12/5/2014                         

Romans 8:16-17 “16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” 

In ancient Israel, there weren’t any realtors.  Houses and land were not bought and sold on a whim.  Instead, land was passed down from generation to generation.  

The land you lived on, the house you lived in, the ability to provide income, food, shelter, clothing and security for your family were all acquired not by money, nor by power, but by simply being a member of your household. 

Inheritance wasn’t based on how hard you worked the land, how good your farming skills were, or how many nights you volunteered to clean the stables.  A servant in the household might do far more to “earn” the inheritance, but they could never attain it because they were not an heir.  No matter how pleased the master was with their work, a servant’s labor would never change their status from a servant to a child. 

Spiritually, we have been made heirs through adoption, by the mechanism of salvation.  When we accept Christ as Savior, we are justified in our guilt, regenerated in our sorrow, and adopted in our despair.  There is an old hymn of the church which says: “Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, For I'm part of the family, The Family of God.”

These not just catchy phrases created to fit the need for a rhyme, but are instead a testimony of the new life we have in Christ.