JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST

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. - Romans 8:17
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What a wonderful truth! But for it to be our truth, the verse shows us that we must fulfill two conditions: to be God's children, that is, to have Jesus as Lord in our lives, and "to truly suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified together." We are adopted into God's family through faith in His Son, and if we are adopted, we have all the rights as heirs. What more could we want? What more wonderful promise could we wish for, than to inherit with the Son of God eternal life in heaven, where we will be permanently in the presence of the Lord, in peace, joy, safety and perfect health? But to be heirs of God we cannot live following the lusts of the carnal nature, ignoring the will of the Lord and doing what the devil directs. Because we live in a fallen world, and by choosing righteousness and to please the Lord we often suffer in the process. But let's be honest. The sufferings that we go through as children of God, who are helped and protected by Him, cannot compare to the sufferings of the one who lives in fear, defeat and everything that comes from the evil one. We do not go through any trial alone, we are permanently in the hand of the Lord, and we know that even if we lose our life, we actually enter the true eternal life where we will no longer suffer. Hallelujah, glory to our Lord!

• Galatians 4:6-7 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

 
When the Holy Spirit is in us, we not only know that God is our Father, but we have full joy that we are His children! Only through the Holy Spirit can we call God, Father, and be freed from the slavery of sin, becoming sons and implicit heirs of the Lord. As Romans 12:2 says, we need to renew our minds through the truth of the Bible, which the Holy Spirit reveals to all who ask for His help. The more time we spend studying God's Word in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, the more we change our worldly way of thinking to the biblical one. When the transformed mind operates according to the value system of God, we can make right decisions and have mostly positive emotions pleasing to the Lord, and we can be truly happy. Most of our suffering is caused by our wrong decisions or what those around us do. How wonderful our lives could be if more of our fellow men would follow Jesus too! But since we cannot decide for others, let us do our part. Let us study God’s Word, so that we can know and fulfill His will, and inherit the promise of eternal life and heavenly blessings.

• Hebrews 6:17-20 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

 
Even if the epistle was written to the Jews, let's not forget that they are saved like anyone else, through faith in Jesus until the end. The promise of salvation is not only for Jews but also for everyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. And because the Lord wants us not to doubt that the promise of salvation is firm and immutable, He strengthened it with an oath to be "a strong consolation" for us. Our heavenly Father does not want us to fear the future and has given us His Word so that we know with certainty what He has prepared for us while we live in these physical bodies but also after we leave them. Just as a ship on the sea needs a strong anchor to stay in place and not drift, by the hope of salvation we can also stand firm in our faith and follow the Lord until the very end. So let us set our “mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). When we go through difficulties and hard times, if we choose to think about what Jesus has prepared for us in heaven, we will be able to keep our peace and have a strong faith in our Lord. Let's not forget that from the moment we chose Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, we died to sin, and our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” and “when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:3-4). We can be strong in faith if we do not forget that the promises of the Bible are true and worthy of all trust because "it is impossible for God to lie." God the Father made His Son the High Priest forever, after He gave Himself as the true sacrifice for the forgiveness of all the sins of mankind. That is why all of us who live for the Lord are heirs with Jesus and will be able to spend eternity in the presence of God. Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord!
  
 
Carmen Pușcaș
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