Jesus: The Believer’s Inheritance

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  It is fascinating to observe when people talk about inheritance, ones mind would immediately cater properties, wills, houses, jewelries, and other material things. All of which are centered on material temporal things.   In 1 Peter 1:4 , although The Apostle Peter used the term “inheritance” once in his letter, Apostle Paul on the other hand, mentioned this term in his letters several times. ( Eph_1:14 , Eph_1:18 , Eph_5:5 , Col_3:24 ,) But what is so significant about this particular emphasis of Peter? After all, he made a brief description of the inheritance (verse 4-5) a believer will obtain now that he is part of God’s family.   The term “inheritance” is not something new among Jewish ears. Going back to the OT, when God divided the promised land among the 12 tribes of Israel, every tribe received a portion of the land as their inheritance, except for the tribe of Levi…”the priestly tribe”. They were the only tribe that didn’t get one. God’s reason for doing so is interesting. Th

Does God reveal Himself to everyone?

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Yes. I believe that God reveals Himself to everyone.

First, God reveals Himself through creation. Psalms 19:1 says that “the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiworks.” Paul also made this clear in Romans 1:19-20 where he says, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Second, God revealed Himself through the eternal Word, the Son Jesus Christ, who lived among men (John 1:10, 11, 14). In John 14:9 (as in many other passages), Jesus declared that whoever has seen him has seen the Father.

Third, I believe that through the Scripture, God’s word, God continues to reveal Himself to mankind. How the Bible has endured and survived countless attacks, criticisms, ridicule, is in itself a proof of its divine origin. How the Bible has been translated and continues to be translated to many languages around the globe even reaching some of the remotest parts of the world is also evidence that God desires to reveal himself to everyone  though there may be people groups existing today that we would still consider unreached.

The Scripture is clear that apart from Christ, no one can come to the Father (John 14:6). It is only through Jesus Christ that a person is saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9, etc.). For this reason, there is no salvation to those who do not know Christ.

Since man’s creation, God has revealed Himself to man. It is man by choice that has rejected Him. Hence, they are without excuse according to Paul (Romans 1:19-20). I believe the eternal destiny of every human soul is in God’s hands and we can rest assured that He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). For this reason we are called to faithfully preach the gospel. I think what we need to focus on is not so much what happens to people who don’t hear the gospel but what must we do so that people will hear the gospel?

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