ESOCS Devotional 23 December 2023 – Heir of God Through Christ
MEMORY VERSE: “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians4: 7
TEXT: GALATIANS 4:1-7 (KJV)
Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
4 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.
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
The term heir of God emphasizes our relationship to God the Father. As His children, we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade . . . kept in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4). So, what does it mean to be God’s child? What does it mean to be a co-heir with Christ? It means that all that is God’s is yours. He shares with you, His kingdom. You are the heir of God, brought into his family by the power and grace of Jesus’ sacrifice for you. The Greek term translated “heirs” in Romans 8:17 refers to “those who receive their allotted possession by right of sonship.” In other words, because God has made us His children (see John 1:12), we have full rights to receive His inheritance.
We are His beneficiaries (see Matthew 25:34; Galatians 3:29; Colossians 1:12; 3:24). Being a co-heir with Christ means that we, as God’s adopted children, will share in the inheritance of Jesus. What belongs to Jesus will also belong to us. Christ gives us His glory (John 17:22), His riches (2 Corinthians 8:9), and all things (Hebrews 1:2). We are as welcome in God’s family as Jesus is; we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6 NKJV). All that belongs to Jesus Christ will belong to us, the co-heirs, as well.
So how can you live in response to God’s word? How can you get out of the mindset of an orphan? You must have faith that God is who He says He is and believe He will do what He’s promised to do. Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God.” You have heard the word of the Lord today. You are his child. He promises to provide for you. So have faith! Faith isn’t something you just conjure up. It’s a response to God’s faithfulness. God has and will be faithful to you. Allow his word to stir up faith within you today. Live in response to his promises and allow the peace and joy of being God’s child to lay an unshakable foundation for you today.
Our obedience, now that we are heirs come fully into the inheritance, comes from the Spirit within our hearts. We want to obey; we are no longer compelled to obey by guardians (the Law written on tablets of stone) as if we were children. Jesus came into this world so that we could relate to His Father in a new way. We no longer must work hard on that religious treadmill in order to earn God’s love. Instead, we receive God’s love freely as sons and daughters as we trust in the person and work of Christ.
You are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir (Galatians 4:7). Think of all that means. Everything that God owns belongs to us as well because we belong to Him. Our eternal inheritance as co-heirs with Christ is the result of the amazing grace of God.
- Have you ever tried to earn God’s love by keeping the rules? How does it make you feel to know that you can receive justification when you trust in His finished work on the cross?
- Lord, thank You for making me an heir and co-heir in Christ Jesus.
FURTHER READING: Isaiah 59:1-14; 35:1-10; John 7:37–44
ESOCS Devotional 23 December 2023
