I assume that we all know what an heir is. Some of us may have experienced this when we lost someone and took possession of something that was once theirs.

The concept is that whatever belonged to the person who named us their heir will now belong to us. To be an heir is to inherit.  The inheritance is always based on what is set forth by the one who made you an heir to begin with. When a person becomes an heir, there is a certain sense of being someone special that comes with it.

Sometimes, being an heir involves a title, great wealth, or an unearned improved status. As a result, becoming an heir is perceived as a privilege, and people often carry themselves differently around others because of it.

Were you aware that every believer in Jesus has been made an heir?  Not the only heir, mind you, but a joint heir with Jesus.  What is most amazing is what we have become heirs of. Our inheritance is out of this world.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

We have inherited God. You need to pause, think about this, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you revelation on it. I would also encourage you to read the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17 and think of it in the light of being an heir with Him.

You see, for a multitude of professing Christians, the inheritance is merely about going to heaven when you die or when Jesus returns.  But here, it is made abundantly clear that we inherit something far greater than Heaven. We inherit the One who is the reason there is a heaven to start with. We inherit the One Whom all of heaven worships and adores. We inherit God. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is the prize!

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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.

When Scripture speaks of suffering with Him, Jesus speaks of the rejections we will encounter as heirs of God while on this earth. It is not saying that God makes us sick or diseased or assigns us to torture and despair so we can somehow prove our loyalty to Him. It is speaking of the things Jesus endured simply because He was the Son of God and lived according to who He was, fulfilling His destiny.

When a believer lives in the confidence of being made a son, the merely religious community struggles with it.  They struggle because they are hard at work doing all they know to do in order to earn the right to be considered worthy by God.  Those who know their sonship in Christ have already obtained such a prized gift by faith in Christ. They did nothing to earn it. They simply believed and accepted the truth of the gospel and became heirs. They’re not working to become sons; they already are sons! They are not trying to measure up to be heirs of God. They are already enjoying Him here and now. In Christ, we are Heirs!