Two sides to an inheritance

In real life as well as the movies, some people do have rich uncles who die and leave large inheritances. People who struggle with money and many who don’t would be overjoyed if someone knocked on their door and told them that a long lost uncle left them a fortune.

The thing about inheritances is that they carry responsibility with them. Imagine being the heir of a castle or large estate. At first there is jubilation, but reality eventually sinks in; someone has to clean all 54 toilets and mow those six acres of grass. Even a windfall of cash can be a horror in disguise. Those who have trouble handling the little money they have discover the same problems with the responsibility of much larger amounts.

As a child of God, when Christ died, I was given an inheritance; I have His eternal life. He also put much more into His last will and testament. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

I am an heir to all the promises of God, which is responsibility enough, but these verses also say that He has given me everything I need to live a godly life. I’m responsible for handling that inheritance with grace and wisdom, using it to glorify God. Trying to be godly, even with God’s help, is not a walk in the park.

But there is more. 1 Corinthians 3:21-22 says, “For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours.”

I am an heir of all things, so when God tells me that I can call on Him for everything I need, this is another way of saying that He has put the resources of all creation at my disposal. Of course He will withhold something if I’m going to be foolish or selfish with it, but I have no needs that God has not already promised to take care of—because everything is mine. Like a small child in a candy store, I’ve no idea how to handle that.

I read Romans 8:16-17 this morning and realized how I linger over the first part and largely ignore the second part. It says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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.”

I love the fact that the Holy Spirit continually assures me of my relationship with God and of my inheritance. However, I don’t like to think about this other reality: whatever I inherit, it fits with what belongs to Jesus, and Jesus was given the whole human experience, not just the “good” stuff. He felt every temptation, went through every struggle that every human being experiences. He was misunderstood, ridiculed, abandoned by His friends, abused beyond belief. And then He died, not an ordinary old-age, sick-in-bed death, but by inhumane and cruel torture. This also is my inheritance.

By His grace, I may not experience all that He did, but the Bible is clear that I will suffer with Him in some ways. This is part of what it means to follow Him and to be a child of God.

Sometimes when I hear people say that Christianity is a crutch or Christians are weak and hiding from the world, I want to sit them down and tell them what it was like for Jesus to be tortured on a cross, but I know they would not see the relevance. Would it be different if they knew how some of His people suffer with Him? Or would they say that is no inheritance—we just brought it on ourselves?

Following Jesus is a joy and delight, but it is also a sorrow and difficult. I cannot read only the good parts of His Word and leave out those that are difficult and that seriously challenge my comfort zone. When Jesus gave Himself to me, I got all of who He is and what He experienced. This is my inheritance.