"In Him" - Christ Our Inheritance - Part 2

by Rev. Wayne Monbleau

There is no end to our inheritance in Christ, for Christ Himself is our inheritance!

“He made known to us the mystery of His will... that is, the summing up of all things in Christ,
things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance.”
Ephesians 1:9-11

Just as there is no end to God, or to the knowledge of God, so also there is no end to our inheritance in Christ, for Christ Himself is our inheritance! All of our spiritual treasures, for now and forever, are within Him.

A truly blessed part of our inheritance in Christ, and our seeking after the knowledge and understanding of our inheritance, is that, by definition, this means we must be perpetually drawing near, actively and consciously, to Jesus Christ Himself, our risen Lord and High Priest, for all of our riches are within Him. The richness of our lives, as we sojourn in this world, is in Christ Himself. He is our very strength and power, as we continue living each day humbly, joyfully and gratefully in Him who does “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).

This, the ongoing realization of our inheritance in Christ, in all practical reality, is the outworking of our living in the center with God, as a kingdom of priests. We have seen in Ezekiel that the priests nearest to the Lord in ministry in the temple also lived nearest to the Lord’s presence in the temple as a reward from God. Today, for us as God’s precious and acknowledged kingdom of priests, living in our center, in our inheritance, is living in Christ Himself. He is our way, our truth, and our life (John 14:6), every day of our lives, on a much higher, refined and intimate level than many may care to consider. For the enlightened and avowed priest unto the Lord, Christ Himself is our light. He is our All-In-All. To know Him, actively, as our daily and eternal inheritance IS to live from the center, effectively and effectually. This is what the apostle Paul was expressing to the church of the Colossians when He wrote of his desire (God’s desire) for the Colossians to understand “the true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2: 2-3).

Christ Himself is our actual Rock upon Whom we build our house (Matthew 7:24-27). He is our hope, our true anchor within the veil, within the veil of God’s Own presence and power, person and purpose (Hebrews 6:19-20). He is the Vine and we are the branches (John 15:5). We draw our very life and nourishment from the life that is Him Himself. It is the life of the True Vine which passes through us, as His branches, producing fruit in our lives so others may be fed and built up in Him. For the priest unto the Lord, this becomes our joyful, and normal, Christian life. The risen Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd and we are His sheep (John 10:14-15). We hear, through desire and discipleship, only His voice. The voice of a stranger (any non-Christ centered voice) we simply do not hear (John 10:5). We don’t even need to debate about other voices, for our Lord Himself has taken us over and beyond that. It is His Own voice that we attentively wait for and search for in His word, in spirit and in truth. We intently desire to hear, respond to and obey our Master’s voice - the voice of His finished work and perfection, the voice of His triumphant New Covenant.

In our last chapter I dwelt upon the many benefits which become ours as we learn to live from the center of our inheritance, Christ Himself, in reference to all things. By always acknowledging our Savior first and foremost, by actually making Him the center of our thoughts, we gain a healthy matured awareness of Christ Himself, allowing us to maintain a center of peace and victory in the midst of the multitude of teachings, issues, causes, disputes and controversies which swirl around and through Christ’s present body. Living in a Christ-centered awareness is the same as bringing all things into His light and presence first. It is in there, in His light, in the discipled light of Who He is as the Risen Lord, from the light and countenance of His New Covenant, that we may at last truly see. This is living from the center. This is what God promised to and blessed the priests of the inner court with in the Old Testament, living nearest to the presence of God, and this is now God’s fulfilled promise for us as His beloved children and priests in Christ Jesus!

In this chapter I want to speak more specifically concerning some of the awesome and abundant blessings which are presently ours in Christ Jesus, as part of our overwhelming eternal inheritance in Him. Sharing primarily from the apostle Paul’s letters to the churches of the Ephesians and the Colossians, we will see one magnificent gift after another that our Lord has freely granted us in Him. He has given us freely that which He paid such a high price for, by being God’s willing perfect sacrifice for sin and atonement at Calvary, fulfilling all prophecy and inaugurating the New Covenant in which we now live. Let us always be mindful of what our inheritance cost our Lord Jesus, so we may always be humble, contrite and grateful before him. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2nd Corinthians 8:9).

Let us always be mindful of what our inheritance cost our Lord Jesus, so we may always be humble, contrite and grateful before him.

In these two epistles, perhaps more than his others, Paul wrote candidly and in great detail concerning not only our inheritance in Christ but, importantly, how realizing or walking in our inheritance in Christ protects us from error in teaching and in personal conduct, even as it crowns and covers us with beauty and extreme blessings. Paul began His discussion of our inheritance in Jesus Christ in Ephesians chapter one by declaring (and let us declare with him), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). Amen and Hallelujah! We have been blessed (past tense) “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Living in our inheritance in Christ is our privileged life in our Lord, the privilege of discovering, realizing and living in each of these great spiritual blessings. I don’t know all of my blessings yet, but I continue each day, looking to my Lord, knowing that He Himself is my inheritance, the Way and the means by which each of these spiritual blessings of the heavenly places becomes reality in our lives.

The reason I’ve chosen “In Him” as the title for these two chapters concerning our inheritance in Jesus Christ, as you are about to see, is because the phrase, “In Him,” is exactly what Paul repeatedly writes when describing where our inheritance is. There is so much to share. Each one of these wonderful truths of our inheritance is worthy of great discussion and reflection. I will leave that to you for your joyful considerations afterwards in God’s presence and in His word. For now however, for the purpose of this chapter, within our broader discussion of our priesthood, I will cover briefly the main points Paul declares concerning our inheritance in Christ. May each of these blessed truths come into greater focus and fruition in your life even as you behold your risen Savior, Lord, King and High Priest.

Immediately following his opening blessing of Ephesians chapter one verse three, Paul wrote, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (1:4). Do you recall when, in John’s Gospel, Jesus said to His disciples, “You did not choose Me but I chose you” (John 15:16)? This is God’s most excellent choosing. It’s not only that He chose us, or foreknew us, as wonderful as this is to consider, but it’s that He has chosen us “in Him.” I am chosen in Christ and when I consciously live in Christ as my center I touch and am enveloped by this truth - the blessed truth of being chosen “in Him.” He has chosen us “in Him” so that (by His doing) we would be holy and blameless. Before Him we are holy and blameless and the more we live before Him, actively and consciously living before Him, the more we live in harmony with the truth of being holy and blameless before Him. He took the blame due to us for our sins, so that He could make us blameless “in Him.”

He chose us “in Him” before the foundation of this world. Oh the depths of the foreknowledge of God that may be revealed to us in just this one great truth. I believe the more we behold the amazing grace of this truth, the more we will live it out in experience. Because He first chose me, I may now go forth in the life He has called me to live, as His chosen one, living “in Him.”

What if someone, say your boss at work, were to say to you, “I want you to go over to such and such a town and pick up some important packages for me?” You would have your boss’s directive but that would be all that you had. The ability to do this task would still be hanging in the air. How am I supposed to get there and where is it? Suppose instead your boss said, “Take this brand new car that I’m giving to you, fully equipped, and go over to such and such a town and pick up some important packages for me?” Now that would be different, wouldn’t it? You would probably be so overjoyed with your new car that it would be a sheer delight to go out to the parking lot, get in your brand new car and go get those packages.

So it is for us in our Christian lives. Some see God’s word as only a list of commands and tasks for us to follow. However, in living from the center of our inheritance in Jesus Christ, we become and remain blessedly aware that all He has called us to do He has already provided for. He has chosen us “in Him,” making us “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17) so we may now live holy and blameless “before Him” and “in Him.”

Paul next says “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will” (1:5). One of the most overwhelming aspects of this discussion of our inheritance in Christ, for me, is that not only do we get to behold what God has done for us in Christ, but He also shows us why He has done what he has done and how he actually looks upon us. It is glorious to see that “He predestined us to adoption.” This is a more specific stating of our being chosen in Him. We are chosen in Him as adopted sons - how wonderful. But it is even more wonderful to see that “In love He predestined us to adoption.” God did it and God did it in love and because of love. It was “according to the kind intention of His will.”

And, once more, exactly how was this accomplished? “Through Jesus Christ.” In addition to the many “in Him” references we shall see, there are also “through Him,” “by Him,” “with Him” and “for Him” references as well. So I think it is good and safe and God-honoring to say that all that we have is by Him, through Him and in Him so we might be with Him and for Him too, for He is the supreme goal of all our devotion and life “so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything” (Col. 1:18).

Living from the center of our inheritance in Jesus Christ, we become and remain blessedly aware that all He has called us to do He has already provided for.

Seeing this great truth of our being chosen “in Him” before the foundation of the world and our being adopted “through Jesus Christ to Himself,” may I encourage you to say to God right now, “Thank you Father. In love You have predestined me to adoption through Jesus Christ to Yourself according to the kind intention of Your will. Thank you Lord. May I live and grow in this awareness for every day of my life.” Hallelujah - keep saying this until it is really yours, in the depths of your being, for this is the truth, the truth of our inheritance in Jesus Christ. Our inheritance becomes more effectually ours as we live from the center as God’s priesthood of the inner court.

The common sense in this also, of living as priests in reference to understanding our spiritual inheritance, is that as we spend quality regular time in God’s presence as His priests, ministering unto Him in His presence, this does the very heart-softening and drawing-near work needed within us in order for us to be able to truly receive these intimate and profound blessings from God. There are so many who do not know of their priesthood to God and often the result is of a person being even afraid of God, being more emotionally bound up rather than the set free person Jesus spoke of in John chapter 8 when He said “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Our priesthood sensitizes our hearts towards God and constantly calls us to God in spirit and in truth, thereby allowing us a more ready access from within to grasping and being grasped by these amazing truths of our inheritance “in Him.”

We’re actually not finished with our adoption yet as Paul continues writing after “according to the kind intention of His will,” by adding “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (1:6). God has freely bestowed the glory of His grace upon us and where is this grace? It is all “in the Beloved.” This is part of your eternal inheritance - the glory of God’s grace bestowed upon you “in the Beloved.” Given this truth, I can only encourage you to live your life in the conscious awareness of being “in the Beloved” as much as you can think it. For it is here, “in Him,” that your inheritance is alive and He is in you and you are in Him! Don’t you think that living each day with this type of awareness would do wonders for you, for your outlook on life and for your understanding of the world around you? By living first as a priest unto the Beloved, as God’s adopted child, chosen before the foundation of the world in Him, you will definitely be in a much better place of access and understanding when it comes to receiving the glory of His grace upon you. Would you like to experience more of the glory of God’s grace upon you? Step into your priesthood and into your inheritance “in the Beloved” living from the center, from the place where the glory dwells, and I guarantee you that God’s grace will be enlivened and more meaningful to you than ever.

Each of these truths that I’ve shared from Ephesians is part of our being blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). Where are these blessings? They are “in Christ” and not only “in Christ” but they are “in the heavenly places in Christ.” Are you ready to live out your blessings that are in the heavenly places in Christ? Then get yourself into a heavenly place with Christ, a heavenly understanding of the fullness of Christ. This represents receiving and believing Christ according to His finished work, death and resurrection. This may also represent our ministering unto the Lord for, as we continue being the faithful ministers of the inner court, we are ever drawn into the pure and divine awareness that our Savior has “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 2:6). I know of no other more real and actual way to access being seated “in the heavenly places in Christ” than through the realization and practice of our priesthood to the Lord. It is here, more than any other place or spiritual posture, that the truth of Christ’s victory radiates and permeates our lives with the knowledge of our completely triumphant Savior.
Do you notice that Paul first tells us about how God sees us “in the Beloved” and this makes sense to me. If we want to walk in our heavenly inheritance in Christ, it helps for us to know how God sees us. As we receive the truth that He has chosen us and adopted us in love “in the Beloved,” I have to believe we will be far more enabled to receive our inheritance with this understanding than we would be if we, even as Christians, were not exactly sure about how God sees us. In my counseling ministry, over these past 30 years, I have found time and again that people who do not know how God sees them tend to remain fearful and stand-offish from God, being influenced by concepts that may even be foreign to the nature and finished work of our Beloved Savior. In other words, how are you going to step into the storehouse of His blessings if you don’t even know how he sees you as His own loved, chosen, adopted child? On the other hand, won’t you joyfully, yet reverentially, run into His storehouse of blessings if you can see that this all is the “kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:5)?

After these introductory words of God’s gracious choosing of us “in Him,” Paul continues his discussion of our blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, of our inheritance in Him. In verses 7 - 8, the apostle wrote, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” Once more we see not only what God has done for us, as magnificent as that is, but Paul, writing under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, shows us the how and why too. We have been redeemed from death and forgiven of all our trespasses. Hallelujah! It is through the perfect sacrifice of our Savior’s blood that this has been accomplished, releasing grace in abundance over us that Paul even says God has “lavished on us.” There is so much goodness and power to behold here that one scarcely knows what to look at first. Redemption, forgiveness, the blood of our Savior and His lavished grace upon us - how would you like to live each remaining day of your life walking in the truth of this glorious understanding? Wouldn’t you like to live each day with the rock solid knowledge that you have been redeemed and forgiven of all your trespasses? Praise God, for this is His New Covenant inheritance for you in Jesus Christ. Remember it is always “in Him” that these blessings of the heavenly places are given to us and realized in us.

Remember it is always “in Him” that these blessings of the heavenly places are given to us and realized in us.

Allow me to reiterate once more that it is in living from the center, as a priest unto God, with the grateful knowledge that God is our inheritance, that these truths will be more readily available to you, in spirit and in life. I have counseled with so many people who definitely would like to know these truths and yet they stand outside of their priesthood and wonder why they have a hard time seeing these things, if they even see them at all.

Perhaps someone may be thinking about how to get into these “heavenly places” for the Scripture says we have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Let me say that when you are consciously living “in Him” that you are living in your heavenly places. And it is God, once again, who gives us this blessing. Paul wrote, “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6).
When you are consciously aware that “your life is hidden in Christ with God” (Col. 3:3), then you are in your heavenly places “with Him.” You are seated “with Him” because His work is finished and He has graciously included you in His victory and finished work. The writer of Hebrews put it this way concerning Jesus, “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). The act of our Messiah sitting down represents His complete victory - His work of redemption and of inaugurating the New Covenant is done - and your being seated with Christ means you also are victorious “in Him,” in practice, as you are “seated with Him.”

Jesus Christ, our full Messiah, has given us His victory. This is a heavenly places realization. Living “in Him” is living in victory because He Himself is our victory. Living “In Him” is the same as being in the heavenly places for that is where He is and where we are seated with Him. And, not to confuse you, but to remind you, that He is in us. This is our access. When we are living “in Him” we are in the heavenly places and this is why we are able to realize these heavenly blessings of our inheritance, even though other believers may be living as if none of these things are true or as if they must still be earned or maintained through human effort.
Returning to Ephesians, Paul next makes this rather lengthy statement. “In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on earth” (Eph 1: 8-10). Once more we see that it is the “kind intention of His will” motivating God “which He purposed in Him.” God has made known to us the mystery of His will and we see or realize this “in Him.” The priest unto the Lord has already understood that it is all about Messiah but now God is clearly stating His desire and will that “all things” for all of His children shall be summed up in Christ Jesus. While this Scripture may be looking ahead to the end of the ages being summed up in Christ, as priests unto God we are privileged to live this way now - by summing up all things in, and directing all of our thoughts and actions to, Jesus Christ!

Living in Christ as our fullness each day allows us ever-ready access to our inheritance because “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are in Him.

Jesus Christ, Himself, is the object of all of our thoughts and all of our devotion. Jesus Christ, Himself, holds within Himself all of the treasures of our inheritance. In Colossians chapter two Paul wrote about God’s will being for all Christians to possess “a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3). All of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ Jesus and this is exactly Who we need to look to and live in so we may avail ourselves of these treasures.

Even though this passage from Ephesians looked ahead to the culmination of times, when all things will be summed up in Jesus Christ, it is certainly presently true for us, living as God’s children right now in this ever darkening world, that as we see all things in our lives being summed up in Christ, this becomes just one more way of saying Christ is our center and we live from the center in Him. By living from the center “in Him,” where all things are summed up “in Him” we are in concord with the “true knowledge of God’s mystery” which is “Christ Himself.” And living in Christ as our fullness each day allows us ever-ready access to our inheritance because “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are in Him.

This is exactly where Paul goes next in his discussion of our heavenly blessings in Christ. Verse 11 of Ephesians chapter one says, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance.” All of these blessings (every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place in fact) are all part and parcel of our never ending eternal inheritance in Christ. As you behold truth after truth and blessing after blessing being realized in the risen Jesus Christ, this leads us all to the ultimate truth that “I am their inheritance” (Ezekiel 44:28). Hallelujah! God has given us all things “in Him.” But for me, even better than this, is that it is the Lord Himself Who is our inheritance.

End