His Son and heir 1v2
Reading Ps 2
God 2 has … spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds
I HAVE nothing to do today but to preach Jesus Christ. This was the old subject of the first Christian ministers: “Daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” When Philip went down to the city of Samaria, be “preached Christ unto them.” When he sat with the Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot, he “preached unto him Jesus.” As soon as Paul was converted, “straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues.” … And this theme is most pleasing to God the Father, who loves to hear his Son extolled and exalted. He delights in his Son, and those that delight in him are friends of God. When Jesus Christ is lifted up, it is as God the Father would have it, it is as the Holy Ghost would have it. SPURGEON
There are many religions today that revere Jesus as a great man. Islam teaches that Jesus was a great prophet, a man of substance sent by God, but when the final word is spoken it must be heard from Mohammed. Is that all there is? No! Jesus is so much more! As we have already seen He is the supreme and final revelation of God the Father to mankind, but as the chapter goes on to explain He is also supremely glorious Himself in His own right. Today we’ll look at one aspect
Heir of all things
Heb 1:2 tells us that the Father has appointed Jesus heir of all things. Obviously this does not mean that Jesus will inherit everything on the death of the Father! In Hebrew culture, the heir held a special place of honour and had delegated authority (Gen. 27:1-29). He also received a special blessing from his father (Gen. 27:4,35) and a double portion of his father’s inheritance. The writer is using these concepts to convey an idea of Jesus rank and dignity as the Son of God. Of course, as God, Christ was always Heir of all things. No appointment was needed, but so there could be no absolutely no doubt, and as a mark of His love, the Father has appointed Him Heir of all things.
Now, what does this mean, but that Christ possesses all things as an heir possesses his inheritance, that Christ is Lord of all things, as an heir becomes lord and ruler among his brethren. This appointment is to be fully carried into effect by-and-by; for, “now we see not yet all things put under him.” Christ is Lord of all the angels; not a seraph spreads his wing except at the bidding of the “Heir of all things.” There are no bright spirits, unknown to us, that are beyond the control of the God-man, Christ Jesus; and the fallen angels, too, are obliged to bow before his omnipotence. As for all things here below, material substances, men regenerate or unregenerate, God has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as his Father has given him.
He has put all things under his feet, “and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” He is Heir, or Master, and Possessor of all things; — let me say, of all sorts of blessings, and all forms of grace, for “it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;” and, as surely as time revolves, and you mark the fleeting minutes upon the dial’s face, the hour is coming when Christ shall be universally acknowledged as King of kings and Lord of lords. Already I seem to hear the shouts go up from every part of the habitable globe, and from all heaven and all space, “Hallelujah! for the Lord God, omnipotent reigneth.” All must willingly, or else unwillingly, submit to his sway, for his ‘Father hath appointed him “Heir of all things.” SPURGEON
So what does it mean that Christ is heir of all things? It includes:
• All that the Father has! "All that belongs to the Father is mine" (John 16:15, NIV).
As Jesus said: All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth Matthew 28:18 and this includes the authority to raise and judge the dead Jn 5:26-29. Yet this great one humbled Himself for us!
Phil 2: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
One day everyone will see Him as the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS Rev 19:16 and, in that day, they will finally bow to His authority. Sadly, for so many, they will stand before Him in fear as their judge, but for those of us that love Him now we shall welcome Him as our King.
We are His inheritance!
What amazes me is that we are one of the most important parts of Christ’s inheritance!
Eph 1:18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
We think we are rich to have such a Lord and Saviour, and indeed so we are. Amazingly He is also delighted to own the church as His inheritance. He sees us as the riches of the glory of His inheritance. Is it not wonderful to be so loved? In His love He does not sees us with all of our failings as shrivelled, scarred, filthy, smelly creatures, dressed in rags. To Him we are beautiful!
Eph.5:5Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,…27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Man’s response
How did men respond to the heir of all things?
This is the Heir come let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours Mark 12:7
How sad it is that He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. Jn 1:11. Jewish people still, by and large, reject Him and deny that Jesus is their promised messiah. So too do most of our own nation.
Even in a day to come, when people recognise Him they will still flee rather than repent:
15And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Rev 6
Joint Heirs!
Thankfully that passage in Jn 1 goes on: 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. How do we respond?
“How rich is our adorable Jesus! The blessed Lord, when He was upon the cross, had nothing. He had not where to lay His head; even His very garments were taken from Him. He was buried in a grave which belonged not to Him or to His family. On earth He was poor to the very last; none so absolutely poor as He. But as man, He is to inherit all things; as Jesus, God and man in one person. All angels, all human beings upon the earth, all powers in the universe, when asked, ‘Who is Lord of all?’ will answer, ‘Jesus the Son of Mary’” (Saphir).
Do you remember the old chorus?
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and hills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell
And He is my Father so they’re mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
And I know He cares for me.
The angels do not enjoy this type of relationship. They are God’s messengers, His servants. We are His children as we have already seen in Jn 1! Paul makes the same point in Romans 8:16, 17, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” Is it not wonderful that we sinners have become joint-heirs by his grace? He gave up enjoyment of His inheritance and became poor that we might be made rich!
2Co 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
Lk 9:58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Because He gave up so much we are now heirs of everything!
We are heirs of all things — heaven and earth, time and eternity, anything that you can conceive of the things that can be named and cannot be named, things conceivable and inconceivable, finite and infinite, human and divine. Christ’s property extends to all, and we are co-heirs. Therefore, our rights and our property extend to all things whatsoever they may be. “For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
Then in James 2:5 we are spoken of as being heirs of the kingdom. Christ hath a kingdom that shall never be moved. He ruleth over all. Doth he call himself a King? He hath made us kings. Is Christ a priest? We are priests unto our God. Does he sit upon a throne? We shall overcome and sit down with him upon His throne. Will he judge the nations? Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world! Will he be received with triumph by his Father? So shall we when his Father shall say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Will he be ruler over many things? So shall we be when he shall say unto us, “Enter ye into the joy of your Lord.” Hath he joy? We shall have joy too, for we shall have his joy. Is he glorious? So must we be, for we shall be made like him. Is he everlasting? So shall we be, for because he lives, we shall live also.
Brethren, I pray you, if your thoughts now can bring themselves to the matter, gather up all the honours, glories, treasures, riches, that your thought have ever conceived as belonging to Christ, and while the hymn is ringing in your ear — “Crown him, crown him, crown him, Lord of all;” remember that you are co-heirs with him. Oh! it is a glorious truth. Oratory may stand back, and eloquence may hold her tongue. The doctrine must be stated in its naked truth. We are heirs with Christ. All that he has, all that he is, therefore, belongeth to us. SPURGEON
What an honour is conferred upon us. To have anything to do with a great man is thought by some persons to be a distinguished mark of honour; to be set down in a will as co-heir with some great prince or noble would be considered indeed a great thing; but what honour is conferred on thee, believer, to be joint heir with the King of kings, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace! You have come here weak and feeble, doubting, distrustful, and cast down, but I tell thee, weak though thou be, and in thine own judgment less than the least of all yet the same hand that wrote Christ heir of all things wrote thy name with his, and till a hand can be found that can blot out thy Redeemer’s name thine shall stand and abide fair ever and ever.
Come, lift up thine head; envy no man his dukedom; think no man’s princeship worth thy coveting; thou art greater than the greatest, for thou art joint heir with Christ; in dignified relationship thou hast no superior upon earth; and except those who are joint heirs with thee, thou hast not an equal, since thou art joint heir with Christ. And wilt thou think, yet again, what cause there is that thou shouldest realize today thy union with Christ, since thou art joint heir with him. Soul, thou art linked with Christ in the Eternal business of the Eternal Father. When he decreed Christ to be blessed above all the blessed, he decreed thee to be a partaker with him.
Joint heirs with Christ Jesus! I defy you to exhaust that topic, though you should think about it all the days of the next week, nay, though you should muse upon it till eternity commences with your soul. SPURGEON
How then shall we live when such an honour is ours? Shall we live as slaves now when we are an heir of all things - a joint-heir with Christ? Shall we serve sin and Satan? Shall we live as paupers when we have resources that make the Bank of England or even Fort Nocks seem like a child’s piggy bank? It ill fits us, who are to wear a crown in heaven to go around in rags, spiritually speaking. So how shall we respond?
Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honour and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honour and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
