Inheritance of Abraham
The disciples of Jesus are the heirs of Abraham. The future possession of that inheritance is secured by the Gift of the Spirit.
Israel’s possession of Canaan was an earlier stage
in God’s redemptive plan, which always envisioned something larger than Israel
or a small plot of land in the Middle East. With the arrival of the Messiah and
the outpouring of the Spirit, the covenant promises began to find their
fulfillment in the true “Seed of Abraham,” and consequently, in his “brethren”
and “coheirs.”
The promises are being
fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The Gift of the
Holy Spirit received by believers guarantees the future consummation of all those promises.
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Scriptural passages that promised land to Abraham employ words like “inheritance” and “heir,” including the Hebrew word translated as “possession,” terms linked to the Abrahamic covenant that referred originally to the “possession” of the Land of Canaan - (Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-16, 17:1-8).
In the New Testament, “inheritance,”
“heir” and “possession” are reapplied to what God has done through
His Son, the true heir of Abraham and all things. The Gift of the
Spirit is the “earnest” and “down payment” of the promise - (Matthew
21:38, 28:18, Mark 12:7, Luke 20:14, John 13:3, Romans 8:17, Colossians
1:12, Hebrews 1:2).
Jesus is the “Seed”
of Abraham, and his followers become “heirs according to promise” along
with him. All men and women who have the “faith of Jesus” become “children
of Abraham” and heirs of the covenant.
The inheritance of Abraham belongs
to the “brethren” of Jesus, the saints who “are no longer slaves but
sons, and if sons, then heirs through God,” both Jewish and Gentile disciples
of Christ alike - (Exodus 19:5, Galatians 3:29).
The Gift of the Spirit is the
“earnest of their inheritance for the redemption of the possession.” It is
the “Blessing of Abraham” for the nations promised by the God of
Israel. Because Abraham believed the word of God, it
was “reckoned to him for righteousness.” Men and women of the same faith
are the “sons of Abraham,” whether Jewish or Gentile - (Galatians 3:4-9).
Believers are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the earnest of our inheritance for the redemption of God's possession.” The promised gift has become real and substantial for believers, and the guarantee of their coming possession of the inheritance, especially the bodily resurrection and everlasting life in the New Creation – (Ephesians 1:14).
If the same Spirit that raised Jesus from
the dead “dwells in us,” we are assured that God will raise us from the
dead and grant us immortal bodies. Not only so, but the Spirit is the “first fruits” of the final harvest, including the “redemption of our body” -
(Romans 8:10-23, 2 Corinthians 1:20-22, 5:5).
When he returns, Jesus will
declare to all who have responded with faith, “Come, you blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world.” No longer is the inheritance limited to Israel and Palestine. Jesus
did not abandon the original promises but universalized them, making Abraham a
blessing to “all the nations of the Earth” -
(Matthew 6:10).
The land that was promised
to Abraham has become a universal promise. The Patriarch is now the “Heir
of the World” or ‘Kosmos’.
The promise will be actualized in all its fullness in the New Creation when the
saints inherit all things - (Romans 4:10-13).
Jewish and Gentile
believers become children and heirs, a reality and promise affirmed by receiving
the Gift of the Spirit. The coming resurrection and New Creation will be nothing
less than the culmination of the original covenant with Abraham, and the
possession of the Spirit is the foretaste and the assurance of that inheritance.
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SEE ALSO:
- The Life-Giving Spirit - (Jesus dispenses the Life-Giving Spirit without which there is no enduring life. His words are spirit, and they are life)
- Heirs of the Covenant - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced)
- Age of the Spirit - (The Gift of the Spirit is part of the New Covenant, and the first fruits of the New Creation and the gathering of the nations)
What will happen to the many millions of people, who refuse the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
ReplyDeleteI can not answer that. However, at least as relevant is the question, What will happen to the millions of people who do receive the Spirit yet continue to live like the Devil, give false prophecies, follow occult practices and forms of divination, follow a counterfeit Christ, prey on fellow believers, etc., etc.? It is not the non-Spirit-filled evangelicals who gave the world grifters like Kenneth Copeland or Creflo Dollar. Pentecostals desperately need to put their own house in order.
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