Our Inheritance
Ephesians 1:11-12
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Sermon Summary In Christ, we have been given far more than we could ever imagine. The next spiritual blessing that Paul covers is the inheritance that Christ has purchased for us with His blood, giving us hope for the future, all for the glory of God. |
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Ephesians 1:11-12
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
In 1988, British antiques dealer and multi-millionaire Ben Rae passed away. Rae was 82 years old and had become something of a reclusive personality. During his later years of life, he retreated into his mansion, which he shared with his fifteen cats. He did not have a grand affection for people because he felt that everyone was always after his money. And so he became what you might call an incredibly wealthy hermit.
At his death, his estate was worth over 14 million dollars. And by the time he died, all his furry little felines had passed away as well - all but one. The sole remaining kitty was Rae’s favorite, Blackie. But when his master met with his fatal heart attack, Blackie became the wealthiest cat in the world.
The Guinness Book of World Records states that Rae bequeathed almost his whole entire estate to his beloved pet. The sum total of Blackie’s inheritance was calculated to be almost 13 million dollars. A little money was also distributed to three cat charities. Rae’s mechanic, gardener, and plumber were also named as limited beneficiaries. But what is of special note is that over the years leading up to his death, Rae had worked all his family members out of his will.
It is crazy to think that Blackie, this little furball, was able to bask in that incredible wealth for the rest of his nine lives. I will also say, as a side, that I do not know what has happened since. I don’t know if little Blackie had a will of his own to which to pass on that great inheritance. As far as I know, Blackie may have blown the entire wad on catnip and premier kitty litter.
But what I do know is that this cat had a wealth beyond all his wildest imaginations. It really occurs to me that this cat was probably oblivious to just how incredible a gift had been bestowed upon him.
And, in that sense, that cat serves as a perfect illustration of the Christian life. I know that the Lord loves cats just as much as any other part of his created order, but there is a special love that the Lord has for those who he has saved from sin and death. And those special people have been given something that far surpasses anything that little Blackie could put his paws on.
In our series, we’ve been looking at the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, and in today’s passage, we see that there is yet another special blessing that we have been given. Our passage tells us that we have “gained an inheritance.”
The word here is a unique word in the New Testament. As a matter of fact, it is known as a hapax legomenon. That’s a Latin phrase that scholars use to describe words that only appear one time in the New Testament. There is no other place in the Bible where this word is used.
Yet the root word conveys the idea of the casting of lots. It seems to refer in some way to the division of the land between the tribes in the Old Testament. In Joshua 18, we are told that the division of the land came by way of a lottery. The land was divided up into portions and then Joshua cast lots to determine which tribe got which piece of land. Their inheritance was determined by the casting of these lots.
This word that is before us in Ephesians 1 seems to hearken to that process. It could be translated “to appoint by casting of lots” or “to assign a portion by way of lot.”
That is why our Bibles have the Greek word translated this way. It is reminding us that we, like the Israelites, have been the special recipients of a grand inheritance. We have gained a portion in the eternal world. In all reality, the Lord has bestowed upon us a tremendous gift, one whose greatness and wonder we cannot even begin to imagine. While it certainly includes more, it is (at the very least) equal to our salvation. It is expressive of eternal life. It is indicative of the fact that we have an eternal portion in the world to come. This world is not our portion. There will come a day when all things are made new and we gain a new and greater inheritance.
The beautiful thing is that God generously bestows this inheritance. And this morning, the Lord would like us to reflect on the fact that we have gained this special blessing. There are three points our passage makes in regard to this inheritance, and we can get at those points by asking three questions.
How do we obtain it?
Why do we obtain it?
And what are the consequences of having obtained it?
I. How do we gain it?
We find the answer to this question right at the very beginning of verse 11. It says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance.”
This is now the fifth time Paul has used the phrase “in him” or “in Christ.” And there are still five more references to go. To say that this phrase is a theme and emphasis in this passage is an understatement.
Paul does not want us to miss the importance of Christ. The only reason we have this inheritance is because of Jesus. It is only due to the fact that he has died and become our cleansing sacrifice; it is owing to the fact that he shed his blood on our behalf and died in our place as our substitute; this inheritance is ours because of his victory over the grave. We can think of his perfect life that he lived and how he merited all righteousness - righteousness that we did not have. Being in Christ reminds us of his incarnation, how he condescended from his eternal throne in heaven and took on flesh. It is the whole of his life and work as our mediator that makes this inheritance possible. It is only because he lives and we live in him that we can partake of it.
By these words, you realize the fact that our inheritance is not found in our bloodline. It is not in our family heritage. Neither is it gained by our best efforts or by means of our affiliation with a particular church body. The only way we obtain this inheritance is because we have a vital, living relationship with the one who came to save sinners.
The fact is that there is no other place where you can find this inheritance. Jesus Christ is the only one who can secure this fortune for you. And if you are not living in union with him, then you have no stake in this inheritance.
Think of little Blackie the cat. You have to ask, “Why in the world would some man leave all that he had to a silly little cat?” This is an absurd amount of money. Why would he not give that fortune to his family? Why didn’t his relatives, of all people, his next of kin, be allowed to share in this bounty? Was the man crazy or what?
Now, I don’t doubt that Ben Rae was a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. But I’ll tell you why the cat got the pot of riches: it’s because Blackie was the one who had a relationship with Mr. Rae. I don’t know all the reasons. But evidently, there were some tensions between Rae and his relatives. They were out of accord with one another. And because there wasn’t this relationship - because they didn’t have a vital, living union with each other - the family got kicked to the curb when it came to the inheritance.
When Paul says that we obtained this inheritance in Christ, he’s referring to the fact that there is a vital union that exists between Christ and his people. This transfer of wealth comes to us only because Jesus has accumulated the wealth. He is the guarantor of this inheritance. And the Bible tells us that he freely gives it to any sinner who humbly comes to him for their life and salvation. To anyone who would pledge their lives to him. To anyone who would enter into a living union with him.
By all accounts, we had forfeited our rights to this inheritance. Because of our sins, we had alienated ourselves from the Lord and did not deserve even one of the least of these blessings.
But the good news is that the Lord does grant this amazing gift to anyone who comes to Christ. It is in Jesus that we gain this inheritance.
So Paul tells us how we got this inheritance, but he also tells us why we have gained this inheritance.
II. Why did we gain it?
The reason is found in the second half of verse 11. The answer is very familiar, and yet it is still amazing: It is because we’ve been predestined. Paul says we’ve been “predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but it’s evident that Paul can’t get away from this topic of our having been foreordained and elected before the beginning of time. He mentioned it in verses 4-5. You may remember that we had a whole sermon devoted to the doctrine of predestination and now just seven verses later he brings it up again.
Paul mentions this again because he wants us to understand why we have this inheritance. He wants us to stand in awe of the fact that we owe everything to God’s sovereign decree. He is reinforcing the fact that this inheritance is purely due to his choice, his intention, his will, and nothing else.
Now, there might be someone who missed what Paul said in verses 4-5. Maybe they heard it but they objected. But Paul not only doubles back, he doubles it up. You notice in this verse that Paul adds layer upon layer here in regards to this idea of God’s decree.
First, you see that he says we’ve been predestined. This is the same Greek word that he used in verse 5, proorizo. When we looked at it previously, we noted that it literally means, “to mark out the boundary beforehand.” You can kind of understand why he would use that word again. He links it with this word “inheritance,” which we already noted may be hearkening back to the idea of the promised land and it being Israel’s inheritance. It’s only natural that Paul would link the two ideas of the Israelites’ land being an inheritance and the Ephesians’ own inheritance being marked out for them beforehand.
But listen to the root word: horizo. It is the word from which we get the word “horizon.” And, of course, you add the prefix “pro” to it and it means “before.” So you have “before the horizon.” When you think about predestination, you should not think about God seeing the horizon. He’s not looking down through the ages at what will happen on the horizon. No, in all reality the horizon isn’t even in the picture yet. He’s seeing things long before the horizon even existed.
That’s the idea behind predestination. When God set your destiny, it was in eternity past. It was there, long before the horizon of history ever existed, that the Lord determined to make you his.
But then, to further emphasize that things were foreordained, he says it was “according to his purpose.” We’ve seen this word “purpose” already as well (v. 5). But the Greek is, again, very interesting. Literally, it means, “to set forth beforehand.” The word is prothesi. Again, you hear the prefix “pro,” which means “before.” And thesi is another word you may be familiar with. It is the word from which we get our word “thesis.” So a prothesi is to set forth your thesis beforehand. Then you argue your case for your thesis. You fill in all the details after that.
And so, when it comes to our salvation, you understand that God isn’t making things up as he goes along. He set his purpose forth beforehand, before time began. He’s laid it all out before any part of it transpires. He lays down all his intentions and plans at the beginning. Your salvation, then, isn’t something that happens on the fly. It isn’t something that you lay forth or have any contribution to. It comes to you because it God appointed you to it.
Finally, he mentions “the counsel of his will.” Obviously this is referring to God’s sovereign will. It is not the will of man, but it is God’s will. And to fully reinforce that, he adds, “the counsel of his will.” With whom did God consult? When God took counsel, with whom do you think he talked? No one. No one can counsel God. No one can make God any wiser or add to his knowledge. At best, he talked to himself. Maybe there was some discussion amongst the persons of the Trinity. That’s the most you can make of it.
But the idea is that God’s counsel is the wisest and most accurate counsel. And because of his counsel, he exercised his will. He chose you. He willed to have you.
So you have these different layers. He took counsel, and as a result he made an act of his will. That will made him lay forth his purpose. And his purpose came to be expressed in his predestination.
And so, Paul here spares no words in describing the eternal decree of God. It is to remind us that there is only one reason why we are saved. Why has this inheritance come into our possession? Was it because of anything we have done or any potential we might have shown? The answer is a decisive no. To put it simply: God chose to give us this inheritance.
Now that may not fully answer your question. You might still wonder, “Well, why did he choose me? Why was I predestined? Who am I that he would make me part of this decree?” And the answer is “I don’t know.” But he did. And - to God be the glory - that’s why you get to enjoy this inheritance.
Thirdly, what’s the end result? What kind of consequences are there? Now that we’ve obtained this inheritance, what happens now?
III. What’s the result of us having gained it?
There are two things that come as a result of gaining our inheritance. The first one is, again, something that has already been stated by Paul. It is God’s ongoing praise. Verse 12 says that this happened “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”
This echoes what Paul said in verse 6. There, the idea of predestination and salvation were linked to the praise of his grace. Here it is linked to the praise of his glory. What you understand from this is that this all works out for the advancement of the adoration of God. The more we understand what we are saved from, what we are saved to, and why we are saved at all, the more the Lord is magnified. Those who are saved will have an eternity to sing their thanksgiving and adore their Savior.
But there’s another consequence. You might say that, as it plays out, there’s something that God gets - which is praise - and there’s also something that we get. It’s hope. It says, “we who were the first to hope in Christ.”
Scholars like to debate what this means. Who is Paul talking about when he says, “we who were the first to hope in Christ”? Is he talking about the Jews, who were the first to hear the gospel? Was it the first generation of Ephesians? Who were the first to hope in Christ?
I’m not interested in that conversation. I’m interested in this idea of hope. You know what hope is? It is trust with a future emphasis. Trust is something we do now. I am trusting in Christ. Hope is something that has reference to something down the road. I hope in Christ in that I believe - I know - that I have a future.
Much of the world hopes to get to heaven. But their idea of “hope” is that of crossing their fingers and hoping that it might come true. It is a sort of wishful thinking. It is when someone says, “I desire it and I hope I can make it; I hope I can get to heaven.”
But that’s not what Christian hope is. It is trust with a forward emphasis. It is, therefore, a sure confidence. It is certain knowledge. I have hope because I know there’s something rich and glorious that I will one day obtain.
What a glorious consequence that is. God is gaining great praise and we have gained great hope.
We now possess an inheritance. The deed has been given to us. Christ made the transaction so that it is really and truly in our possession. But we have yet to enter into this inheritance. We know that there is still a future element to this inheritance. We are not enjoying the fullness of it yet.
It is like buying a house. You may be given the keys, but you have not yet stepped inside. You own the house, but you haven’t yet gotten to spend the night or eat you meals there. You are still looking forward to it.
And that’s one of the consequences of our gaining this inheritance. It is knowing that we have a future. We have something good, a future blessing to look forward to beyond this world.
We have hope because we know that there’s something awaiting us beyond this world, beyond death. We have this inheritance now, but someday we will get to enter into it and enjoy it forever.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
In 1988, British antiques dealer and multi-millionaire Ben Rae passed away. Rae was 82 years old and had become something of a reclusive personality. During his later years of life, he retreated into his mansion, which he shared with his fifteen cats. He did not have a grand affection for people because he felt that everyone was always after his money. And so he became what you might call an incredibly wealthy hermit.
At his death, his estate was worth over 14 million dollars. And by the time he died, all his furry little felines had passed away as well - all but one. The sole remaining kitty was Rae’s favorite, Blackie. But when his master met with his fatal heart attack, Blackie became the wealthiest cat in the world.
The Guinness Book of World Records states that Rae bequeathed almost his whole entire estate to his beloved pet. The sum total of Blackie’s inheritance was calculated to be almost 13 million dollars. A little money was also distributed to three cat charities. Rae’s mechanic, gardener, and plumber were also named as limited beneficiaries. But what is of special note is that over the years leading up to his death, Rae had worked all his family members out of his will.
It is crazy to think that Blackie, this little furball, was able to bask in that incredible wealth for the rest of his nine lives. I will also say, as a side, that I do not know what has happened since. I don’t know if little Blackie had a will of his own to which to pass on that great inheritance. As far as I know, Blackie may have blown the entire wad on catnip and premier kitty litter.
But what I do know is that this cat had a wealth beyond all his wildest imaginations. It really occurs to me that this cat was probably oblivious to just how incredible a gift had been bestowed upon him.
And, in that sense, that cat serves as a perfect illustration of the Christian life. I know that the Lord loves cats just as much as any other part of his created order, but there is a special love that the Lord has for those who he has saved from sin and death. And those special people have been given something that far surpasses anything that little Blackie could put his paws on.
In our series, we’ve been looking at the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, and in today’s passage, we see that there is yet another special blessing that we have been given. Our passage tells us that we have “gained an inheritance.”
The word here is a unique word in the New Testament. As a matter of fact, it is known as a hapax legomenon. That’s a Latin phrase that scholars use to describe words that only appear one time in the New Testament. There is no other place in the Bible where this word is used.
Yet the root word conveys the idea of the casting of lots. It seems to refer in some way to the division of the land between the tribes in the Old Testament. In Joshua 18, we are told that the division of the land came by way of a lottery. The land was divided up into portions and then Joshua cast lots to determine which tribe got which piece of land. Their inheritance was determined by the casting of these lots.
This word that is before us in Ephesians 1 seems to hearken to that process. It could be translated “to appoint by casting of lots” or “to assign a portion by way of lot.”
That is why our Bibles have the Greek word translated this way. It is reminding us that we, like the Israelites, have been the special recipients of a grand inheritance. We have gained a portion in the eternal world. In all reality, the Lord has bestowed upon us a tremendous gift, one whose greatness and wonder we cannot even begin to imagine. While it certainly includes more, it is (at the very least) equal to our salvation. It is expressive of eternal life. It is indicative of the fact that we have an eternal portion in the world to come. This world is not our portion. There will come a day when all things are made new and we gain a new and greater inheritance.
The beautiful thing is that God generously bestows this inheritance. And this morning, the Lord would like us to reflect on the fact that we have gained this special blessing. There are three points our passage makes in regard to this inheritance, and we can get at those points by asking three questions.
How do we obtain it?
Why do we obtain it?
And what are the consequences of having obtained it?
I. How do we gain it?
We find the answer to this question right at the very beginning of verse 11. It says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance.”
This is now the fifth time Paul has used the phrase “in him” or “in Christ.” And there are still five more references to go. To say that this phrase is a theme and emphasis in this passage is an understatement.
Paul does not want us to miss the importance of Christ. The only reason we have this inheritance is because of Jesus. It is only due to the fact that he has died and become our cleansing sacrifice; it is owing to the fact that he shed his blood on our behalf and died in our place as our substitute; this inheritance is ours because of his victory over the grave. We can think of his perfect life that he lived and how he merited all righteousness - righteousness that we did not have. Being in Christ reminds us of his incarnation, how he condescended from his eternal throne in heaven and took on flesh. It is the whole of his life and work as our mediator that makes this inheritance possible. It is only because he lives and we live in him that we can partake of it.
By these words, you realize the fact that our inheritance is not found in our bloodline. It is not in our family heritage. Neither is it gained by our best efforts or by means of our affiliation with a particular church body. The only way we obtain this inheritance is because we have a vital, living relationship with the one who came to save sinners.
The fact is that there is no other place where you can find this inheritance. Jesus Christ is the only one who can secure this fortune for you. And if you are not living in union with him, then you have no stake in this inheritance.
Think of little Blackie the cat. You have to ask, “Why in the world would some man leave all that he had to a silly little cat?” This is an absurd amount of money. Why would he not give that fortune to his family? Why didn’t his relatives, of all people, his next of kin, be allowed to share in this bounty? Was the man crazy or what?
Now, I don’t doubt that Ben Rae was a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. But I’ll tell you why the cat got the pot of riches: it’s because Blackie was the one who had a relationship with Mr. Rae. I don’t know all the reasons. But evidently, there were some tensions between Rae and his relatives. They were out of accord with one another. And because there wasn’t this relationship - because they didn’t have a vital, living union with each other - the family got kicked to the curb when it came to the inheritance.
When Paul says that we obtained this inheritance in Christ, he’s referring to the fact that there is a vital union that exists between Christ and his people. This transfer of wealth comes to us only because Jesus has accumulated the wealth. He is the guarantor of this inheritance. And the Bible tells us that he freely gives it to any sinner who humbly comes to him for their life and salvation. To anyone who would pledge their lives to him. To anyone who would enter into a living union with him.
By all accounts, we had forfeited our rights to this inheritance. Because of our sins, we had alienated ourselves from the Lord and did not deserve even one of the least of these blessings.
But the good news is that the Lord does grant this amazing gift to anyone who comes to Christ. It is in Jesus that we gain this inheritance.
So Paul tells us how we got this inheritance, but he also tells us why we have gained this inheritance.
II. Why did we gain it?
The reason is found in the second half of verse 11. The answer is very familiar, and yet it is still amazing: It is because we’ve been predestined. Paul says we’ve been “predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but it’s evident that Paul can’t get away from this topic of our having been foreordained and elected before the beginning of time. He mentioned it in verses 4-5. You may remember that we had a whole sermon devoted to the doctrine of predestination and now just seven verses later he brings it up again.
Paul mentions this again because he wants us to understand why we have this inheritance. He wants us to stand in awe of the fact that we owe everything to God’s sovereign decree. He is reinforcing the fact that this inheritance is purely due to his choice, his intention, his will, and nothing else.
Now, there might be someone who missed what Paul said in verses 4-5. Maybe they heard it but they objected. But Paul not only doubles back, he doubles it up. You notice in this verse that Paul adds layer upon layer here in regards to this idea of God’s decree.
First, you see that he says we’ve been predestined. This is the same Greek word that he used in verse 5, proorizo. When we looked at it previously, we noted that it literally means, “to mark out the boundary beforehand.” You can kind of understand why he would use that word again. He links it with this word “inheritance,” which we already noted may be hearkening back to the idea of the promised land and it being Israel’s inheritance. It’s only natural that Paul would link the two ideas of the Israelites’ land being an inheritance and the Ephesians’ own inheritance being marked out for them beforehand.
But listen to the root word: horizo. It is the word from which we get the word “horizon.” And, of course, you add the prefix “pro” to it and it means “before.” So you have “before the horizon.” When you think about predestination, you should not think about God seeing the horizon. He’s not looking down through the ages at what will happen on the horizon. No, in all reality the horizon isn’t even in the picture yet. He’s seeing things long before the horizon even existed.
That’s the idea behind predestination. When God set your destiny, it was in eternity past. It was there, long before the horizon of history ever existed, that the Lord determined to make you his.
But then, to further emphasize that things were foreordained, he says it was “according to his purpose.” We’ve seen this word “purpose” already as well (v. 5). But the Greek is, again, very interesting. Literally, it means, “to set forth beforehand.” The word is prothesi. Again, you hear the prefix “pro,” which means “before.” And thesi is another word you may be familiar with. It is the word from which we get our word “thesis.” So a prothesi is to set forth your thesis beforehand. Then you argue your case for your thesis. You fill in all the details after that.
And so, when it comes to our salvation, you understand that God isn’t making things up as he goes along. He set his purpose forth beforehand, before time began. He’s laid it all out before any part of it transpires. He lays down all his intentions and plans at the beginning. Your salvation, then, isn’t something that happens on the fly. It isn’t something that you lay forth or have any contribution to. It comes to you because it God appointed you to it.
Finally, he mentions “the counsel of his will.” Obviously this is referring to God’s sovereign will. It is not the will of man, but it is God’s will. And to fully reinforce that, he adds, “the counsel of his will.” With whom did God consult? When God took counsel, with whom do you think he talked? No one. No one can counsel God. No one can make God any wiser or add to his knowledge. At best, he talked to himself. Maybe there was some discussion amongst the persons of the Trinity. That’s the most you can make of it.
But the idea is that God’s counsel is the wisest and most accurate counsel. And because of his counsel, he exercised his will. He chose you. He willed to have you.
So you have these different layers. He took counsel, and as a result he made an act of his will. That will made him lay forth his purpose. And his purpose came to be expressed in his predestination.
And so, Paul here spares no words in describing the eternal decree of God. It is to remind us that there is only one reason why we are saved. Why has this inheritance come into our possession? Was it because of anything we have done or any potential we might have shown? The answer is a decisive no. To put it simply: God chose to give us this inheritance.
Now that may not fully answer your question. You might still wonder, “Well, why did he choose me? Why was I predestined? Who am I that he would make me part of this decree?” And the answer is “I don’t know.” But he did. And - to God be the glory - that’s why you get to enjoy this inheritance.
Thirdly, what’s the end result? What kind of consequences are there? Now that we’ve obtained this inheritance, what happens now?
III. What’s the result of us having gained it?
There are two things that come as a result of gaining our inheritance. The first one is, again, something that has already been stated by Paul. It is God’s ongoing praise. Verse 12 says that this happened “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”
This echoes what Paul said in verse 6. There, the idea of predestination and salvation were linked to the praise of his grace. Here it is linked to the praise of his glory. What you understand from this is that this all works out for the advancement of the adoration of God. The more we understand what we are saved from, what we are saved to, and why we are saved at all, the more the Lord is magnified. Those who are saved will have an eternity to sing their thanksgiving and adore their Savior.
But there’s another consequence. You might say that, as it plays out, there’s something that God gets - which is praise - and there’s also something that we get. It’s hope. It says, “we who were the first to hope in Christ.”
Scholars like to debate what this means. Who is Paul talking about when he says, “we who were the first to hope in Christ”? Is he talking about the Jews, who were the first to hear the gospel? Was it the first generation of Ephesians? Who were the first to hope in Christ?
I’m not interested in that conversation. I’m interested in this idea of hope. You know what hope is? It is trust with a future emphasis. Trust is something we do now. I am trusting in Christ. Hope is something that has reference to something down the road. I hope in Christ in that I believe - I know - that I have a future.
Much of the world hopes to get to heaven. But their idea of “hope” is that of crossing their fingers and hoping that it might come true. It is a sort of wishful thinking. It is when someone says, “I desire it and I hope I can make it; I hope I can get to heaven.”
But that’s not what Christian hope is. It is trust with a forward emphasis. It is, therefore, a sure confidence. It is certain knowledge. I have hope because I know there’s something rich and glorious that I will one day obtain.
What a glorious consequence that is. God is gaining great praise and we have gained great hope.
We now possess an inheritance. The deed has been given to us. Christ made the transaction so that it is really and truly in our possession. But we have yet to enter into this inheritance. We know that there is still a future element to this inheritance. We are not enjoying the fullness of it yet.
It is like buying a house. You may be given the keys, but you have not yet stepped inside. You own the house, but you haven’t yet gotten to spend the night or eat you meals there. You are still looking forward to it.
And that’s one of the consequences of our gaining this inheritance. It is knowing that we have a future. We have something good, a future blessing to look forward to beyond this world.
We have hope because we know that there’s something awaiting us beyond this world, beyond death. We have this inheritance now, but someday we will get to enter into it and enjoy it forever.