Co-heir with Christ: Your Identity, Your Inheritance

10 min read

Introduction

You are a son, you are a daughter of God. But do you know what that implies? Ben closes the series Our Identity in God at CVV Paris by focusing on a breathtaking aspect: you are not only forgiven, you are not only loved, you are heir of God and co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). This inheritance is good because God is good, it is already inaugurated today, and it will be fully unfolded in eternity.

Message Outline

1. Human inheritance: mixed; heavenly inheritance: good

  • An inheritance is first a blessing you receive without having earned it, simply by being a child.
  • You can inherit material goods, but also genes, character traits, a transmitted faith, a know-how, a wisdom.
  • Ben shares his own example: on his father's side and mother's side, he only inherited one molar out of four on the bottom. His wife, with the same diet, never had a cavity. "Not everyone has the same dental heritage."
  • The reverse is also true: you can inherit traumas, wounds, ways of handling life that recur from generation to generation, sometimes even spiritual openings (magic, occultism in the family line) that must be cut off by the power of the Holy Spirit.
  • Naming what belongs to previous generations and what no longer belongs to you is real work to be done, alone or with a brother or sister who can help you.

2. God is good, therefore his inheritance is good

  • Jesus states it clearly in Luke 11:11-13: if you, as evil as you are, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
  • In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), the servant who buries his coin first has a wrong idea of the Master: "I knew that you are a hard man." When you believe God is harsh, stingy, deceitful, you expect nothing good from him.
  • Yet Romans 8:15 says: "You did not receive a spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father." Daddy. The Master is generous, joyful, he rewards faithfulness: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:21).
  • The question to ask yourself: do you concretely expect to receive good things from God? Often you blame your sufferings on him, you read coldness and distance into your circumstances. It is legitimate to voice your complaints to him (as David does in Psalm 22), but suffering is a fruit of sin entering the world, not God's pleasure.
  • God is not sitting in heaven rejoicing over your pain. He sits with you in the valley of the shadow of death, his rod and his staff comfort you (Psalm 23), and he promises that one day "he will wipe away every tear from your eyes, death shall be no more" (Revelation 21:4).

3. Your inheritance is Jesus' inheritance

  • Co-heir with Christ. Now Jesus is "heir of all things" (Hebrews 1:2), seated at the right hand of the Father "far above all rule and authority and power" (Ephesians 1:20-22).
  • 1 Corinthians 6:2-3: "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? […] Do you not know that we are to judge angels?" Paul puts you before an astonishing reality: you are going to collaborate with God in his mandate to judge the world and even the angels.
  • 2 Timothy 2:12: "If we endure, we will also reign with him."
  • Matthew 5:5: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
  • Revelation 2:26: "To the one who conquers, who keeps my works until the end, I will give authority over the nations."
  • Matthew 19:28-29: whoever has left everything for Jesus "will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life." Direct encouragement for those who braved rejection from their family, left their country, moved to another region to follow Jesus.
  • God has not merely "saved you so you won't go to hell." His plan is far bigger: to bring you back into his kingdom, to have you share in his reign, in his judgment, in the stewardship of the new earth and new heavens for eternity.

4. Preparing to reign: you are a co-heir in training

  • Paul says it in 1 Corinthians 6: if you don't even know how to judge a small dispute between two brothers, how will you reign with Christ tomorrow? You need to prepare.
  • Work on your character. Bad character will have no place in God's eternal reign.
  • Renounce sin. Sin will have no place in the kingdom. Train yourself now, receive self-control from the Holy Spirit.
  • Forgive, forgive, forgive. Jesus says seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22). Unforgiveness will have no place in eternity, because Jesus has forgiven you everything.
  • Choose to follow God first in the major decisions of your life: where you live, where you work, your calling. Don't just let yourself be carried along by circumstances. The one who leaves everything for Christ receives a hundredfold and inherits eternal life.

5. The kingdom is already near: a foretaste today

  • "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). The inheritance is not only for later, it begins to manifest now.
  • When a sick person is healed because hands were laid on them, that's the kingdom breaking through. Ben cites the testimony of two teenagers from the church who prayed for Tarim, a young woman in the group who was suffering with neck pain: the pain left.
  • When this church building was acquired, someone had received a drawing from God, several years earlier, precisely showing this place with the big green door and a cross in front. God bursts into everyday life to say: "I have a destiny for you, I have a destiny for this church."
  • Precise prophetic words, lived-out self-control, peace, joy, justice rendered: all of this is the kingdom already coming. You begin to reign with Christ starting now, like the servants in the parable of the talents who receive a few coins to train with before being entrusted with much more.
  • It is the Holy Spirit who makes this inheritance real in your life. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. At work, at home, in difficulties, you carry the kingdom. Ben mentions his friend Jeff who walks around with the carefreeness of someone who knows God walks with him in his business, resting on Joshua 1:3: "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you."

6. Suffering with him to reign with him

  • "Heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17).
  • Acts 14:22: "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
  • 1 Peter 4:12-14: "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed."
  • Suffering with Christ does not necessarily mean dying as a martyr. The principle is being rejected by the world, misunderstood because of your choices, set aside because of your faith. Ben mentions his wife who speaks about Jesus to colleagues very open to other spiritualities: it costs being set apart, being judged behind her back.
  • Some have been rejected by their family for their faith, others have left an entire country to follow God. That's where participation in the sufferings of Christ plays out.
  • How do you hold on? Hebrews 12:1-2: "Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus." For the joy set before him he endured the cross and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Fix your eyes on him.

Key Takeaways

  • You are a son, you are a daughter of God, therefore heir of God and co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). This is not an honorary title, it is your actual position.
  • God's inheritance is good because God is good. He takes no pleasure in your suffering; he sits beside you in the valley.
  • This inheritance includes reigning with Christ, judging the world and even the angels. This is not an exaggeration: it is Scripture.
  • You are a co-heir in training. Your character, your forgiveness, your renunciations today are preparing you for this eternal reign.
  • The kingdom is already near. Healings, prophecies, joy, peace, victories over sin: the kingdom is already breaking through in your life and in the church.
  • Suffering with Christ often means being rejected or misunderstood because of your faith. With your eyes fixed on Jesus, you can hold on.

Personal Application

  • Do you concretely expect to receive good things from God, or do you see him as a harsh Master? What shaped this image in you?
  • Is there anything in your family line (traumas, spiritual openings, recurring patterns) that you need to name before God and hand over into his hands?
  • How do your character, your forgiveness, your current decisions prepare you (or not) to one day reign with Christ? What area does God want to rework in you this week?
  • Where have you seen the kingdom break through in recent months: a healing, a word received, a victory over sin, an unexpected peace? Take time to name it and thank God for it.
  • What sufferings do you carry today because you follow Jesus (rejection, misunderstanding, leaving a place, giving something up)? How can you fix your eyes on Jesus in this specific trial?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it concretely mean to be "co-heir with Christ"?

It means you share in the inheritance of Jesus himself. Hebrews 1:2 says he is "heir of all things," seated at the right hand of the Father. In practice, this involves reigning with him in eternity (2 Timothy 2:12), participating in his judgment of the world and even of the angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3), and inheriting a new earth where every tear will be wiped away (Revelation 21:4). It is not just a place in paradise, it is a royal and eternal calling.

If God is good, why do I still suffer today?

Suffering is not God's pleasure. It is a fruit of sin that entered the world and disfigured creation. God is not sitting in heaven rejoicing over your tears: he sits with you in the valley, like a Father. He does not resolve all your difficulties with a snap of his fingers, but he walks alongside you, he comforts you, and he promises a day when "death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain" (Revelation 21:4). Look at Jesus: his compassion for those who suffered is the revelation of who the Father is.

How do I prepare now to reign with Christ?

By letting the Holy Spirit rework your character, by renouncing sin, by forgiving without counting (seventy times seven), and by choosing to follow God first in the major decisions of your life, where you live, where you work, your calling. You are a co-heir in training: God entrusts you with a few coins today to train you, knowing he will entrust you with far more in eternity. Fix your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) and run with perseverance.

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