An Inheritance in Heaven
1 Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
I’ve been at turns amused and sickened by the lengths people will go through to get their hands on their inheritance. Anyone who has attended church for a length of time has heard the story of the prodigal son who took his inheritance and wasted it on partying. We’ve all shook our heads in disgust at the stupidity of such behavior, wondering what kind of raising it would take for a person to sink so low in life.
Unfortunately things aren’t much better 2,000 years after Jesus told that story to his disciples. The tales that go around about children and grandchildren stealing from their parents would just make you sick. All of that, almost literally selling their own soul for a little bit of money that will be gone all too soon.
Inheritances are fine, in fact the writer of Proverbs 13 says that “a good man leaves and inheritance for his children’s children.”
However, we have to understand that all kinds of earthly inheritances, no matter how ingeniously planned and put together to avoid taxes and other problems, will eventually just disappear. They’ll be used up, lost for all time.
My advice to you is simple, really. Start looking for an inheritance that will last as long as you do. Let me show you where to look.
Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
In order for you to get an inheritance there are three things that absolutely must exist:
• A Gift
• A Giver
• A Will
First there must be a gift.
Notice that Paul says in Colossians 3, “…you know that you will receive an inheritance…”
Now in earthly terms, I know nothing of the sort. There’s no guarantee that I’ll come into any kind of inheritance in this life.
But remember what 1 Peter 1 says.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
There’s a gift, an inheritance guaranteed to be in heaven for us. In John 14 Jesus refers to a house or a mansion filled with rooms prepared for us. The Apostle Paul speaks of a “crown of righteousness” to be given in 2 Timothy 4. But our inheritance is about much more than just “stuff” that will eventually grow dusty and moldy and rot away. Remember, Peter said we had an inheritance “that can never perish, spoil or fade…”
Revelation 21:1-7
Now that’s an inheritance! That’s a gift!
Possessions, houses, art, clothing and money will pass away. But there is a gift we are guaranteed to receive, if we overcome.
In addition to there being a gift, in order for us to receive an inheritance, there has to be a giver.
Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Our text tells us exactly who that giver is: God himself. Peter said it was because of the great mercy of God that we have been born into a living hope. And our giver is not stingy, either!
In Matthew 7 Jesus asks the question, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?”
Consider the most generous person you have ever known in your life. They don’t hold a candle to the giver of good things in our lives – God our Father.
Finally, if you’re going to receive an inheritance, there has to be a will or some record that you really deserve it.
I’ve been fascinated over the years by the occasional newspaper story that the State has thousands of dollars in unclaimed funds just waiting for you. All you need to do is go to the proper office, validate your identity with them, and they will release those funds to you.
I’ve always believed that if my name appeared on a list like that, I’d go to the courthouse, they’d inform me there was a $99 fee to cover the various costs accrued, then they’d hand me an envelope containing 3 two dollar bills like these my grandpa gave me. They’ll be in mint condition because no one ever used a two dollar bill when they were in circulation.
In order to receive an inheritance, someone has to give it to you, and there has to be a record of their wishes. I have an aunt who is in her eighties. When the day comes, she’ll go on to heaven and leave some earthly possessions. Now she may or may not want me to have some of them, but unless she says so in her will, everything will go to her daughter. I won’t see the things she intended for me to have.
Here’s the thing: There is a gift God has intended for you to have from the very beginning of your life. It’s the gift of an eternal life in heaven, just as it was described back in Revelation 21. However, there’s a catch: your name has to be in the will. Without that, you’ll never get your inheritance.
When someone leaves a will here on earth, that person’s estate goes through probate, which is the process to ensure the person’s property is distributed according to their wishes. If your name was found in a will, at some point the court will look at that will and acknowledge your name and give you what you’re entitled to.
Revelation 3:5-6 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
Jesus lives in heaven as our advocate before God. By placing our lives in his hands we in fact put ourselves in position to receive our inheritance upon arriving in heaven. Jesus will attest to the validity of the will of God for our lives.
However, there is another side to the story:
Revelation 20:11-15
You see, this is an all or nothing proposition. In order to receive the inheritance God has stored up for us in heaven because of his great mercy, there must be a record there of our right to receive it. Without that, Jesus will not recognize us and there will be absolutely nothing for us in heaven.
So this morning I’d want to leave for you a choice that I believe is pretty clear:
You can choose to focus on this life and the small and fading inheritances it may have to offer. But when this life is over you will find that there’s nothing for you in heaven, no inheritance awaiting you there. Instead you’ll spend eternity wishing you had listened to Paul and “set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth.”
Or, you can begin now to look forward, not to an earthly inheritance but to one “that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you”. How do we start? By having faith in Jesus Christ as the one who loves us, died for our sins, forgives us and prepares our place in heaven.
Without Jesus, there’s really nothing to look forward to after this life. Stop today putting your hope in things that will rust away and instead place that hope in Him.
