I don't know if you are familiar with Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers," but I recently finished reading it and found a lot of what he had to say fairly remarkable.
One particular illustration he used involved a table displaying the 75 or so richest people of all of human history. Some group of researchers somewhere has taken the time to painstakingly convert the historical fortunes of various wealthy figures their contemporary equivilencies in U.S. dollars (how American). The list includes hilarious juxtapositions such as "Bill Gates" followed by "Cleopatra" followed by "King Louis VX of France."
Next to each of these billionaires' names is a brief description of how they acquired their ludicrous wealth. For instance John D. Rockefeller: Owner of Standard Oil.
After perusing this list for a few minutes I came across something absolutely staggering. Number three on the list is a man, whose name you might be familiar with from the movie "Titanic" : John Jacob Astor. He was apparently worth the equivalent of 175 ish BILLION contemporary U.S. dollars from the fortune he made through fir trading and real estate. That's this many--175,000,000,000--dollars.
That alone is amazing, but consider this. 3 generations of his decendents are also included on the list of the 75 wealthiest people of all time. The reason for their wealth?
Inheritance!
Simply by being born
without having to do anything noteworthy or difficult
without having to "make it"
or "land the right job"
or marry rich
they were handed a fortune that only about 70 other people in all of human history can properly imagine.
As a fairness-minded person this amazed me. I'm used to thinking that its always the people that work the hardest that make the big bucks or end up with the most success, but here are people who did absolutely nothing and yet made a killing!
It doesn't seem fair.
But then I thought about Jesus.
I thought about Ephesians 1:13-21 which reads, "And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of thruth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a desposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of His glory. For this reason, ever since I heard aobut your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated Him at his right hand in the heavenly realms..."
Do you know--and I mean know, not just believe or have an idea in your head but really know in a deep down way that permeates your being and refreshes your identity--that simply through hearing and believing the Gospel, that the grace of God has positioned you with Christ to be a coheir with Jesus in all of the promises of the Kingdom of God?
Do you know that through Christ's accomplishment on the cross you have been given the immense privilege of being born into a family legacy in which you have an inheritance beyond what anyone, even J.J. Astor, could EVER imagine!
I think it is one of the deep desires of the Lord's heart that we know in the depths of our soul the truth of Ephesians 1. That the knowledge of it permeates us so deeply and covers us so completely that it changes the way we live!
Cause think about it: according to these verses, Christ has called us to a hope of the things to come...the inheritance of the saints in all of the glory of God which has been guaranteed to us by the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, we were created and destined for heaven!
We were made for perfection: for perfect, unbroken relationships!
To give and receive, perfect, unfailing love!
If you KNOW that you're created for God's BEST it makes it very difficult to settle for ANYTHING less!
I think that's God's heart, here. He's not giving Paul this message to share simply so that everyone can be assured that they will one day go to heaven. He's letting the church know her true identity so that she can take authority over sin and reign in life as a living reflection of the freedom and glory that are her's in Christ Jesus!
Part of that inheritance is POWER. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
That same power that conquered sin and death is WILDLY ALIVE INSIDE OF YOU IF YOU ARE ALIVE IN JESUS!
And if you know that, I mean REALLY KNOW that, it frees you up to take authority over the things that have oppressed you, trapped you, scarred you, and hindered you from charging boldly after the fullness of all that God has for you! That includes every addiction, sin, bad habit, past wound, emotional scarring, pain from abuse, failure, or false identity. Jesus is strong enough to rescue us from all of that.
The complete rescue of Jesus is part of your inheritance in the saints.
Do you know it?
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William
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