If you were to go to official web site of Olney, England you would find that is identified as, “The home of the world famous Pancake Race and the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’”! I don’t much about the Pancake Race, but I am familiar with Amazing Grace.
Yesterday we learned about the position grace has gained us. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:7 KJV). "That being justified by his grace" is our position.We also see in verse 7 that we have received a wonderful possession because of God’s grace. We read of how “we should be made heirs.” Imagine, one day there is a knock at your door. You open the door and there stands a man who identifies himself as an attorney. He explains that a friend has died and has left you are large inheritance. You say, “That would be wonderful.” Well, I got good news for you. Someone has died and has made us an inheritor of the riches of His grace.
God’s grace has not only gained us a position before God, but it has also given us a possession from God. By the grace of God we have been given a wonderful inheritance.
We read in Galatians 4:7, “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Paul tells us that if we are heirs then it proclaims that we are sons. By the grace of God we have been made sons of God. I stand in awe that God has declared me righteous. I stand in even greater awe when I think that He has made me a son.
We read in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, [5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Paul explains our sonship as an act of being adopted as a son.
When we think of adoption we think of the process whereby a couple makes a homeless child one of their own. The word “adoption” in Galatians has an altogether different idea. The word means “to place as an adult son.”
In Bible days there were several cultures that had ceremonies in which a son passed from boyhood into manhood. In the Jewish culture, on the first Sabbath after a boy had passed his twelfth birthday, his father took him to the synagogue, where he became A Son of the Law. The father would utter upon him the benediction, “Blessed be thou, O God, who has taken from me the responsibility for this boy.” The boy would then pray a prayer that recognized his passage from boyhood to manhood and vow to keep the commandments of God.
In the Roman culture, the year at which a boy became a man was not set, but was always between the ages of fourteen and seventeen. At a sacred festival in the family called the Liberalia he would take off the clothing of children and put on the toga virilis, which was the toga that adults wore. In this act, he moved from being a boy to becoming a man.
Now what was so significant about moving from boyhood to manhood is that as a child, one might be the owner or inheritor of vast property and wealth, but because they were considered a child, they could make no decisions concerning it or do anything with it. But when one became a man, he entered into his full inheritance. It was now his to use as he pleased.
When Titus 3:7 says that we have been made heirs, it is proclaiming that we are adopted sons. We have been given an inheritance, and as sons we have access to that inheritance. It is ours to enjoy and experience even now. Our inheritance is not something that we must wait until we get to heaven to enjoy. We can enjoy it now!
You ask, “What is our inheritance?”
In Ephesians 1:18 Paul prayed that, “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” Paul wanted us to know what the riches of our inheritance are.
The Bible speaks of the “riches of His goodness” in Romans 2:4. In Romans9:23 it speaks of the “riches of His glory.” Ephesians 1:7 speaks of the “riches of His grace.” Our inheritance is consists of the riches of His goodness, His glory, and His grace.
Our inheritance gives us everything we need to live a godly life. It provides for us everything we need to face the trials and difficulties of life. It places at our disposal all that is needed to live a life of victory, joy, and fruitfulness. The word “heirs” in Titus 3:7 speaks of someone who shares an inheritance. The idea is that of being a joint-heir. The Bible says in Romans 8:17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” When we talk about our inheritance we are talking about we share with Christ. To put it another way, all the riches of Christ are ours as heirs of God.
There is life after death and God’s grace enables us to know where we are going beyond death’s door. Eternal life is our promise and God’s amazing grace assures us that we have eternal life. By God’s grace we have been justified. By God’s grace we are made heirs of God. And by God’s grace we are given the assurance of heaven being our eternal destination. Grace is indeed amazing.
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