What Does it Mean to be an "Heir of Grace"?

           Everyone has sinned. Everyone has fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone has missed the mark. This shouldn’t be shocking to you. We only have to look around, or turn on the news to see that something is wrong in this world. Ever since the fall of man, when sin entered the world, we have been faced with two choices; to follow God, or to follow our own sinful desires. Despite all of this, God still desires to be with us. It’s a crazy revelation that we sometimes can’t wrap our minds around. It is nonetheless true. God enjoys you. He loves you. Even when you ignore God, and turn away from Him, He still wants to be with you and pour His blessings out on you.

            Imagine this- you’re a criminal. You’ve murdered and stolen and lied. They drag you into court in chains and you listen to the accuser listing off all your trespasses. You’re sentenced to eternal death. Before anyone can lay a finger on you, the Man you’ve wronged walks in. He declares that He will take your place and take on the full wrath of the Judge because He loves you. Even though you’re a criminal who has spat in His face more times than you could count, He wants to be with you. So they take Him, a blameless innocent, and kill Him for your crimes. But He won’t stay in the grave. Spoiler: He defeats death. He rises again in glory! And here’s the best part: if we accept His free gift of grace and mercy, we can not only be with Him forever, but we actually get to inherit the kingdom of God. The Father makes us co-heirs with Christ. Now that we’ve accepted His grace, we are adopted into the family of God. We become heirs to everything God has in store for us. No longer are we bound to sin. Instead, we’re sons and daughters of the King of Kings. That’s what it means to be co-heirs with Christ.

 

                                                                Anonymous



What Does it Mean to be an "Heir of Grace" ?

Romans 8:16-17

¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

………………………………..

What does it mean to be an “Heir of Grace”?  I’m suffering from extreme writers block right now…… It’s pretty sad, especially since this paper is due to be blogged tomorrow. Please Jesus, help me write this paper! What does it mean to be a co-heir with you? What does being a child of the One True King entail? Maybe this amazing gift can be summed up in a simple phrase. “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Hold the eye rolls, readers! I think Uncle Ben’s words can be tied in pretty well with Jesus’s gift of sonship (or daughtership *cough) to us.

When Jesus brought us up from our little pits of sin, not only did He save us from the just punishment we deserved, but He also made us royalty! But being an heir of something does not mean skipping through the daisy fields. Meaning, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” As royalty we are called to “Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God”. Being sons and daughters of our King means we need to fight for what’s right, love people, and serve and glorify Jesus. This is our responsibly. Note the words fight, and love. Used in the proper context, these are some of the hardest things we’ll face in life! Just because we inherit the kingdom of God, does not mean this present life will always be easy.

Do not despair! With our present “…….great power and great responsibility,” in hand, we must never stop looking ahead to the place Jesus has prepared for us! Look forward, “Heirs of Grace”. You we’re called to live out “great power, and great responsibility.”

Foundling

What Does it Mean to be an "Heir of Grace"?

While I was doing my research of what people thought being a joint-heir with Christ was, I ran across this article.  It was written by Dr. Jack Arnold in March 2000.  He explained it like this: 

“’And joint-heirs with Christ’ The Christian is a joint heir of the Father with the person of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Father’s Son, and to Christ God has bequeathed everything because Christ is the only rightful heir to the Father’s estate. But the Christian is in spiritual union with Christ because of the new birth and is therefore a joint-heir to the inheritance.If two brothers inherited an estate as equal heirs, then the estate would be divided into two equal parts and each would be given the same amount. But if the two are made joint-heirs, then both of them have equal rights to the total inheritance. They both look at the total inheritance as theirs. As joint-heirs with Christ, the total inheritance of Christ is the inheritance of every believer”.

I think this explains it pretty well.  It shows that Christ is the rightful heir. However, because Christ died for us, we are new creations and are now joint with Him.  Christ is King and if we accept Him into our lives we can become His heirs. 

StarrrGirly

 



Camp Chronicles - Wednesday

"Describe practice today in one word."

"Emotional," Several girls replied to my one-word survey at dinner tonight. Today there were many tears, but also smiles of joy. The tears were partly attributed to several videos we watched throughout the day. I got chills as I listened to the story of Christ's death from the eyes of Simon of Cyrene. I saw Peter realize the depth of God's grace, though he was the last person that deserved it. I watched a man let God mold him into the person God wanted him to be, but the "chiseling" process was painful.

"Freeing," Many other girls answered. Early in the day we sat in the front rows with our masks. Eden had us pray about taking off our real masks in real life, then hang the fake ones on the cross when we were ready. And masks came off in a big way. I thought long and hard, because a mask isn't something I take lightly. I reached the point of surrender slowly and tearfully, but God brought me to a place of trust in Him. I pray that the girls and I will treasure that moment for years to come.

"A roller-coaster!" Some said. Today had some really high moments and some low moments. We finished choreographing "In Christ Alone" and the freestyle dance time near the end was definitely one of those beautiful moments for me.

"Laid-back," One student mentioned, and another said "relaxed." We had much less physical activity today and replaced the dancing with more devotional time. We talked about David and the mask he wore. We worked on the songs with less movement this practice, but several girls thought that even though we didn't move around as much, the day was still "tiring."

Other answers included "peaceful," "indescribable," "confusing," "fun," filled with "anticipation," like a "rainbow," "mixed," and "strong." The girls' different opinions on the day impacted me nearly as much as the day itself! I have known some of these girls prior to camp, and some I've never met before. I was able to relate to many of their answers and the explanations behind them.

Personally, I felt two things today. First, there was a spiritual battle going on in the room. Second, I felt like we united to fight that battle, and I saw God working today. And guess what? There's still two days and a concert left for Him to make more miracles! Stay tuned to see how God wraps this story up! While you're waiting, be praying about the girls' decisions to trust God with their masks, leaving them at the Cross.

Thanks for reading!

The Masquerade Ball, Part 3 - "Confronted With Truth"

by An Orphan Crowned

“What can I do for you, what can I bring for you;

What kind of song would you like me to sing?

‘Cause I’ll dance a dance for you, pour out my love for you;

What can I do for you, beautiful king?”

Jenn Johnson, A Little Longer

*****************************

(Continued from the Unmasked Man)

After the way she rejected him, she never expected to see the Man again after that night at the ball. Days turned into weeks, and her mask seemed heavier than ever. She was slipping and she knew it, but the worst part wasn't that she was hurting more than ever; the worst part was that no one realized that.

She had certainly tried to clean up her act. She was now taking lessons again to learn to dance better. She was unconsciously hoping that someday, she could see the unmasked Man again and actually be prepared to dance with him. She had stopped entertaining the handsome men who came to call, and no longer cared for the Friday evening dances, for the talk with the other revelers now felt hollow.

She had unthinkingly decided that once she had perfected herself, she would be free to take her mask off. Still, perfection seemed farther away with each new morning.

One September evening, the girl slipped her gloves on as she walked into the all too familiar ballroom. She wished that she wasn't expected to keep company with the other guests. It’s all so dreary, all of the conversations, the girl mused. She was actually looking forward to the dancing tonight, for she had learned several new steps in her lessons and was ready to show them off.

The ballroom was elegantly decorated, though some might say that it was furnished slightly too much. The girl placed her dance card on the table that had been set out for the men to choose their dances for the evening. After cautiously mingling with the other invited guests for the first hour, the girl headed to pick up her dance card and to find her first partner. The initial two slots were taken by Fear and Pride. She stood next to Fear during the host’s welcome, rehearsing her steps in her head. Fear was a short, wiry man, with a handsome mask covering his entire face. She had found, in the past, that his dancing was halting and unrehearsed. Hopefully he won’t make a fool out of me tonight, she said to herself.

The music began. She and Fear began to sway in time. Suddenly, she felt as if every eye was on her and her partner as she tried to complete her new steps. She missed her turn, and because Fear didn't pull her back quickly enough, she was jostled by the other couples nearby. “Watch it!” Fear hissed. The girl’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment and she dutifully stepped back into her place. This is certainly not the greatest start to my night, she sighed.

That dance couldn't have been over soon enough. Next she met Pride, one of the few men who still even slightly caught her interest when he came to call. A tall, confident gentleman with a tasteful black mask, Pride was very noble and treated the girl with respect. He was very complimentary of her appearance, and she was able to finish her sequence beautifully during their dance together.

“Well done, madam!” Pride exclaimed as they moved together elegantly. “Your footwork is exquisite!” The young lady felt light-hearted and felt as if she truly might be getting closer to that perfection she had been reaching for. She curtsied gleefully when the dance was over and glanced at the names further down her card.

Truth, Hope, and Love, the next three words read. The girl had never met these men before. She slid the card into her pocket and looked up into the deep, unwavering eyes of the Unmasked Man. “You!” She exclaimed, startled. “Why are you here again?” What is he doing here? I’m not perfect yet! Her mind screamed.

The Man smiled graciously. “I believe I have a commitment to dance with you. In fact, I think I have your next three dances.” The girl then realized that this was her next partner. She knew that he was unfalteringly truthful, always hopeful, and eternally loving. Even so, her thoughts still quietly spoke pride into her. Perhaps he will be impressed with how far I've made it… She slowly took his hands and waited for the music.

The tempo was perfect for the new steps she had learned. As Truth, the Man was a confident lead and partner. Unfortunately, he was too good. The girl could not keep up with him and all of her training seemed to fail her as she stumbled. She tried to hide her bruised conscience, substituted her failed steps with quick strides, and attempted to keep up with Truth. It was certainly her poorest performance that evening. Why could she never seem to get it right? First, I rejected his offer to dance, and now, when I thought that I was ready, I can't even complete a basic turn with him!

“Remember what I told you?” Truth questioned, seeing her deflated expression. “You aren't worthy, and that doesn't matter. But you have also tried to make yourself worthy, which matters to me no more than your unworthiness. That’s the Truth, plain and simple. You can never dance beautifully, or take your mask off on your own account. Does this make sense?” The girl nodded sorrowfully as she realized she had missed the point.

“Don’t worry, dear.” The Man whispered as a tear slid down the girl’s face. “There’s still Hope.”

*****************************

I worked on my sin. I wanted to clean up the mess I had made of my life. I wanted to do something that would make God proud. I never realized that I can't make God proud. I did church stuff my whole life and did good things! I tried to follow all of the rules, and I prided myself on the ones I could keep. I really wanted to do big things for God, but I still wasn't quite willing to give up my mask and just rest in God’s love. Sadly, I didn’t easily learn that neither my words nor my works could help me in the end. Then, I finally found Hope.