Our Heavenly Father adores us, and this is a truth that will light a fire in our hearts when we trust it deep down. Understanding as much as we can about God’s unconditional and limitless love helps us in immeasurable ways. God created the relationship between parents and children to expand His family on the earth, and to teach us about His love. As good parents, we will do just about anything to protect and provide for our kids. The love we have for them is like no other, and we’re so thankful to be their parents. Jesus Christ teaches us in Matthew 7:11(NLT), “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” No matter how much we try, we sometimes fail our kids, even though we love them to pieces. Well, God’s love never fails. This is what He wants us to know. We can lean on His love and care, and He will never let us down.
Hebrews 4:16(NLT) tells us, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” This verse is too magnanimous for words. Through Jesus Christ, God has given us access to His throne, while we’re still abiding on earth! This is Good News indeed!
In our modern times, we understand that it is common for a father to leave an inheritance to his children. It’s his way of providing for and blessing them after his death. Well, our Heavenly Father has given an uncalculatable inheritance to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. However, unlike a biological father, our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will live forever and never die. This makes the inheritance a never-ending, eternal one. The other Good News is that God has included us in this immeasurable inheritance that He’s given Christ. Romans 8:16-17(NKJV) states, “16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him], that we may also be glorified together.”
It should warm our hearts to know that this is how much our Heavenly Father loves us. In Luke 15, Jesus Christ tells us about the prodigal son, so that we can have a level of understanding about the joy of God when His children repent from their sins and turn to Him. Jesus tells us about a man with two sons. Both had an understanding that their father planned to leave them an inheritance, but the younger son wanted his share immediately. So, the father agreed to divide his wealth between the two, and a few days after, the younger son packed his bags and left home. Well, this son was reckless, and his money ran out. He even persuaded a farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. The young son had been foolish and lost everything, and because no one helped him and he had no money, he was so hungry that even the food for the pigs looked good to him.
Finally, the prodigal son came to his senses and remembered that his father’s servants were given more than enough food to eat, and there he was starving to death. So, he concocted a plan. He would humble himself before his father. Luke 15:18(NLT) tells us that he said to himself, “18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant."' This is the heart we all must have as we approach our magnificent Heavenly Father. The reality is that no matter how much we’ve sinned or how bad we think we’ve been; God forgives us when we come to Him with a humbled heart.
One would think that when the prodigal son returned home, his father would have been angry and perhaps refused to see him, but Jesus Christ tells us that this wasn’t the case at all. When the prodigal son’s father saw him coming toward him from a distance, he was ecstatic. He told his servants to bring the finest robe, along with a ring and sandals for his young son. The older brother was angry to see this excitement and generosity from his father over his younger brother who, unlike him, had squandered away all his money and behaved foolishly. His father told him in Luke 15:31-32(NLT), “31 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!'" Again, this is the heart of our Heavenly Father towards us when we’re lost in sin, but humble ourselves and remember that we belong to Him and He loves us.
God sent Jesus Christ on a mission to save us from eternal death and damnation, and He is overjoyed when we come to our senses like the prodigal son and come home to Him. Some of us, though, are like the older brother. We live beneath our privilege because we don’t realize the extraordinary inheritance that God has given us. Our lives are full of disappointment and sadness because of this. Yes, we say that we are Christian, but we’re not actually living with the fullness and richness of all that God has made available through Jesus Christ.
We are sons and daughters of the Most High God, and He expects us to behave like it. Through the accomplishment of Jesus Christ, we have sonship rights, because we’re God’s sons and daughters. God has made us joint heirs with Christ! One of the reasons that He’s done this is because He wants us to enjoy our human experience with the confidence that He loves us. His love fuels our lives with strength, power, and the capacity to love others through Him. God always wants the best for us, and He has made the guarantee and promise that His love and blessings towards us will last an eternity. ■
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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