“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”

Ephesians 1:11

We have one need in life….and that is the Lord. This need is revealed in every area of our lives. One of these areas is in our mind – what we think about, set our mind on, and the thoughts we listen to, the words in our head we are continually and often subconsciously hearing.

There are two types of words: the words of God, and the words of man. If we are continually thinking on, and thus receiving, the words of men, we will be haters of God, walking in death and will continue to “come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23 That seems pretty extreme, but that will be the way and end of always thinking and dwelling on the words of men.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, (through listening to man’s words) hath quickened us together with Christ…” Eph 2:4-5 You see God is life and He is Alive! And His word is life and gives life. He is alive in the way that death has no hold nor power over Him. God is alive forever and HE RAISED Christ up from the dead, thus Christ is alive forever….AND wonder of wonders, God made us ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST! Hallelujah!

Why don’t we know and experience this “being made alive together with Christ”? I mean, this is what God’s word says. We don’t walk in the experience of being made alive together with Christ because we are to full of man’s words and the most deceitful of man’s words are often man’s words about God. Often we might hear God’s word on Sunday morning, or when we read it when we wake up or before we go to bed. We may even have been in bible classes and have studied God’s word or taught Sunday school lessons. But we still don’t walk in a full reality of being made alive with Christ. Why? Because hearing God’s word read somewhere and reading it for a few minutes a couple times a day does not give time for it to penetrate into our hearts. Like what was said in a post a few days ago, much of God’s heart revealed through His word is hidden to us, because we are not careful how we hear. So we have a great need of God’s word coming directly from God’s mouth to our ears, so that God may reveal Himself to us and we can walk in the Life He desired us to walk in before the foundation of the world.

You may think “this does not sound like our verse for Ephesians today – Eph 1:11, but it is necessary to begin by seeing we need God (He must grant us the seeing of our need), and we need Him to speak this verse to us or we won’t understand anything of what it is saying. So “Father, I ask that in Your great mercy and love You would speak and open our ears to hear what Your saying in this verse, that we might know more of You, as You desire to reveal Yourself and be know. And I ask that you would cast down the words of man and the evil one! Thank you Father! Amen!”

We actually have seen some of Eph 1:11 because we have talked about being made alive together with Christ. And that is part of obtaining an inheritance; being predestinated; God’s purpose; and it is also what God will’s, because these are all for and toward one thing and that is God and man being one.

Eph.1:11 ~ “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”

I’d like to add some emphasis to this verse. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”

We have to be IN Christ to obtain the inheritance. A few questions: 1. Who receives an inheritance and 2. Who does it come from and 3. What is it? So, who receives the inheritance? We see from scripture and know that it is not friends or slaves that are given the inheritance. Children are given the inheritance, if a friend or slave receives it, it is probably because there where no children. Who gives it? Primarily the father. It was the father’s blessing (we see this clearly in the story of Jacob and Esau Gen. 27). And what is the inheritance? It could be any number of things, but in short, the inheritance is the wealth and fullness that the father has obtained through life and is passing on to his children at his death.

So in order for us to obtain an inheritance from God the Father we have to be His child. But how do we become sons or daughters of God? The simple answer is that we have to be born again with a life and nature that is God’s and not merely man. No one has ever been born again by doing good works, or trying to prove to God your good enough for heaven. No one has been born again by someone persuading them to pray this prayer and be saved from the fiery hell. Only One is able to grant and give us this new birth and that is God. God may have used a prayer, but God gave the new birth, not the prayer. God made it possible for us to be born again – born from above, through Jesus Christ.

Jesus, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, opened the way for the sons of man to become as He is – sons of God. This is GOOD NEWS! John 1:12 says “But as many as received him, (the Word of God made flesh) to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

God didn’t simply desire one Son. He desires MANY sons, many children! Jesus is the “firstborn among MANY brethren.” Rom 8:29 It is very important to God that He have children. Because children have the same life as their parents. And God is very desirous of us having the same Life that He has and thus be joined to Him – one with Him! Jesus came that we might have Life and have it abundantly!

So, through, and IN Jesus we become children of God and thus can obtain an inheritance from God our Father. But what is this inheritance? Let’s look at what 1 Pet. says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,” 1Pet 1:3-4. This describes our inheritance and it is a pretty clear description. It is imperishable, undefiled (that is pure), it will not fade away, and it is reserved (kept) in heaven. I don’t know of any thing that meets that description….but I know of One who does.

The inheritance is the wealth and fullness of the father to the children, that he gives when he is dying, but what about our heavenly Father, He cannot and will never die (He does not fade away) We inherit the fullness and wealth of our Father IN Christ and we inherit HIM, for He is the fullness of it and He is the wealth of it! And He desires that for eternity beginning with today that we would enjoy Him and He enjoy us. God our Father sent Christ to earth so that He could open the way for children of wrath (Eph 2:3) to be born from above by the Spirit of Christ, to be made children of God, that the Father could give them an inheritance of His very self! He has desired this from the beginning, and predestinated (which simply is that He determined this before we existed) us to this purpose that we would be made children of God, thus having His life and nature and thus one with Him, that He might give to us the the fullness of Himself and we might be partakers of His divine nature!

Another point to mention is that it says “In Him we have obtained…” We do not have to wait until we get to heaven to receive this inheritance. Since it is the Father, and He lives today and we live because He has made us alive together with Christ, we can TODAY receive and enjoy the fullness of our heavenly Father. This is His desire! May He have His desire and purpose in us!

“O Father, thank you for making us Your children! Thank you for Jesus, our first-born Brother! May we find Your words, and receive them and may they be to us the very joy and rejoicing of our heart! For You desire to make known to us Your own hearts desire and to have us abide in the reality of being one with You. We thank You and we bless You Father, for You are most worthy of blessing! Amen”

~Katie Holdeman