Consider this true cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving, for the Christian has
A Marvelous Inheritance/^
G. Coleman Luck
B lessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resur rection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-5). When Christians are suffering, they should turn for comfort to the First Epistle of Peter. This lovely little epistle was especially written to encourage afflicted be lievers. The particular trial being endured by those who first received this letter was persecution from enemies of the gospel. However its solace can be applied to trials of any nature which are being endured by those who know the Lord. After the opening salutation, the Apostle begins the main body of his epistle with praise of the Father and the Son. The First Person of the holy Trinity is spoken of as “ the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It must be ever remembered that the Lord Jesus is both divine and human, both God and man. In reference to His humanity, the First Person is Christ’s God; in reference to His deity, the First Person is Christ’s Father. This great Person who is the “ God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” has in His wondrous mercy “ begotten us again.” The allusion is to regeneration — to the new spiritual birth which comes to the one who truly receives Jesus Christ as his Saviour. Those of us who have done this now possess as a result of the new birth a living hope. This living hope of course has to do with the bright future which lies ahead for us, a future in which dwelling in glorious resurrection bodies we will forever be with the Lord and serve Him. How glad we should be that this “ living hope” is not founded on the shifting sands of human guesswork but on the solid rock of “ the resurrec tion of Jesus Christ from the dead.” He said to His own: “ Because I live, ye shall live also” (Jn. 14:19). There now lies ahead for us, says the Apostle, a mar velous “ inheritance.” Like other words “ inheritance” is used in the Bible in a slightly different sense from that of our common speech. Ordinarily we think of an inher itance as something we will receive someday but possess none of as yet. In the New Testament inheritance refers to something we have in part even now but will possess fu lly some day. Dr. F. B. Meyer has beautifully and truly written: “ Our inheritance is God Himself. Not the golden harps. Not the sea of glass mingled with fire. Not rest from pain and immunity from sorrow. Not the blessed society of heaven. From all these, apart from God, we should at last turn away dissatisfied. They are but the accessories and embodiments of something deeper, more inward and rapturous — the possession of God.” Unlike earthly inheritances, ours is one which cannot be corrupted or defiled and which cannot fade away. Several years ago my family moved into a new home. Dr. Luck is a member of the faculty of Moody Bible Institute NOVEMBER, 1959
There were some pear trees in the yard, which soon bore an abundant amount of fruit. My wife read that if pears were wrapped in tinfoil and stored in the cool of the basement they would keep almost indefinitely. After spending a good bit of time thus preparing them she was sure that later we would be enjoying the luscious fruit. But alas — the “ tip” proved to be incorrect. Several weeks later when we unwrapped some of the -pears for use, they proved to be rotten and withered away. Our “ inheritance” had become corrupt. Sometimes an earthly inheritance may consist of a fine house, but when the heir goes to look'over the place, he finds that it has been seriously damaged by vandals who have defiled it. Five or six years ago I began the practice of giving my wife, on our wedding anniversary, a red rosebud for each year we had been married. I try to encourage her by telling her that if she will endure me for another year she will get an additional rose! Recently she received seventeen of these roses. They were lovely when first placed in a vase but after a day or two they began to lose their beauty and eventually had to be thrown into the garbage pail: they faded away. Some times bequests of money disapear in like manner. A cer tain sum is left the heir but after the estate is settled it is found that there are no funds left to pay the bequest. At first there seemed to be an inheritance but it faded away. The inheritance Peter speaks of — the best inheritance of all — is perfecty safe. Of that we can be sure because it is “ reserved in heaven.” Dr. Kenneth Wuest calls heav en the Christian’s “ safe deposit box.” And, just as won derfully, while our inheritance is reserved in heaven for us, we can be sure we will some day receive it for we are preserved here on earth for it. We are “ kept (literally, guarded) by the power of God.” This is truly “ blessed assurance.” Like all God’s blessings this protecting power is claimed “ through faith.” The Apostle speaks of “ salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Sometimes salvation is viewed as already past for the believer. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. Sometimes it is viewed as present — we are being saved from the power of sin. And occasionally, as here, it is viewed as a thing still future, in regard to the blessings yet ahead for the Christian at the time of the Lord’s coming. Peter assures us that these joys are ready even now but they will be revealed “in the last time.” This expression refers to the close of the present age — to the time of the “ Rapture.” This event is most fully described in 1 Thessalonians 4 — “ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (verses 16,17). Reader, is this inheritance yours? If not, “ believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). 13
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