Citizens with an Inheritance

Last Week Recap

Last week we discussed how important it is for us to have our identity based on truth rather than on what we may believe about ourselves. We found that according to Ephesians 1 our identity is found is Christ and in what Christ has done for us. That we were once dead in sin but now have been made alive with Jesus when we placed our faith in Him. We are going to pick up in verse 9 of Chapter 1.

Ephesians 1:9–10 NLT

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

Let’s look at this for a moment — it’s easy for us to not understand how much God’s plan of salvation through Jesus was radically different than what the Jewish people would have thought about the Messiah. We have the advantage of living in 2025 with a full Bible that is written in our language that helps us understand the full story of what God’s plan was through Jesus. But that wasn’t the case when Paul was writing this, so I just want to make sure we understand that this may feel like something easy to understand but Paul is going to have to explain this multiple times in multiple letters to multiple churches to help them see that God was doing more than just providing salvation to the Jewish people. Christ’s blood bought the salvation for the Gentiles, that is everyone not Jewish, as well as the Jewish people and has made a new people will no divisions based on faith, not works or the law.

Ephesians 1:11–14 NLT

Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

God’s plan to unite us in Christ has given us an inheritance from God. Who knows what an inheritance is?

Inheritance = Money, property, or title received as an heir (a person legally entitled to the money, property, or title) at the death of the previous holder. It can also mean a quality or characteristic passed down genetically from parents or other family members.

So what is the inheritance that we receive in Christ? Heaven. Eternal life with God.

1 Peter 1:3–5 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

God identified us, He sealed us, by giving us the Holy Spirit. To be “sealed” is to be marked with the owner’s name as being their possession. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a seal is a brand, like branding cattle. Who here has ever seen a branded cattle? Why do they do that? So when there are a bunch of cows in one place or a cow gets out of the pasture they owner can confirm that the cow is theirs.

When we believe in Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit as a seal that we belong to God and taht there is a future inheritance waiting for us in Heaven.

Philippians 1:6 NLT

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

God finishes what He starts. The Holy Spirit gives us confidence of our future destiny. You may be here tonight struggling because you know that you have made some mistakes and you’ve drifted away from God. You have started to identify yourself by your sin instead of by your Savior. But just like the branded cow that gets out of the pasture you don’t lose your brand or your seal by walking outside of the gate, you lose the connection with the owner and the benefits of being in the the owner’s presence and the safety of the pasture. But God, being the owner, does not take our brand away or make us be rebranded when we find ourselves returning to Him after going astray. He just searches and calls us back home. Maybe that’s you. Do you need to come home?

The hardest part of being in a situation where you know you have allowed sin to pull you away from God is the feeling that God is too disappointed in you or that He is too far away. When we think this way, we underestimate God’s love and overestimate our distance from Him.

Romans 8:38–39 NLT

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Don’t continue running from the Father — He is calling you back to Himself.

Our inheritance is based on being adopted into God’s family. Our identity is found in being citizens, not strangers — saints, not sinners

Ephesians 2:17–19 NLT

He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

When you are a citizen of a country, you get rights that people who don’t belong to that country don’t get. There are benefits to having citizenship. If you were born in America you immediately have citizenship in the United States. But what Paul is saying here is that we were not born with citizenship to God’s people, but citizenship is granted to everyone through faith in Jesus. You cannot claim citizenship because your grandparent’s are Christians or that you have been going to church since you were 2 years old. It is only faith in Jesus that puts you in God’s family.

Jimmy just talked about this last night at the college service. We often here people say things about everyone being Children of God. But this is a misunderstanding. We are all created in God’s image. But being God’s creation does not mean being God’s children. The claim of being a Child of God can only be claimed by those who have been adopted into the family and have citizenship through Christ. It doesn’t devalue anyone’s worth, but it’s important to make the distinction that no one comes to the Father but by Jesus.

Do you view yourself as a citizen of God’s people? Does your life look like you are a citizen? Do you see yourself as a sinner that’s supposed to be a saint or a saint that still struggles with sin?

The Bible is clear that we will continue to struggle with sin in this life. But like we talked about last week, the way we define ourselves impacts how we act.

Let’s look at this image to help explain what I mean.

Summary: When we believe in Christ we are given the guarantee of an inheritance reserved for those who belong to Jesus. We can draw near to the Father because we are no longer strangers, but citizens of God’s holy people.