Unshakeable Hope 3 ~ You are an Heir of God Numbers 13 and Romans 8:14-17 Series on Promises of God each week messages to give us hope Imagine this scene about 1446 BC (give or take). There are 600,000 Israelite men plus women and children right on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey. You ll have to excuse their behavior they don t know a lot about milk and honey they ve been slaves their entire lives. In Egypt, slavery is all they ve ever known. This man Moses comes into Egypt and delivers them out of Egypt to the southernmost point of the Promised Land, it is the land God had promised to their forefathers all the way back to the promise God made to Abraham. This is what Moses did he sent 12 men into the land. All that was left was to scout the terrain, chart the course and begin enjoying the land. Twelve men one for each tribe of Israel. He sent them in to the land to bring back a report of what they find. I ll let Moses pick up the story in Number 13:27-32: 27 They gave Moses this account: We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, We can t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. (NIV) With two small but very powerful words - We can t fear snuffed out faith and the people of the promise lost sight of the promise. As a result of their fear and doubt they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness.
What the Israelites overlooked was that God had not told them to take the land by force but to receive it as a gift. God had clearly said that he was giving [the land] to the Israelites (verse 2). All they had to do was believe the promise and receive it. Listen to Numbers 13:1-2 The Lord said to Moses, Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. (NIV) Notice the verb giving - (In Hebrew they don t have past, present and future tense just two perfect and imperfect) it s perfect tense implying it s a completed action. It may be something that happens in the future but God is talking about it as if it s already happened. God made a promise to the Israelites that he would give them this land they aren t there yet but God is talking as if it has already happened. Twelve men when into the land. Ten came back and said we can t. Two came back and said we can. What do you think made the difference? I believe they understood the promise to live out of their inheritance. Ten of them saw circumstance. Two of them saw inheritance. Did you know that you too have an inheritance? You do. Just as God had promised the land to the Israelites, God has made a promise to us. We have an inheritance. Would you like to know what it is? Romans 8:17 You are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. That s good news isn t it! I really like the Message Translation of this verse: This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, gravetending life. It s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike What s next, Papa? God s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what s coming to us an unbelievable inheritance! You have been given an unbelievable inheritance! Let s unpack a little about what that says.
1: Know who he is - our Father. He is the best version of father. He is good and just, merciful and full of love. He makes a lot of promises but he keeps every one of them. He gives his children the very best. Sometimes he says no to what they want so he can give them what they need. That may not have been your experience with your earthly father. But I want you to know that your heavenly father not only accepts you but he chooses you. You are chosen. Ephesians 1:3-5 states: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (NIV) In our culture we understand adoption as a beautiful process, a family taking in a child who doesn t have a family to become part of their own. There are few things more beautiful. But think about this for a moment usually, the family is the one who chooses the child. The child does not usually chose the family. So it is with our heavenly father. We did not choose the heavenly father- he chose you! He chose you before there was even a you! 2. But it is not enough to just know the father, you need to know who you are. You are more than slaves, servants or saints, you are God s children and co-heirs with Christ. As heirs, we have a legal right to all the resources of heaven even all the resources that Jesus himself possesses. At times we may feel rejected, unworthy, and deficient, but we have this unshakable promise from God that he has endless resources available to us. God has endless love for us. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1 NIV).
God has endless hope for us. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23 NIV). God has endless grace for us. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8 NIV). God has endless wisdom for us. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all (James 1:5 NIV). Even as people of faith, there will be loss and pain in this life but what loss, pain or experience can we have in this life that can possibly compare to our inheritance? Paul says in Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not [even] worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. One of my favorite worship songs right now is Who You Say I Am by Hillsong. Who am I that the highest King would welcome me I was lost but He brought me in oh His love for me oh His love for me Who the Son sets free Oh is free indeed I m a child of God Yes I am Free at last He has ransomed me His grace runs deep While I was a slave to sin Jesus died for me Yes He died for me Who the Son sets free Oh is free indeed I m a child of God Yes I am In my Father s house There s a place for me I m a child of God Yes I am I am chosen Not forsaken I am who You say I am You are for me Not against me I am who You say I am You are a child of God! 3. Know who the Father is, who you are and what you have in Jesus. What do you have in Jesus?
God has put a down payment on your inheritance we can t fully experience it now in this life but it didn t stop God from giving an early gift. Ephesians 1:14: The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God s own people, resulting in the honor of God s glory. CEB Now this is important because the Holy Spirit is the reason we can even have the spiritual capacity to even understand what we have in Jesus, what our inheritance is. Paul prays this I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God s call, what is the richness of God s glorious inheritance among believers, 19 and what is the overwhelming greatness of God s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God s powerful strength. (CEB) As children of God we can ask for wisdom, for revelation, for redemption, for the greatness of God s power. This is available to us right now. That is a promise. Now, I want you to imagine this sight. The scene takes place this time about 1400 BC (give or take). 601,000 Israelite men plus women and children are on the cusp of entering the Promised Land. They have come back to this position once more, ready to enter the land of milk and honey only Joshua and Caleb remember what that tastes like because all of the rest of the generation (including Moses) died in the wilderness. Here is what Joshua did After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it. (Joshua 3:2-4 NIV)
They had never been this way before. The circumstances hadn t changed, the walls were still fortified, the people were still giants. The circumstances had not changed but neither had the inheritance. This time the people choose faith over fear. Joshua didn t say follow me because I have a great plan. He didn t say follow me because I have a great strategy. He didn t even tell them don t be afraid. What he did tell them When you see the Ark the Lord your God take up your position and follow it. That s it that is the plan. See God and have the courage to follow him. This time they would receive their inheritance. Wilderness or Promised Land. Where are you? Walking around in circles in the desert or marching in conquest to victory. You can drift into the wilderness but people never accidentally stumble into Promised Land living. I love what Joshua said in Joshua 3:5 - Joshua told the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. I believe the Lord wants to do wonders among you. Do you believe that? You need to know who your Father is he is a promise make and promise keeper. And you need to know who you are child of the one true king. And you need to know what you have in Jesus - the overwhelming greatness of God working in you right now. This is how people of the promise live out of their inheritance and not their circumstances. Because they don t say we can t, they see God can, no, God already has. May we be a people who see the same. Amen