Num. 27:8-11; Rom. 8:15-17, The Glorious Son: Inheritance

When Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, the issue between Abram and God was that God promised Abram many descendants, and Abram had no son, no heir (Gen. 15:1-7).  Eliezer of Damascus was going to inherit all Abram’s possessions upon his death.  But God said, “No! You will have a son!”  And Abram believed God.  And the rest is history.

Our intimate and deep relationship with God is bound up in the fact that we are heirs.  Because we are sons, we speak to God as Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15-17).  In the Biblical view of things, upon the death of a man, the inheritance goes to the sons.  In the case of multiple sons, a double portion went to the oldest son, or to a son so designated by the father.  There are many important stories in the OT that revolve around inheritance, such as Isaac, Jacob and Esau; Jacob, Reuben, Judah and Joseph; and Ruth and Boaz.  And each of these stories is critical to the ancestry of the Christ.

Sons receive an inheritance from their father.  This includes the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Son of God receives an inheritance from the Father.  In Heb. 1:1-4, inheritance forms bookends for the description of Christ: whom He has appointed heir of all things … as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (the angels).  On what basis is Jesus the heir of all things?

·       It is based in God’s decree.  Psalm 2:7-8 says this: I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.  Ask of me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.  Christ was a faithful Son to the One who appointed Him to this inheritance (Heb. 3:2).  In Genesis, in the story of Jacob’s sons, you will remember that Judah, the fourth son, was the one blessed to produce the Messiah.  And Joseph, the eleventh son, received the double portion.  What happened to the older sons?  Reuben disgraced his father through an immoral relationship; and Levi and Simeon disgraced themselves by their anger.  They were not faithful sons; so, Jacob appointed others.  Christ was a faithful Son.

·       It is based in Creation.  Jesus was the creator of all things (John 1:3).  As Col. 1:16 says: For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him. 

·       Not only did He create all things; He is the sustainer of all things.  Col. 1:17 goes on to say: And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  He holds everything together.

(To be continued.)