Our Heritage In Christ: Christ’s
Last Will and Testament
By Lani Finley
The phrase our heritage in Christ takes on a special
meaning when we understand that the New Testament is in fact the last
will and testament of Jesus Christ. It is a binding legal document
that Jesus authored in order to grant special rights, privileges, and
possessions to His future heirs. It is not just a collection of stories
about church history.
The New Testament is the most powerful legal
document in the entire universe. It transfers and grants to the
believer the grace, forgiveness, eternal life, righteousness, physical
healing, spiritual gifts, family privileges and kingdom rights
that God has promised to us through the death and resurrection of His
beloved son, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Truly, there could not be
a more suitable word than "heritage" to describe the subject
matter of the New Testament.
Webster's Dictionary defines heritage as
"something transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor, and
property that descends to an heir." Before we discuss the legacy left
to us by the New Testament will of Jesus, it would be very helpful for us
to review the legacy that we inherited through our earthly relatives, Adam
and Eve. The contrast between these two inheritances is astounding.
We sometimes read the account of the so-called
"fall of man" without really pondering the vast repercussions
that this event had upon all of mankind. An enlightened description of the
devastating consequences of that "original sin" is outlined by
T.L. Osborn ("Healing the Sick").
"God's original dream for Adam and Eve was that if
they trusted in His integrity, they would live and prosper with Him
forever. If they abused His trust and disbelieved His word, the process of
deterioration would begin and they would die.
"After Adam and Eve rejected God's trust, He came
into the garden and spelled out what the results would be.
"There would be no grounds for a relationship with
God. Adam and Eve had exercised their free will and had, by their action,
disregarded and disbelieved what God had said. The good life ended.
Dignity was desecrated.
"God said, in the day that you disavow my
instructions and eat the fruit I forbade, you will surely die (Gen. 2:17).
"Without trust in God's integrity, human persons
sink into despair and disgrace, degeneration and disease, destruction and
oblivion, deterioration and death. Their lack of trust in the integrity of
what God said was later called sin. The simple rule that God made was: The
person who sins will die (Ezek. 18:4, 20).
"Adam and Eve were no longer qualified to dwell in
the garden with God. Separated from His plenty and beyond His protection,
they were now subject to their new master who came to steal, kill and
destroy (John 10:10)
"That was the beginning of suffering, disease,
pain, hate, lust, envy, murder, jealousy, loneliness, guilt, poverty,
hunger, destruction, and death. Sin had entered the human race. It
would be passed on to all generations.
"...When you decide that God has no integrity,
your own integrity is abandoned. Conscience is calloused. Dignity is
desecrated. The human person deteriorates and dies. Honor is gone. The
lights go out. There is only darkness!" (Emphasis mine).
What a sick, bleak and distressing legacy handed down
to the human race! Adam and Eve's sinful act of disobedience not only
brought darkness and death upon all mankind, but it triggered another
astonishing event—it also brought death to our Creator, Jesus
Christ. This "original sin" immediately prompted the message
about the sacrifice of Jesus to be expounded to mankind. Genesis 3:15
contains the first Messianic prophecy to be revealed in the
Scriptures: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel." God immediately implemented the process by
which He would restore the shattered destiny of His new creation. Although
Jesus had agreed "from the foundation of the world" (Revelation
13:8) to give His life for you and me, it was now sealed and settled.
Jesus must die. Otherwise, we all would perish.
And thank God that He did die and has been resurrected!
Without this wonderful act of love, there would be no hope for any of us.
What sane person would want to remain under the bondage, pain, and death
that have been handed down to us since the fall of our earthly ancestors?
The original heritage of mankind is truly a depraved and loathsome
birthright.
A New Ancestor - A New Heritage
One author states: "But because of Christ's death,
believers are transferred from being ‘in Adam’ to being ‘in Christ.’
God breaks your past ties and Christ becomes your new ancestor. That's why
Paul refers more than 100 times to believers as being ‘in Christ.’
It is the basis for a whole new life. God identifies
all believers with Christ, not in some mystical or theoretical way, but by
changing our legal relationships."
A true follower of Christ is no longer the legal child
of Adam nor subject to the eternal penalty that sin passed on to all
generations. We have been "adopted" by our new family—the
family of God. The New Testament is not only the last will and testament
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but it also includes our legal
adoption papers. We are now legally the children of the Most High Living
God.
Christ now lives in us and has become our figurative
new landlord. Our old landlord, Satan the devil, no longer has any legal
claims to our bodies or us. We are now free to serve God. Christ has
reinstated our family relationship with our Heavenly Father. Consequently,
we are also entitled to all the gifts, privileges, and kingdom rights that
our new spiritual family possesses.
Look at the contrast between our legacy in man (Adam)
versus our legacy in Christ.
| Inherited
from Adam |
Inherited
from Christ |
| Mortal death |
The resurrection |
| Eternal death |
Eternal life |
| Sin and guilt |
Grace and forgiveness |
| Separation from God |
Reconciliation with God |
| Unrighteousness |
The righteousness of Jesus |
| Condemnation |
Justification |
| Cruelty and ruthlessness |
Mercy and compassion |
| Sickness and disease |
Healing and health |
| Despair, misery and sorrow |
Faith, hope and joy |
| Hate and destruction |
Love and peace |
| Birth of corruptibility |
Birth of incorruptibility |
This is a very short list, but it begins to establish
what a wonderful new heritage we now have through Jesus.
The New Testament was definitely built upon better promises.
The apostle Paul confirmed this in Hebrews 7:2: "By so much was Jesus
made a surety of a better testament." And Hebrews 8:6 tells us,
"But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how
much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was
established upon better promises."
Yes, the benefits offered in the New Testament will of Jesus Christ are
much better in every way than what we inherited from Adam. Thank God for
our new spiritual family! Now, we can faithfully rest in Christ,
for our eternal future has been assured by God and Jesus. They have even
guaranteed it in writing. This truly is our heritage in Christ! *** |
Our Heritage 