1 Peter 1:4—An inheritance

…to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…1 Peter 1:4

INHERITANCE!

Think about it! You have been named as the beneficiary of an unlimited, immeasurable inheritance.

Every single person who believes in Jesus is named in this magnificent will, written and signed in the blood of Jesus, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and authorized by none other than the Creator of the universe Himself.

And if I’m reading Peter’s letter correctly, you obtain this amazing inheritance through your living hope in Christ (see verse 3).

No doubt—it’s a good thing to be named as someone’s heir. They may still be alive, but your name is right there in the will. Their assets are still their own—you can’t access them as long as the person is alive—but upon their death (and then a waiting period of roughly six or so months in many cases in the US), those assets start showing up in your account.

Jesus shared some of His treasure—forgiveness, healings, deliverances—while He was alive on the earth, but it wasn’t until He died at Calvary that there was a transfer of funds from His account to yours. And again, according to Peter, the avenue by which you obtain this inheritance is through the living hope birthed in your heart by faith in His resurrection from the dead.

… reserved in heaven for you…

When my dad passed away seven years ago, I didn’t automatically gain access to the entire portion that he willed to me, even though when he was alive, he would bless me from time to time from his accounts. I did, however, receive a part of the inheritance he had specifically placed in my name to be received immediately upon his death. All I had to do to access those assets was to present the death certificate to the one in charge of that particular account. Life insurance is distributed in a similar manner—no probate and no waiting upon creditors to claim their share.

I have a theory that our inheritance in Christ is similar to this. First, all of us receive from Christ’s treasure before we know Him. We may not be aware of it; most of the time we are clueless when the Lord intervenes on our behalf and bestows a blessing on us—but Jesus is generous to the godly and the ungodly alike—and He pulls from His treasure chest of kindness as He seeks to bring each one of us to repentance.

When you become born again to a living hope through your faith in His resurrection, you’re still alive and well on planet earth, yet you are an entirely new being. You start learning about Him, His loving nature, and the specific treasure He has stored up for those who are called by His name. And you start making withdrawals on that inheritance which is reserved—stored away—in Heaven for you. Prayers get answered and you grow in grace.

But the full inheritance is not what we see, hear, or experience here on the earth. The full inheritance—from which we make prayer withdrawals now in this life—is reserved for us in Heaven—to be revealed to us on that Day when we see Him face to face. Right now, as the apostle Paul wrote, we only know in part. But then—when we arrive in Heaven—we will know fully, as fully as He has known us (see 1 Corinthians 13:12).

… an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away…

The inheritance we humans receive from our parents can perish all too easily. We can spend it all; the banks that hold it can collapse; the stock market in which it is stored may crash; someone could sue us for every dime, and, whoosh! there it goes; the buildings and properties we’ve received from our parents can burn down or blow away in a raging storm.

But the inheritance from God is imperishable. It will never be spent up; it will never collapse, crash, burn, or blow away. The inheritance you have received from God is indestructible and limitless.

Your inheritance from God is undefiled. Whereas wealth can be accumulated by unscrupulous methods—through fraud, taking bribes, charging outrageous interest, lying, stealing, and all other manner of devious, manipulative scheming—the inheritance from God is clean. It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it (see Proverbs 10:22). The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds (Psalm 145:17).

The inheritance of the Lord will not fade away. God will never slowly lose interest in you; He will never phase you out of His good graces—nor will His inheritance for you ever run out or lose its magnificence. It is imperishable; it is undefiled; it will never fade away.

It is reserved in Heaven—for you.

Dorothy

But as it is written, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9, International Standard Version

© 2015, Dorothy Frick