Our Inheritance is in Christ

Doxology

Peter begins the body of his letter by giving praise and glory to God, which is appropriate because He is the author and giver of life. Genesis 1 tells us that God is the author, the Creator of all creation. He is also the giver of eternal Life.

V3 Peter says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In verses 1-2 we read that Peter says that the whole work of salvation from beginning to end is the united work of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is right and proper to give praise and glory to God because everything in creation is from Him, to His glory. More than that, God is the reason for our very existence. And for these reasons alone He is deserving of all our praise.

But there is more isn’t there? Peter is praising God for a very good reason. God is “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The most famous verse in all the Bible, John 3 :16, says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...” In Bible terms, God only has one Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus came into this world to save us from sin and death.

Son of God / Children of Wrath

The most used title Jesus uses In the Gospels Jesus Christ is known and declared as the ‘Son of God.’ This title is one of the most important and widely used titles for Jesus, both in the Bible and within the Church. On the other end of the scale is mankind. As far as mankind goes, we are called children of wrath, children of Satan. Ephesians 2 tells us that we are by nature children of wrath. And in Romans 3:24 we are “justified freely by [God’s] grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Brotherhood in the New Testament refers to those whom God has given eternal life. They are no longer children of wrath and become adopted children of God. Everyone else in the world is called our neighbour.

The Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus shares in all the Father’s divinity and sovereignty. It is God the Father who has bestowed the titles Lord and Christ upon the Son. The word Lord is one of God’s most common title’s in the Old Testament, Adonai. The simple meaning of Lord is the Sovereign One. Jesus to be given this title shows us that all authority in heaven and on earth is given to Him, and this is what He tells the disciples in Matthew 28.

In v3 Jesus is given another title, Christ. And Christ is so common in Scripture that many people have come to think it is His surname. Christ is the Greek word used in place of Messiah, which means Anointed One. We see this in the Old Testament when God sent Samuel down to Bethlehem and had him anoint David, a man after God’s own heart. David had many opportunities to kill king Saul but refused because Saul was the anointed ruler of Israel. Another example would be Aaron, who was anointed into His role as high priest by Moses. David though is a shadowy picture of the real thing, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ was the long-awaited Messiah, the One who would bring redemption, and peace to Israel. And, It was the Father who gave the titles Lord and Christ to the second person of the Trinity.

God’s Abundant Mercy

Continuing in v3, Peter is also praising God because “according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Notice where Peter places the emphasis. His abundant mercy, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our most blessed gift of eternal life is owed to God alone - to God’s abundant mercy and Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Not one thing of any part of our salvation can be attributed to us.

Rebirth in Christ

What is the makeup of God’s abundant mercy? Peter tells us immediately.

Firstly, We are begotten again, or born again. This means that everyone who has faith in Jesus Christ, is born again into God’s family. And that we are born again to a living hope. This living hope is trusting that Jesus will take us to be with Him for ever. Jesus rose from the dead so that He can give us hope for the better life. It is a living hope because the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the basis of Christian faith.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee of our place in God’s Kingdom. We read in Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.”

In Adam we are all children of wrath, through Christ’s death and resurrection we are born again. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Inheritance that is Out of this World

Secondly, we have an inheritance that is out of this world. You see, everything in this world eventually wears out and falls apart. As we get older our joints ache, our bodies stop listening to our heads, then our heads stop remembering things. In verse 4 we are told that our God given inheritance is “incorruptible… undefiled and… does not fade away,” Heaven doesn’t have a use by date. Revelation 21 says it this way, (4-6)

““And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.””

Nothing in the New Creation will go mouldy, or rusty. Nothing evil will ever contaminate it. Even our bodies will not wear out. And, as the last verse in Amazing Grace puts it:

When we've been there ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we've first begun.

After ten thousand years our inheritance will be in as new condition as when we first get there. And that includes us. To top it all off, at the end of verse 4, this inheritance is protected, “reserved in heaven for you.”

Hope in the Power of God

This gives us great comfort because we know that God will never lose our heavenly reservation. Those who are given the new birth will never lose their place in God’s kingdom. Verse 5 says, we “are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Brothers and sisters, the power of God is keeping you secure as His beloved children. If you are a person who doubts whether you really are saved then here is where to place your hope. God’s Spirit safely guards us until we enter into our eternal rest. All God’s adopted children are kept and preserved from anything that might stop us from the arriving safely at Heaven’s door. The children to an earthly fortune may not live long enough to enjoy their inheritance, but the children of eternal life can have full assurance that they will enter and enjoy it.

God’s almighty power

The power that keeps the inheritance reserved for us is the same power that keeps us reserved for the inheritance. It is the power of God that keeps us to receive the full and final measure of salvation.

You see in these few lines he communicates to us the heart and soul of the Christian faith. God saves without human intervention, for the purpose of blessing us with eternal life with Him. A place where no moth or rust can destroy.

Sounds a lot like Heaven, doesn’t It?