Part Four: "Understanding Our Great Salvation Causes Us to Worship God and have Joy!" (1

Our passage says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-4). Let's examine Peter's words! In this passage, Peter is blessing God for the inheritance we have as part of our great salvation! Peter is encouraging the Christ follower to bless and praise God because of our inheritance in heaven. Peter describes our inheritance using three powerful adjectives. He says our inheritance is: imperishable, undefiled, and unfading! In other words, our inheritance is "not able to be destroyed," "not polluted or unstained with evil," and "not subject to decay." Peter is encouraging these persecuted Christ followers to look past their troubles to their eternal inheritance. Our inheritance in Christ includes many things. It includes all that God has promised us in Christ. Jesus said to us, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal" (Matthew 6:19-20). Let me be very clear about this. The greatest part of our inheritance is God! Listen to the words of the psalmist which says, "Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:25-26). Did you catch that? He said, "Whom have I heaven but You?" This is literally, "Who is to me in the heavens?" In other words, there's no one there that in my love for him can be compared with You God! In other words, none can do for me what You can do! None can meet and satisfy the needs of my soul like You can! None can be to me what God is! What would even heaven be to me without God? I always tell people, the main reason I'm looking forward to heaven is that Jesus is there! Heaven would not be heaven if Jesus wasn't there! The person who has God has a very large portion indeed! God is our inheritance and our portion forever! We enjoy God here on the earth, but in heaven, it will be in an unhindered and unveiled manner! Praise God forevermore! Your move. Be encouraged!