation, but Jesus has brought us into this new relationship. The story would be already remarkable if it ended there. However, God, being eternal, created us for eternity.

The story of the prodigal son teaches us about the older son's dissatisfaction with his brother's return celebration. The father reassures him, saying, "Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours." This story also highlights another form of lostness, where we, as sons, sometimes fail to appreciate all that our sonship entails.

The Apostle Paul in Galatians 4 teaches that God sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts, and the Spirit cries out on our behalf, "Abba, Father." He explains that we are no longer slaves to those forces that are, by nature, not gods. And since we are His children, God has made us heirs as well.

Let’s reflect based on scripture what it means to be an heir. According to Ephesians 1:11-14, we inherit spiritual blessings for eternity: "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, so that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory."

Life on this earth is temporary and merely a glimpse of what eternity in God's presence will be. The Holy Spirit within us serves as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. Doesn't that promise give you confidence? There is nothing you can do to lose this privilege because, after placing your trust in the sacrifice of Jesus, the Spirit itself intercedes for you before the Father. All of this is to the praise of His glory!

Here is another confirmation of this promise in 1 Peter 1. The Bible tells us that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, God has given us a new birth into a living hope and an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for us, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Thus, the promise remains that, although we are still here on earth with all its imperfections, we stand anew before God, awaiting the day when we will see His face and enter into eternal life with Him. But Jesus also said that since His coming, the Kingdom of God is at hand—it is also here now for us who believe.

Yes, this life may be challenging at times, even for us as believers, but we have a hope that nothing and nobody can take away from us—the day of redemption as God intended it to be. According to the Bible, in Revelation 21, on that day He will wipe away every tear; there will be no more death, no more separation, no more mourning, crying, or pain, for the former things will have passed away. There will no longer be a need to guard ourselves and isolate ourselves because everything that causes fear and hurt will be gone.