Heirs of God

Have you ever thought about what it means to be an heir of God?

Overwhelming thought that is. This week on Renewing Your Mind, we are looking at what it means when we say as Christians that we are more than conquerors. Today, Ligonier teaching fellow, Dr. Stephen Lawson, dives into Romans chapter 8 to help us discover that it means far more than we probably imagine. Well, I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book of Romans, and as you're returning to the book of Romans, I'm reminded as a young man, I invited James Montgomery Boice to come preach in my church, and I couldn't believe but that he accepted that invitation. And for an entire week, he preached through Romans. And I remember when he came to Romans chapter 8, he actually made this comment that if the Bible is a ring, the book of Romans is the diamond on that ring. And Romans chapter 8 is the apex cut of that diamond that's on the ring.

I think a case can be made that Romans chapter 8 is the Mount Everest of Scripture. Now today, I've been asked to speak on heirs of God, and that is found in verse 17. And I want to begin by reading this passage, and verse 17 actually is not the start of a new sentence. It starts in the middle of a sentence.

So, I feel that I need to back up just for a moment. So, I'm going to begin reading in verse 14, but my eye is on verse 17. And as I read beginning in verse 17, I want you to note the metaphor, the analogy of the fact that believers are sons of God, that we are children of God.

And that is the dominant motif that we find in these verses. So, beginning at verse 14, for all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, Abba, Father. Verse 16, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Now, here we are, verse 17, and if children, heirs, 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. The key word in verse 17 is the word heir.

It occurs three times in this one verse. All believers are heirs of God and heirs with Jesus Christ. So, we ask the question, what is an heir? An heir by definition is, quote, a person who is legally entitled to the property and possession of the estate of a deceased benefactor.

An heir is entitled to receive an inheritance that has passed down from the benefactor upon his death. So, what is the death that is necessary for us to receive the inheritance of God? It's certainly not God the Father because God cannot die. That is why Jesus Christ had to become a man, because God cannot die. And the deity of Christ did not die upon the cross. But Christ had to become a man in order to die for our sins, for the wages of our sin is death. And in order for the atonement to be made, there had to be the death of the perfect, innocent sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. But also, there had to be the death of Christ so that the inheritance of the Father could pass down to us and that we would share in the inheritance of Christ Himself.

Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 15 says, He, referring to Jesus, is the mediator of a new covenant, so that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. So, because of the death of Christ, there is this inheritance that has come down to us that Paul locks in on in these verses. Now, there's four aspects of this inheritance to which I want to draw your attention as we isolate just verse 17. What we will see is that we are heirs of God, and then second, we will see that we are heirs with Christ. There's a twofold airship here. But further, we are also heirs of suffering, and we are heirs of glory. This is all a package deal.

It's not a multiple choice where we get to pick two out of the three. It's all a composite inheritance. So, let's begin at the beginning of verse 17. Number one, we are heirs of God. He begins by saying, and if children, and children here referring to children of God.

We know that verse 14, sons of God, verse 16, children of God. And we would ask the question, how did we become children of God? And the Bible teaches there's two ways that we become the children of God. For all of us, it has been a twofold entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Number one is by the new birth. By sovereign regeneration, we have been birthed into the kingdom of God, and we have received a new nature, a new heart, a new mind. But second, we have also been adopted. With all of the rights and with all of the privileges of an adult child, the moment we enter into the kingdom of God, the new birth changes our nature, adoption changes our status. And it is by adoption that we have now been written into the family will, if you will, and that we have received an inheritance.

So, that is what Paul underscores. And if children, heirs. Every child of God is an heir.

And the question is, whose heir? And he clarifies, heirs of God. This is almost unimaginable, that we are heirs of God by adoption. The Puritans rightly understood that the highest rung on the ladder is adoption just short of the beatific vision of seeing God because it's grander and goes further than even justification. That justification, the Puritans argued, you're in the courtroom, you're declared righteous by God, but then the judge gets up from behind his bar and goes home and you're left to go your own way.

But with adoption, it goes further than justification because with adoption, the same judge who declares you to be righteous then says, I want you to come home with me. I want you to live with me. I want you to see your new house.

And when we get to the house, I'm going to show you all of my riches and all that I have and all that I possess are yours. That's the doctrine of adoption and it's inseparably bound with this truth of being heirs of God. It is glorious that we have the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we also have the inheritance that comes from God Himself.

So, we want to go all the way up the ladder and not stop at a somewhat lower rung. Now, what is this inheritance? It comes in a two-fold installment. The moment we are saved, grace, and the moment we die, glory. Grace now, glory later. Salvation now, splendor later. Ephesians 1 verse 3 does well to try to get its arms around this inheritance. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Did you hear that? Every spiritual blessing. It's already been transferred into our account and all the richness and the fullness of salvation is ours. There's not a second work of grace that we have to work up to in which we get a further installment.

No, the greatest blessing is to know that you got all the blessings when you were first converted. So first, we are an heir of God. But second, Paul drills down further, and it's not just that we are an heir of God and have received the fullness of saving grace. But second, he says, we are heirs with Christ.

Now, that's another layer of this inheritance. He goes on to say in verse 17, if children, heirs also, heirs of God. Now, here it is, and, not or, and, heirs with Christ. So, it's one thing to receive the Father's inheritance, but now we also share in the Son's inheritance.

That's what this says. So, Jesus is the principal heir of the Father's vast estate, and we share the estate that is passed from the Father to the Son. You see, God the Father has also made His Son an heir. So, what did God the Son receive in an inheritance that you and I have now been made a sharer in this other inheritance? Hebrews 1 verse 2 says that the Father appointed Jesus the heir of all things. Well, this inheritance that the Son has received from the Father, He has inherited the entire created order. By virtue of His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension back to the right hand of God the Father, the Father has turned over to the Son all the universe, and the Son has all authority in heaven and earth, have been given unto Him, and the Father has transferred everything over to the Son.

He's got the whole world in His hands. He is the heir of everything that there is, the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, in Revelation chapter 5, you remember the Father is seated upon the throne, He has a book in His hand, and John begins to weep because no one was found worthy who could take the book out of the hand of the Father, and that book is the title of deed to all creation. And one of the elders says to John, stop your weeping. There is one who is worthy, the lion of the tribe of Judah. And he turned to see the lion, and instead he saw a lamb who had been slain, but has now risen. And the lamb approaches the throne of God and takes the book, takes the scroll out of the hand of God the Father, and all of heaven erupts in praise. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.

That has already taken place. We're not waiting for the second coming, for this transfer of inheritance to the Son. The moment the Son ascended to the right hand of God the Father, all authority in heaven and earth was given unto Him, and all judgment has been passed over to the Son. The Son has inherited the world, the universe, and all that's in it. And now that we know the Son, we share in His inheritance.

But there's more here. We are heirs of God. We are heirs with Christ. Third, we are heirs of suffering. And I think Paul adds this because he doesn't want us to automatically assume a prosperity gospel. He doesn't want us to automatically assume that, hey, we're going to live like kings, that we'll have a palace to live in and a golden chariot to ride in, and we'll just cruise into glory as sons of God.

No. We go on to read. He says, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ, if… Now, here's the qualifier if you are an heir of God and an heir with Christ. Here is a huge qualifier that brings assurance of salvation that you actually know the Lord, if indeed we suffer with Him. Every true believer who receives the Father's inheritance and who shares in the Son's inheritance also shares in the sufferings of Christ.

It's a package deal. And you may ask, so what are those sufferings? I'm glad you asked. So look at verse 35. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? And I'll be preaching on this this afternoon. Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Every one of those are the sufferings of Christ. The sufferings of Christ are the sufferings we endure because we testify that we are His follower as we live in this world of darkness. It is suffering for the name of Christ. It's suffering for the Word of Christ and for the kingdom of Christ and for the gospel of Christ. And this tribulation is because we testify to the exclusivity of salvation in Jesus Christ and the distress that comes with it.

And persecution, 2 Timothy 3.12, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. When he says famine, I think he's referring here metaphorically to because of your commitment to Christ, you lose your job. You're run out of town. You no longer have food to eat. And I think that ties in with the next one, nakedness.

You now have lost even your earthly possessions. You have barely clothes to even wear and peril and ultimately the greatest price you would ever pay for being a follower of Christ is to be martyred. And that's what the sword is representing here. In the front of my preaching Bible, I have a picture of John Rogers who was the first martyr burned at the stake by Bloody Mary just to remind me of the sufferings of Christ as I preach the Word of God. And there will be something of this in different degrees for every believer.

Sometimes it depends upon where you live. Sometimes it depends upon how visible you are for Christ. But I tell you what, verse 35 is going to soon become a reality for believers in the United States of America as the price will escalate for saying, I believe in Jesus Christ. So when we become heirs of God and the glory of all that comes with that and as we are heirs with Christ, there is a counterbalance here. As Paul wants to remind the believers, there will be suffering for the cause of Christ. Jesus said in John 15 and in verse 18, He said, if the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. And then Jesus said in verse 20, this often repeated statement that He made, remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. This too is a part of our inheritance. This too is what it means to be an heir of God and of Christ. There's one more aspect that I want you to note, and that's at the end of verse 17 as we've just been walking our way through this text.

Number four, we are heirs of glory. And Paul ends on a high note in this verse. And after he says, if indeed we suffer with Him, he then adds, so that we may also be glorified with Him. The so that indicates that there is a purpose to the suffering.

It's not random. There is an intentional purpose to all suffering that we would undergo for the name of Christ, and it is to prepare us for glory. It is to wean us off of this world and to prepare us for the world to come. And to the extent that we suffer for the name of Christ in this world, to that same extent, we will enjoy greater measures of glory. I mean, there is a martyr's crown. There is recognized in heaven the martyrs under the throne of God in Revelation 6. It's almost like they have a section unto themselves as they're recognized in heaven for the price they have paid for their faith in Jesus Christ.

It's like Stephen when he was martyred. The heavens opened up, and Jesus actually stood up in heaven from the throne, as if to say, Son, you stand up for me down on the earth, and I'll stand up for you in heaven. As we suffer for the name of Christ in this world, there will be greater expressions of glory for us to know. The Lord is taking it all down, and there will be great reward in heaven for those who have stood firm in their testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ and who have not caved in and capitulated to the pressures around them. So look at the end of verse 17, so that we, all believers, may also be glorified with Him.

The word also indicates this is another aspect of this inheritance. There is future glorification, and Paul will talk about that at the end of verse 30. Those whom He predestined, He called, and He called, He justified, and He justified, He glorified. And all of the elect will be glorified with Him in heaven, grace now, glory later. And the vastness of that future glory that awaits us for the final installment of our inheritance, eye is not seen or you're heard.

It is beyond our comprehension. What an inheritance that awaits us. And so as Paul, in the very middle of this chapter, in verse 17, he goes to the top rung of the ladder of grace and tells us that you and I have been made heirs of God and heirs with Christ. That should be sufficient to hold us as we are heirs of suffering, knowing that it will lead us to be heirs of glory. This is the so great salvation that God has granted to us. Think of the contrast of those two phrases, heirs of suffering and heirs of glory.

But those who are in Christ can have confidence. Because we are adopted as sons, we will receive an inheritance. We've heard an incredible message of hope today from Romans chapter 8.

Dr. Stephen Lawson was our teacher today, and he taught this at a Ligonier conference. That weekend focused on Romans chapter 8, and it was titled, More Than Conquerors. There were nine sessions in all, and when you give a donation of any amount today, we will provide you with the digital downloads of each message. We'll also send you the two-DVD set of Dr. Derek Thomas' latest teaching series, also on Romans 8.

You can give your gift online at RenewingYourMind.org, or you can call us here at Ligonier. Our phone number is 800-435-4343. As we study God's Word, we can often run up against a passage that may be difficult to understand. That's true for all of us, so if you have a pressing biblical or theological question, let me invite you to use our online service called Ask Ligonier. It's not a database of answers.

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