Introduction: Understand that there is a huge difference between inheriting the Kingdom of God and going to heaven after you die.
A. How do born-again believers miss out on the inheritance of provision, healing, and peace?
1 Corinthians 6:9-12
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (NKJV).
Galatians 5:18-26; 6:1
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted (NKJV).
Ephesians 5:5-10; 15-20
5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man,
who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord….
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (NKJV).
B. God has made every born-again believer a joint heir with Christ, entitled to receive all of the goodness of His kingdom.
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 joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (NKJV).
1. By the grace of God we have all been made sons and daughters of God, our Heavenly Father.
2. We have all entered into the inheritance of His offspring, even as joint-heirs with Christ of everything that He has inherited as the only begotten Son.
C. In order to receive the full inheritance, we must suffer with Him in the cessation of sin.
1 Peter
4:1,2
4:1 ¶ Therefore,
since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same
mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God (NKJV).
Hebrews
12:3,4
3 For consider Him who
endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and
discouraged in your souls.
4 You
have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin (NKJV).
1. How do we cease from sin?
a. When we were born again, we accessed God’s grace for salvation by exercising faith in Christ’s Lordship.
Ephesians
2:8,9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast (NKJV).
b. We do the same thing to gain “grace power” over sin.
1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (NKJV).
Romans 5:1,2
5:1 Therefore, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (NKJV).
C. Sin, righteousness, and judgment
1. The Holy Spirit speaks to the unsaved world about their sin, to the born-again believer about how righteous they are, and to Satan’s kingdom about their soon-coming judgment.
John 16:7-11
7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for
if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will
send Him to you.
8 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 “of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11 “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged (NKJV).
1 John 3:20,21
20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our
heart, and knows all things.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
2. Jesus said no one can keep believers from going to heaven.
John 10:27-30
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
30 “I and My Father are one” (NKJV).
3. We have an earthly inheritance and an heavenly inheritance reserved for us.
1 Peter 1:3, 4
3 Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you (NKJV).
D. How can we live like who we really are? How do we disengage old mindsets and perceive Throne Room realities?
1. Jesus discovered who He was through the pages of God’s written Word as illuminated by the Holy Spirit. And so do we!
2. Jesus – the Word – is the mirror image of God revealed and redeemed in us. We cannot become more than what we already are in Christ. We do not grow more complete; we simply grow in the knowledge and awareness of our completeness!
2 Corinthians 3:18 – But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (NKJV).
2 Corinthians 3:18 – And we all, with new understanding, see ourselves in him as in a mirror. In him every face is unveiled. In gazing with wonder at the blueprint of God displayed in human form, we suddenly realize that we are looking into a mirror, where every feature of his image articulated in Christ is reflected within us!... Now, with unveiled faces we are gazing at the glory of the Lord as in a mirror and … image and likeness awakens within us!... Changed ‘from glory to glory’... away from the glory that previously defined us, i.e. our own achievements or disappointments, to the glory of our original design that now defines us.
[I’m dead to the old me I was trying to be and alive to the real me which is Christ in me! Co-crucified, now co-alive! What a glorious entanglement! I was in him in his death; now he is in me in my life! For the first time I’m free to be me in my skin, immersed in his faith in our joint-sonship! He loves me and believes in me! He is God’s gift to me!] (MIRROR)