The Privilege of God's Children

N. Hunter Strength

2 November 2022

Beacon Youth Group

Introduction:

A few years ago I was watching a football game. I believe it may have been the Super Bowl or a National Championship. Anyway, after the game one of the reporters runs up to one of the star players and asks him, “After all of the hardships you’ve faced; the injuries, the long days, the hard work and the sets backs; what is it that kept you going on this time to get where you’re standing right now?” And one thing that stood out to me that I still remember was when he said, “I just knew that I was destined for greatness.” Now, while he certainly could have been wrong, that sense of hope in his mind kept him fighting all those years to finally achieve that goal of winning on the big stage. And this sense of confidence and hope in the face of hardships is something that I want us to grab ahold of here today. Not that we are meant to live our best lives now, but that we are destined for something great and that is our eternal inheritance.

So, if you have ever thought to yourself, “Is this Christian life even worth it?” or if you are feeling beat down, tired, or maybe you are simply needing an extra boost to lift your head in your Chrisitan walk, this passage is for you. Because it is here that we will find three things that will lift your head even in the presence of hardships.

We Are Included In Greatness

For most of her childhood, Amy Thompson and her family lived in poverty, depending on food pantries, public assistance, and expired food. Her mom was sick, and Amy and her siblings had to do a lot more for the family than most children do. When she grew up, got a college education, a good job, and a happy family, she thought she would feel satisfied. When she wasn’t, she was confronted with the truth that we were not made to be satisfied with a fallen and broken world. You see, we will always hunger for more, and because this is true, we are called to lift our eyes to the One who will one day make everything right. And the beautiful thing is that we get to enjoy, and be a part of, the work that God is doing.

In Ephesians 1:11 we read, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance…” Now, I’ve got to be honest; somewhere in the back of my mind I’m still thinking I must have a rich uncle I’ve never met who is going to die and leave me his fortune. And though that is probably not going to happen, that is how inheritances work. When someone dies, their family inherits what they owned and what we see here is that through Christ’s death, we now have an inheritance. But an even cooler part is that Christ is alive and because He is alive, this passage isn’t just saying that we have an inheritance, but that we are also Christ’s inheritance. What I am saying is that we are Christ’s and Christ, and all the benefits of His death and resurrection, is ours.

Now, what I mean when I say we are Christ’s inheritance is kind of interesting. How many of you have seen your Dad come home from work before, maybe on Valentines day, with a bunch of flowers and chocolates just to show your mom that he really cares for her? Well, the Bible tells us that we are the reward for Christ’s suffering in passages like Isaiah 53, John 6 and 17. But not only that, we are the love gift, like those flowers your dad gave your mom, from the Father to His Son Jesus Christ. We see that in John 6:37 which says, “All that the Father gives to me will come to me and the one that comes to me I will never cast out.” Can you believe that! That we are so loved by God that He would pick us up like a bunch of roses, or tulips, and hand us to His Son as a display of His love. This is amazing!

But not only are we Christ’s inheritance, but Christ is our inheritance and what this inheritance is, is eternal life with God. One guy said, “Heirs are those who, apart from any work of their own, were given the right to all the blessings of salvation in Jesus Christ, never more to lose them.” What we learn here is that there will be a day where every wrong is made right, where we will forever be free from the presence of sin, and where we will get to enjoy being with Jesus forever and ever.

How many of you have ever gotten your hopes up? That’s never fun is it? It hurts and it makes us want to be careful the next time we hear something great. And the question I want us to ask, because I know you’ll struggle with it some day, is, “Can I really be sure that I will have this inheritance one day? Can I really get my hopes up about this?” And the answer is yes. Go ahead and get your hopes up, because He has promised and I want to give you two more encouraging reasons to get your hopes up here.

First is that we are included in God’s plan.

In verse 11, Paul tells us that it was God that planned this out. This whole business of redeeming fallen sinners through the horrific death and victorious raising of His Son. The whole deal of choosing to love us before we were even around. This is awesome and it sounds too good to be true but Paul lets us see that this was a plan that only God Himself could come up with and He did it for Himself. Guys, we have been saved by God, from God and to God for God’s glory. And the reason we find this so encouraging here is because whenever we ask ourselves, “How can I know that’s waiting for me in heaven?” Is because we see here that God has planned everything out!

Second is that we are recipients of God’s promised Spirit.

All throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament, there are promises of God giving His Holy Spirit to His people. So what we see here is that those of us who believe in Christ have the Holy Spirit and that comes with two things for us to notice here:

First is that He seals us into Christ. Now, in ancient times kings would have a seal and they would place it on letters and such and it would mean three things: first, that this is authentic, it’s the real deal. Second, this item is secure or it is really mine and no one is allowed to break it that is not permitted to do so. And third, it means that whatever has this seal belongs to me. So what we learn here is that God has placed His seal on us and that is His Holy Spirit. This means that we are safely kept by God and that if we ever feel uneasy, we can rest in the fact that we belong to Him. Now some of us are going to struggle with the question of, “How do I know the Holy Spirit lives in me?” and that is answered in 1 John 5:1 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” So, the answer to the question of, “Do I have the Spirit?” is answered by the question, “Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God?”

The second thing about the Spirit is that He is the guarantee of our inheritance. In ancient times, a man would give the woman he was engaged to marry a gift, like a ring we use today. And while he was away to build them a home, if she ever began to doubt whether or not he would return to her, she could look at the gift and know that he really cared for her. But if he never came to get her, she would get to keep this valuable gift. What we learn from this passage is that the Holy Spirit is God’s engagement ring to us. And it’s almost as though He tells us here, “I would sooner cease to be God than I would forsake you.” Boy, doesn’t that give you peace? That God is willingly and happily dedicated to us, He cares for us, He chose to put us in His plan, we didn’t twist His arm about it, but He gladly loves us and is forever faithful to us. So, if we ever begin to doubt our heavenly inheritance, we can remind ourselves of these things. And not only that, but that God has placed me in His plan for the praise of His glory and He won’t let Himself be robbed of praise.

Conclusion:

A Pastor was called to the scene of a coal pit disaster. Someone placed in his hands a beautiful piece of embroidery on which the words “God is love” had been wrought. The minister held this up so that the stricken people could see the message which had been so perfectly worked according to a plan. Then he turned the canvas round and all they could see where the tangled ends of thread that certainly did not seem to make any sense at all.

If you wake up tomorrow and the day beats you down and you feel like throwing in the towel, remember the God who works all things for good is the God that has promised an inheritance to us and He is faithful. These are truths to live by.