The Heir part 2
I'm not sure I got to where I wanted to get to yesterday. But my main verse for this Rant series is Galatians 4:1, "Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all." I think this is such an important concept. Because you can have everything in the world, but if you don't know that you have it... you can't experience it and enjoy it. If you don't know what you have, or if you don't know what to do with what you have, chances are you'll rob yourself of HAVING what you have by trying to get something you think you don't have. You'll act like a slave even though you're an heir. You'll act like a sinner even though you're a saint. And, as always, I want to put my personal definition of sin out there, just so we know what we're talking about. Sin is unbelief. Believing the lie of the world instead of the truth of God. Believing that we have to do in order to be. Believing that we have to earn something from our heavenly Father. But when you're a saint--when you know that you are God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased--that's when you understand that you don't have to, and in fact can't, earn anything. Its not about what you do. Its about who you are. Its about the Father handing down an inheritance to His Son. Look at Hebrews 9:14-15, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." And, to me, the important part here is having our conscience purged of dead works. Getting to the point where we stop trying to earn it. Getting to the point where we can receive it and release it. When Jesus died--and we in Him--a shift took place. Out of the Old and into the New. The old man died and the New Man rose again to everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life. The gift was given. From Father to Son. The inheritance was handed down. Generally speaking, you only get your inheritance when your Father (in this case) dies. That's what the cross was. And the best part is, not only did He die so that you could die, He rose again so that you could live! So that HE could live in you, and through you, and as you! Jesus didn't just give us another chance at life. He gave us HIS life. HE lives it, and we experience it. But this takes maturity. Because maturity is what allows us--what equips and empowers us--to be still and know that He is God. To be still and know that God is love. To be still and stop running around like chickens with our heads cut off, looking for love in all the wrong places. Maturity is what allows us to experience that gift we've been given... by giving it away. By sharing it. By giving what we've got (by KNOWING what we've got). The heir has been blessed to be a blessing. To receive and release the love that we are loved with. That's God's gift--His Spirit. His life. Himself. His love!