THE HEIR OF THE WORLD
THE INHERITANCE OF ABRAHAM
AND HIS SEED
Edited from writings by
C. H. WELCH.
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And if
children, also Heirs, indeed, of God, and Joint-heirs with Christ;
if indeed, we suffer together,
so that we may be also glorified together:
(Romans 8:
17).*
[*NOTE. In the translation
above, there is no excuse for any disciple of
Christ to ignore the conditional clause in the text.
Regenerate believers not prepared to suffer with Christ,
cannot expect to be accounted worthy to
attain to that age (Luke 20: 35)! Therefore
(at the Judgment Seat of Christ), some Christians who will have forfeited their
inheritance (Gal.
5: 21, Eph. 5: 5); and others will be glorified
together with Him! 2 Tim. 2: 4-9. cf.
Heb. 11: 35b; Phil. 3: 11; 1 Pet. 4: 1, 12-16; Rev. 2: 10, R.V.
See also Being Glorified Together With Him (The Reward Of The Inheritance)
by Charlie Dines. This book can be purchased from Amazon.]
Throughout
the pages of Scripture we find references to the fact that God, in His love and
grace, not only purposes to save men from sin and its consequences, but also to
bring those who are saved into such relation to Himself as is contained in the
words If children, then heirs,
heirs of God.
The need for rightly dividing the Word of Truth will at once be
felt the moment we begin to think of the different expressions used relative to
the millennial inheritance, for
there is no comfort in uncertainty. It
must not be a question, with us, as to whether our portion is to be higher or
lower in glory than that reserved for others.
It must be ours to
be grateful for such overflowing grace. To refuse to consider the question seems to
suggest that we would sooner live in a fools paradise than really know the
things that are freely given us of God.
It will be found that the various inheritances of the
Scriptures are linked to various promises.
Thus we read For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was
not given to Abraham, nor
to his seed, through the Law, but through righteousness of faith. Romans 4: 13.
Abraham then, according to a Divine promise, is heir of the world, and this at once brings to mind the
many passages which speak of those who will (together with him) inherit the earth; that tells us of the resettlement of
Palestine by a saved Israel; of Jerusalem the city if God on this earth; and
all the many millennial passages which will fulfil Gods promises to Abraham to
the very letter.
The third chapter of Galatians speaks much of this promise and future inheritance,
emphasizing the same fact as is urged in Romans 4., viz., that it is by faith, that it might be by grace, to
the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not
that only which is of the Law, but to that which
is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Romans
4: 16.
Abrahams inheritance depends upon his seed, which
is Christ. Galatians 3:
18. Christ hath redeemed us (Jews) from the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf ... so that the blessing of Abraham might be FOR THE NATIONS* and that through the faith we might receive the promise
of the Spirit:** (Galatians
3: 13 and 14,
from a Greek Interlinear
translation.).
[* NOTE. Those (prepared to examine the Scriptures by using
Greek Interlinears), may, by careful reading and attention to the context, soon
become better acquainted with many conditional truths and Divine
promises, which the Holy Spirit, through the inspired word of God, teaches.
** See The
Personal Indwelling Of The Holy Spirit by G. H. LANG.]
The redemption of Christ alone makes it possible for us to
have any inheritance whatsoever, in this or other dispensations. It is particularly important to notice the
two verses just quoted. The Jews were
under the curse of the Law, yet they were destined to be the channel
of blessing to the Gentiles; hence, we read Christ hath redeemed us
(and as Gentiles, as such, were never under the curse of the Law,
it must refer to Israel here), but this redemption is for a purpose In order that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles.
The word translated to redeem in Galatians 3. 13 and 4: 5 is peculiar to Galatians, and in both passages is connected with the Law.
A redeemed
It was this Jewish exclusiveness that led to the writing of Romans 4: 9-16, Cometh this
blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or
upon the uncircumcision also? for
we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then
reckoned, when he was in circumcision or in
uncircumcision?
Not in circumcision, but in
uncircumcision.
And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which
he had yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe.
In Galatians 3: 13 and 14, the blessing of Abraham, which is
spoken of as the inheritance in verse 18, is connected in verse 14 with the promise of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, in some way, seems connected
with the various passages dealing with the inheritance (see for example Eph. 1). This
Promise
of the Spirit is
referred to, in Acts 1: 4, as the Promise of the Father, which was partially fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and
manifest (by His miraculous Gifts), right up to the end of the Apostolic Era.
Peter (in Acts chapter 2, R.V.), referring to
the outpouring of the Spirits Power and Gifts (verse 4), says:
{16} This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
{17} and it shall be in
the last days, saith God,
I will pour
out my Spirit upon all flesh:
And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see
visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;
{18} Yea, and on My servants
and on My handmaidens in those days
Will I pour fourth of My Spirit;
And they shall prophesy.
{19}And I will show wonders in heaven
above,
And signs in the earth beneath;
Blood and fire, and vapour of
smoke:
{20}The sun shall be turned into
darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before that great and notable
DAY OF THE LORD come.
That great and notable day:
{21}And it shall be, that whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The promise of Abraham, the blessing to many nations, and the peculiar blessing to
In those days, what is termed justifying faith was accompanied by these miraculous
powers, as the argument of Galatians 3: 5 and 6 will
show. If such is the seal to-day, how
very few can lay the slightest claim to justification or future glory!
The Apostle Paul, whilst seeking to
break down the Jewish prejudice that was working so much harm in excluding the Gentiles, did, however, fully
accord the Scriptural pre-eminence to
In Romans 1: 16, and 2: 9 and 10, he says The Jew first.
Romans 3: 1
and 2, What
advantage then hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision? Much
in every way.
Romans 9: 4 and 5.
A My brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.
B Who are Israelites.
C a The Adoption.
b The Glory.
c The Covenants.
c The giving of the Law.
b The Priestly Service.
C a The Promises.
B Whose are the Fathers.
A Of whom, as concerning the
flesh, Christ came.
The Gentile believers are further reminded of their
dispensational position in this Abrahamic blessing in Romans 11: 24-27
For I would not,
brethren, that ye should
be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be
wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel,
until the
fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved
The truth that the promise to Abraham through Christ extended to the Gentiles as well as the Jews is again referred
to in Romans
8: 17-19:- If children, then heirs, heirs of God;
and Joint heirs
with Christ, IF so be that we
SUFFER WITH HIM, that we may be glorified together with Him.* {18} For I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed to usward. For the earnest expectation of creation waiteth for the revealing [or manifestation A.V.] of the sons
of God. ... {22} For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. {23} And not only so, but ourselves also groan within
ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of
our body. R.V.
[* Another translation reads, -
{verse 17b} and
Joint-heirs with Christ; if indeed
we suffer together, so
that we
may be also glorified together. ]
Here it will be seen that these heirs of God are waiting for the Adoption, which is balanced in the Structure of
Romans 9: 4 and 5 by the Promises. Hence Romans 8 continues We are saved
by Hope. Further, creation
has a share in this inheritance, it has to do with the
earth and things on this earth. The groans
of creation are not those of a dying man,
but the birth pangs of a travailing woman. All is looking forward with expectancy to that DAY when Israel shall be born in a day; when the wilderness
shall blossom as the rose; when the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them; and the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp; and
the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11: 6-9.
This glorious time that is coming, when there shall be no more curse, is connected with the manifestation
of the Sons of God, when they that are heirs of God,
and joint heirs with Christ shall receive the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. Hence we see that RESURRECTION is
the sphere in which this inheritance must be received, as certainly it must be
if Abraham is to inherit the land. For the Lord did not say To thy seed will I give this land, but To THEE and thy seed, which can only be possible for
Abraham after his resurrection.
Here we begin to see with perhaps greater fulness the glory of
the inheritance promised to the father of the faithful:-
A blessed and saved
By faith, Abraham, when he was called to
go out unto a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither
he went. Abraham believed God, but many Christians to-day
will not have it so. They tell us that Abraham is up in heaven, or that, when believers die, they
are carried to Abrahams bosom in heaven. We do not believe any such thing, but we do
know this, that the land into which Abraham went is the land which he and his seed shall certainly receive as an
inheritance according to that which was spoken. Not only Abraham, however, but we read of Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same Promise. ... These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth ... but now they desire a better country, that is an heavenly: wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for
He hath prepared for them a City. Hebrews
11: 8-16.
Some have thought, that, because Abraham looked for a heavenly
country, and
because we read, in Hebrews 3: 1, of the heavenly calling, Abraham, will be blessed, if indeed he
was not blessed in the past, with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, in
Christ: and further, believing that this is so, they argue that necessarily
there is but one church, including saints of all ages, and but one inheritance,
&c., &c. .
A few words on this subject may not be out of place here, and
we use the facts brought together by a brother known to some readers (A.E.K.)
as they are so much to the point.
Much confusion is the result of the
lameness of the English language,
when attempting to convey the accuracies of the original. We are at a loss, for instance, to determine whether the heavenly calling of Heb. 3: 1, refers to calling from heaven, or a calling to heaven ... [The Greek word] Epouraniou, heavenly, in the genitive (which marks that from which anything
proceeds) simply calls our attention to
the origin of that which we are
considering; while epouranio, heavenly, in the dative
(which indicates that towards which anything tends) marks the location of the matter in hand. Below we give a
concordance of each.
GENITIVE
Epouraniou (Genitive singular,
masculine and feminine).
1 Cor. 15: 49. The image of the heavenly.
Heb. 3: 1. Partakers of the heavenly
calling.
Heb. 6: 4. Tasted of the heavenly gift.
Heb. 11:
16. A better (country), that is an heavenly.
Epouranion (Genitive plural).
1 Cor. 15: 40. (There are) also celestial bodies.
Phil. 2: 10. Of (things) in
heaven, and (things) in earth.
Heb. 8: 5. The
example and shadow of heavenly
things.
DATIVE
Epouranio (Dative singular
masculine).
Heb. 12: 22. The heavenly
Epouraniois (Dative
plural neuter).
Eph. 1: 3. In heavenly (places) in Christ.
Eph. 1: 20. At His own right hand in the heavenly (places).
Eph. 2: 6. In heavenly (places) in Christ Jesus.
Eph. 3: 10. Powers in heavenly (places).
Eph. 6: 12. In high (places).
We are immediately struck with the fact that the dative, which speaks of
location, is confined to the Epistle to the Ephesians (just what we should expect if we rightly divide the Word of
Truth) and the present location
of the new Jerusalem which will yet come down out of heaven. Revelation 21: 10.
On the other hand the shadows of the tabernacle
were heavenly but not in heaven. The gifts which even the apostate Israelite
tasted, as recorded in the early chapters of Acts, were heavenly, but assuredly not in heaven. The
emphasis is always upon the source or character in the Genitive, even when the
object itself may be in heaven. Abraham
did not look for an inheritance in heaven, but he did look for a heavenly country (Hebrews 11: 16). So also the heavenly calling is heavenly in character,
but it does not call to heaven: that would need to be expressed in the dative
case.
The millennial kingdom and the new heavens and the new earth, Revelation 21 and 22, were before the Father of many nations. He and his seed shall yet inherit the promises in all their
blessed fulness.
This it is for which creation groans and waits, for which
Abraham looked and waited, an inheritance that seems
enough to satisfy any heart.
In this
inheritance Abraham will find his portion, but will be no means exhaust the
fulness that is enclosed in the term panton (all things), for in this inheritance are
included things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1: 10).
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