We are the people of God, belonging to His household, which is the Family of God. We are no longer excluded from any of His promises to mankind. Through Christ Jesus, all of them are fulfilled even to us.
2 Cor 1:20-22 [NIV]
20For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Ultimately, the eternal covenant of the Father and the Son is actually fulfilled in and through us, for we are in Him and He in us; through us He will accomplish what the Father proposed in the Beginning.
Eph 1:4-10 [NIV]
4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
For this reason He gave us the Spirit of Sonship as mentioned by John.
John 1:12-13 [NIV]
12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
If we are God’s children, then we are also His heirs and share with Christ Jesus in the Father’s inheritance.
Rom 8:16-17 [NIV]
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
As in any family, we will not just enjoy the benefit of His inheritance. We will also share the responsibilities. It is our hope that, in the coming chapters, we will help you to gain more clarity about these responsibilities.
This is post is _Part 5_ in the series The Body of Christ and our Role in It. To continue with this series, click on Pt 6. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading the explanation of this series, Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3 and Pt 4.
Photo credit: tabrandt