27. Thanks for the Inheritance

We inherit God’s vast kingdom, and in return, He inherits us.

Ephesians 1:11a (ESV) In him we have obtained an inheritance, 

What an amazing Father we have. When we receive Jesus, the Father forgives us, makes us members of His family and gives us His kingdom as an inheritance.  We can only imagine the splendour and glory of this inheritance that will be ours for eternity. 

There is, however, another side to this story. Not only do we inherit God’s vast kingdom, but, in Ephesians chapter one, Paul says that we are God’s inheritance.   

Ephesians 1:18 (ESV) having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that  you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are  the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,  

In this verse, Paul prays that we might understand the riches of God’s inheritance, not for us but in us. While we inherit God’s kingdom, He inherits us. 

My dad died some time ago. He was a wonderful, loving man, and I could not have wished for a better dad. A few years before he passed away, he sold the family home and moved, with mum, into a retirement village. This meant he had to downsize, and in sorting out what to keep, sell or give away, he called into my place with a small bag containing some wire puzzles. As a boy, living at home,  I had loved playing with these pieces of enmeshed wire. I had spent hours learning how to separate and put back together these impossibly entangled objects. Dad knew how much I had enjoyed them and so wanted to pass them on to me. Unfortunately, I inherited his twisted sense of humour. So as he gave them to me, I said, “Wow, Dad, thanks for the inheritance”. He appreciated the joke, and we had a laugh. 

When we talk about God inheriting us, we can feel we are like this bag of puzzles.  What value could He possibly see in us? We inherit God’s vast kingdom, and in return, He inherits us. Nothing more than a bag of wire puzzles! Becoming a parent myself, however, has changed my perspective on this radically. One day, my children will inherit everything that my wife and I possess. (One of them might even get the puzzles.) But there is something in the relationship they don’t fully understand. As much as they will receive our material possessions, right now, we inherit them. And they are of immeasurably more value to us than all of our assets combined. Our possessions are nothing compared to the love and joy we experience in having them as our children. If it were necessary, we would gladly trade all that we own, multiple times over,  to have them.  

This is what the Bible means when it says that we are God’s inheritance. As His sons and daughters, we are of more value to Him than the rest of His kingdom combined! We inherit His kingdom, but He inherits us. To get a glimpse of how much He values us, we only need to look at the price He paid to make us members of His family. The life of Jesus, His Son. Who not only died for us but took on our nature for eternity. 

Who are we that the Father should place such value on us?  

We put so little value on ourselves. We can see ourselves as barely more than a bag of wire puzzles. But nothing could be further from the truth. 

Like Paul, I pray that you might understand more fully the riches of the Father’s inheritance in you. 

Further reading: 1 Pet 1:3-4; 2:9-10; Deut 32:9

We are of more value to God than we can imagine.

You are of immeasurable value to the Father. 
Spend a moment today asking Him to show you a little more of how much He values and loves you as His priceless inheritance.

This is an extract from my free book Knowing God as Father, which is available for download at Knowing God as Father.