The Lord gave the children Israel land on this earth. They took ownership of it. They settled in it.
The Lord has given to us who believe in Christ the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the earnest or assurance of our inheritance until we receive what Christ purchased for us, that is, everlasting life in paradise with God. [2]
Jesus said, “The King [namely Him] shall say to them on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” [3]
God our Father in His abundant mercy has birthed you again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you. [4]
We are joint-heirs with Christ. [5]
As it was with Israel in the days of Joshua, so it is with us who follow Jesus. “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” [6]
Are we living like joint-heirs with Christ? Have we taken ownership of God’s promises? Have we settled in them?
Joshua told those who took ownership of land in his day, “Take careful heed to do the commandment and the Law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” [7]
We have a great God and a great inheritance! We should love and walk with Him.
The Psalmist wrote, “From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s Name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth? He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes—with the princes of His people. He grants the barren woman a home, like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!” [8]
Praising the Lord is a sign that we have taken ownership of our inheritance and have settled in it. We believe that the Lord shall raise us up out of the dust and seat us with all who have gone before us, even with the saints in heaven!
A little over four months ago, our son and our daughter-in-law gave birth to our twelfth grandchild, a grandson, whom they named Jonah. In light of my great delight in Jonah, the name Jonah now stands out to me in the Scripture.
Simon Peter was the son of a man named Jonah. Jesus addresses Peter as the son of Jonah five times in the Gospel: when they first meet; after Peter professes that Jesus is the Son of God; and three times when Jesus asked Peter to feed His sheep and lambs. Jesus said to Peter that feeding His sheep and lambs would involve loss of control of where he would live and what he would wear. Peter would need to become a new kind of Jonah. A Jonah who preferred to follow the Lord than to serve his own preferences! [9]
The reference to Jonah is significant because in the Old Testament, the Prophet Jonah, refused to follow the Lord when the Lord called him to preach to foreigners. That is, until the Lord put Jonah through some trials. Afterwards, Jonah followed the Lord, and an entire city of pagans turned to the Lord in repentance and faith. [10]
The Lord has given us an eternal inheritance in His kingdom. Let us take ownership of it with our minds and attitudes. Let us settle into this promise by doing the work of feeding others with the Gospel... following in the footsteps of our Good Shepherd.
[1] Joshua 21:43
[2] Ephesians 1:13-14
[3] Matthew 25:34
[4] 1 Peter 1:3-5
[5] Romans 8:17
[6] Joshua 21:45
[7] Joshua 22:5
[8] Psalm 113:3-9
[9] John 1:42; 21:15-19; Matthew 16:17
[10] Jonah 1-3
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