There is a saying that you have probably heard before that ideas have consequences. Ideas have consequences. If a man has been indoctrinated in the school of social darwinism and thinks he is nothing more matter that has been acted on by time over millions of years, has evolved from an ape, has no intrinsic value or transcendent meaning it will have serious consequences for how that man thinks and lives. 

If, on the other hand, that man is convinced that he has been created by God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, indwelt by the Spirit of adoption, a child of God, and an heir, it will have serious and glorious consequences on how that man thinks and lives. Brothers and sisters, there is a war to make disciples! We are all being discipled! The question is by whom and to what? Ideas have consequences. Well, I want to look at a single verse today - one we didn’t get to last time that has an idea in it… more than an idea, divine truth, of your identity as a Christian. It is almost beyond belief that it is true, but then again - all the truest things are. 

It has to do with inheritance. We are going to look at just one verse (v. 17) and the reason is because this is a transitional verse in Romans 8. We have been looking at the truth of what already belongs to us - there is no condemnation now. We have been set free by the Spirit of life now. The Spirit dwells in us now. We are children of God now. Verses 18-26 will help us to look wisely at the world and understand why it is the way it is (fallen, corrupt, groaning) and look to the future in hope. And verse 17 is the hinge verse. It has to do with inheritance. And an inheritance is something that we take full possession of in the future. It is something that we have not yet taken full possession of. 

And we live in this tension of what is already and not yet. And again verse 17 is the hinge, and you see it in the last part of the verse… “Ah, he’s going to take us in another direction here”. So let’s read our text again:

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him. 

We see five things in these verses that have to do with inheritance:

1. Children are heirs
2. The inheritance
3. The basis of our inheritance
4. The pathway to inheritance
5. The down payment of inheritance

All God’s Children Are Heirs

The Spirit himself bears witness to our children that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs. 

You see the “if/then” statement. If you are this, then you are also that. If you are a child, then you are an heir. We could go back further. If you have received the Spirit of adoption, then you are a child, and if you are a child, then you are an heir. This is airtight. There are no children who are not heirs. This ought to rid us of pride and striving, thinking that we either need to or have ascended to a higher class of Christians to receive this inheritance. And it ought to free us of the despair of thinking, “I have not reached that class of super-Christian and so maybe I am left out.” If a child, then an heir. 

Think about it. Every child of God has been ransomed by the same blood of Christ and is currently indwelt by the same Spirit. Of course there are degrees of maturity among God’s children, and we ought to be growing in maturity, and our usefulness is often in relation to our maturity. But no true child of God left out of His will. If children, then heirs. 

It has nothing to do with gifts or calling. It does not say, if a gifted preacher, then an heir. Or if an effective evangelist, then an heir. Or if a possessor or great prophetic powers, then an heir. Or if an angelic singer, then an heir. Or if smart or beautiful, or successful, then an heir. NO! Every child is an heir. 

Nor is the inheritance dependent upon our diligent labors and spiritual exercises. Length of prayers… passion in worship… zeal in evangelism… busy in service… diligence in bible study. These things do not make us heirs. No, because you are a child you are an heir. If you are a child, born into God’s family, you are an heir. Listen to the apostle Peter lay this truth out for us:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ~ 1 Peter 1:3-4

All of God’s children are heirs. What is the inheritance?

The Inheritance Is God Himself

If children, then heirs - heirs of God…

Heirs of God. Brothers and sisters, please give me your fullest attention. This is a magnificent truth! But, this is a bit of a strange statement. Heirs of God. What does that mean? Usually, we think of being heirs of an estate. Possessions. Property. Not the owner himself. So we need to think through this a bit. What does it mean to be heirs of God.  

Well, to start with, I do think it means that we are heirs of all that God owns. Which is an astounding thought. Suppose you are the sole heir of a distant uncle who leaves his estate to you. And his estate consisted of a little two-bedroom house on the beach in Florida. You could drive to that house and say, “That is my inheritance.” It’s yours now. Now think of what God possesses! Stretch your arms from east to west, north to south… it’s all his! Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.” it all belongs to him. And we are his heirs. You might think, “we get the earth?” Yes! What does our Lord Jesus say? 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5) 

How great is the sum of all that God owns? Incalculable. And yet as great as that is, it is only part of the meaning of these words “heirs of God”, and not the main part. Because the apostle Paul says that God himself belongs to us. We are “heirs of God”. David said, 

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

The Lord is our portion. He is our inheritance. He belongs to us. Of all the billions of galaxies and the trillions of stars that God has made, it is a drop in the bucket compared to what God could create, and of who our God is. And this is what our God says to us: “The one who conquers will have this heritage: I will be his God…” We rightly humble ourselves before God and say, “We belong to you God. We are yours. You are Lord.” What is stunning, is that God has so pledged himself to his covenant people that he says to us “I am yours.” And we may say, “God, you are my God”. 

John Piper wrote a book entitled “God is the Gospel” (great book), and in the book he said (I think this is close to an exact quote):

The greatest gift of the gospel is that God gives us Himself. Only when we receive Him as our highest treasure will we truly know the beauty of all Jesus Christ has accomplished.

We are heirs of God. This inheritance seems so astounding, how can it be true? Well, it’s not because we are good enough children or have shown our worth to God. The basis of this inheritance is union with Christ. I get that from the little phrase: “fellow heirs with Christ”. 

The Basis of Inheritance is Union With Christ

Listen to the flow of what Paul says:

The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…

Fellow heirs with Christ. We participate in being an heir with him. Jesus Christ, as the firstborn Son, the only begotten Son is the One who deserves this inheritance. We don’t. He does. He brings us into this. This word translated “fellow heir” (co-heir, joint-heir) is used only four times in the New Testament. And it means to participate in something with another. 

In Ephesians 3:6, we are told that the Gentiles are fellow heirs with Jewish believers, members of the same body, partakers of the same promises in Christ. In 1 Peter 3:7, Peter says that wives are heirs with their husbands of the grace of life. Hebrews 11:9 says that Abraham went to live in the land of promise with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. In each of those cases, it is equals that are sharing the promise. Jews and Gentiles are equal members of the body and partake of the promises. Husbands and wives are equal heirs of God’s grace and eternal life. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (at least on a human level) are equal heirs of the promised land. This is not like that. Our text says we are fellow heirs with Christ. We are not equal to Christ, and yet we are brought in to share in the inheritance with Christ that he deserves!

Last week, we looked at how we have received the Spirit of adoption, and it is by the Spirit that we echo the words of Christ and cry “Abba! Father!” In adoption, Jesus shares His status as son with us. And here we see this carries over into inheritance. It’s all ours because of Him and the fact that we are united to Him. Galatians 4:4-7 is almost exactly like Romans 8:15-17. Listen:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. ~ Galatians 4:4-7

You’ve been redeemed. You’ve been adopted. You have received the Spirit of sonship. You cry “Abba! Father!”. You are an heir. And all of it is because you are united to Jesus Christ. Is there anything better than this? Charles Spurgeon taken up with this truth said,

This, beloved, seems to me to be the sweetest part of all the inheritance. Once let me know that I am one with Christ, and so have become a fellow-heir with him, and it is like heaven below to my soul. 

The Pathway To Inheritance is Suffering

We are fellow heirs with Christ. But like Christ, the path to glory is not flowery beds of ease, but the Calvary road. The pathway to this inheritance is one of suffering. Listen to what Paul says:

Fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him. 

We are called to share not only in the inheritance with Christ, but to share in His suffering as well. There is no crown without a cross. Some want to limit this only to outright persecution. I do not think that is right. As we continue in Romans 8, we’ll see this path of suffering we are called to includes more than just hostility and persecution for the gospel. J.C. Ryle explains this:

All the children of God have a cross to carry. They have trials, troubles, and afflictions to go through for the Gospel's sake. They have trials from the world, trials from the flesh, and trials from the devil. They have sharp trials from relations and friends--hard words, hard treatment, and hard judgment. They have trials in the matter of character: slander, misrepresentation, mockery, insinuation of false motives--all these often rain thick upon them. They have trials in the matter of worldly interests. They have often to choose whether they will please man and lose glory--or gain glory and offend man. They have trials from their own hearts. They have each generally their own thorn in the flesh--who is their worst foe! This is the experience of the sons of God.

It is precisely in the discussion of being children of God and heirs that some veer into the error of thinking we are exempt from suffering. That something strange is happening to us when we do suffer Not so. We have trials of all kinds. And it is in part because we are children and this is the path our Father has chosen. This is the training ground for glory. But going back to the idea of persecution. The days of being able to fly under the radar and mind our own business and live quiet lives are numbered. 

I believe, increasingly, if we are faithful to live and speak as Christians, we will endure scorn and hostility from the world. “O, you are a Christian are you”? And unless you are one of those progressive types, you will be called narrow-minded, a bigot, hater, misogynist, racist, homophobe, etc.” We just need to settle in our minds now that this is the path we are called to walk as fellow-heirs with Christ. The pathway to glory is riddled with trials and hardships - small and big. 

The Down Payment of Inheritance

So is the inheritance all future and the only thing we can expect in the present is difficulty? No! The inheritance is future. It is something we look forward to. But we have a down payment now. And it is no small down payment. The Holy Spirit as down payment is laid out for us several places in the NT. And we see it here, I believe. Look at how verse 16 and 17 connect.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God, and if children, heirs…

The Spirit gives us a deep and profound witness in our spirits that we are children of God. And if you are a child, you are an heir. What is this witness? It is a foretaste. It is the down payment. Ephesians 1:14 says we have,

Been sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. 

What I love about the language of guarantee or down payment is because though it certainly points us forward to the full measure of the inheritance, it also drives the point home that what we have now through the indwelling Spirit is real and a living foretaste of what’s to come. He bears witness that we are children. And if we are children, then we know we are full heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. And as we endure hardships, it doesn’t sink us. We are bearing the cross as we wait for the crown of glory. 

I started by saying that ideas have consequences. We understand that what we have been looking at today is not just an idea or an ideology to be compared and contrasted with other human ideologies. It is divine truth. Do you think this would have far-reaching consequences for our lives if we believed it? Absolutely. Let me mention two. 

Effects

1. An eagerness to live as a true child of the King of kings in holiness, obedience, and integrity. We would be all the more eager to glorify our Father, advancing his Kingdom and purposes wherever we can. 

2. Humility and hope and endurance through suffering. And when we suffer for his sake, bearing the reproach of Jesus Christ, wearing it as a badge of honor (unpack Acts 5). They had walked with the Lord and heard him teach, “Whoever would come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever…” This is the pathway to glory. Paul says in the next verse (v. 18) which we will get to next time, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The future is glorious beyond measure. The indwelling Spirit is with us now giving a foretaste of that now. And so we press on!