Title: Heir's Glory and Suffering
Commentary on Romans 63
Heir's Glory and Suffering
Romans 8:16-18
Introduction: Romans 8 describes the Christian's assurance of salvation and testifies to the wonderful work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. In verse 15, we hear that Christians cry out to God, 'Abba, Father,' because they have received the Spirit of adoption. If we call God Abba Father, then he is a child of God. Therefore, verse 16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Paul is developing this kind of relationship with God. If it is a child, it is said that heirs are qualified heirs, heirs of God, and heirs with Christ.
1. Heirs of God
It tells us that if we are God's children, we must become God's heirs. The word heir means one who inherits from generation to generation, and in the original text it appears as 'cleronomos', which means heir. That is, they are saying that they are the heirs of God's property.
(1) God's heirs are limited only to God's children. The Bible testifies that the kingdom of God in heaven exists to be given to these children of God as an inheritance. Heaven is not a place for angels or other heavenly spirit creatures. Angels are ministers for the heirs of God who will inherit the kingdom of God, and they are not the heroes of heaven. It says, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).
(2) You can see that all life and all structures in the kingdom of heaven are for the saints who have become children of God through Christ. “The tabernacle of God is with men, and God dwells with them, and they become God’s people, and God himself is with them” (Revelation 21:3).
(3) In this way, God prepared and promised to give to His children, so these things are the hope of Christians as heirs of God. This is made clearer in the book of Hebrews. “God has sworn an oath to fully demonstrate to those who inherit the promise the immutability of his will, because by these two unchangeable facts, in which God cannot lie, he flees to obtain the hope that lies ahead. that we may find great comfort” (Hebrews 6:17, 18). To receive the promise as an inheritance speaks of the promise that God's heirs, his people, will be heirs, that is, the kingdom of heaven. When God said that he had sworn an oath on this matter, he was fully demonstrating that his will did not change.
The qualifications of those who carry on this promise of God are those who belong to Christ. “If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
(2) God fulfilled this promise through Jesus Christ. Because God foreordained this eternal providence of God in Christ before the foundation of the world, it was accomplished through Christ. Before the foundation of the world, Christ was predestined and sent into the world to be the Lamb of God to save his people, and he took up the cross to accomplish that work. He bore the cross and made many sons who would become heirs of God (Isaiah 53:20).
2. Heirs with Christ
Heirs of God are co-heirs with Christ. Without Christ we cannot qualify as heirs.
(1) Because there is only one heir of God, Jesus. “In the last days of all these days he has spoken to us as a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the world” (Hebrews 1:2) It reveals the fact that this son suffered in order to bring to the Father many sons to become heirs with him (Hebrews 2:10).
(2) We become sons of God with Christ because we are united with Christ. We died on the cross with Christ. And even buried with him (Romans 6:4). Not only that, but he has been resurrected with Christ (Romans 6:5). This fact is called union with Christ. Paul said in Romans 6, “If we have been united in the likeness of his death, then we shall also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.” The word unity means eternal union with water as one. Because of this union with Christ, we have become “co-heirs with Christ.”
3. Suffering with Christ
God's heir is truly a great honor. There is no greater glorious promise in this world than this. However, God's heirs who possess this glory are telling us that they will have to suffer with Christ while they live on this earth. For the children of God who have this hope, this world is not a homeland, but a pilgrimage. And God told us not to put our hope in this stranger world.
It is unbiblical to say that Christians have no suffering. The Bible says that He will deliver us from suffering, but it does not say that He will overcome suffering. Although there is a promise to protect you from persecution, there is no guarantee that you will not be persecuted. There is a word to persevere in the midst of trials and tribulations, but there is no promise to remove them from our lives.
“It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29). “But suffer for the gospel, according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8). “But rejoice in your participation in the sufferings of Christ” (1 Peter 4:13). He said, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness” (Matthew 5:10).
In addition to these hardships, persecutions, and tribulation, we must also receive God's discipline for our own sins. God's discipline says that no matter what method and form it takes, if you undergo refinement through this discipline, you will bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).
We must not believe in Jesus as an escape from suffering in our real generation, or escape from trials or tribulations. For that purpose, Jesus did not come into the world, and it was not because of the corruption of the flesh that Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross.
Conclusion: God is pleased to nurture us fully as His children in this world. He delights in nurturing them perfectly as children of God who will become heirs of God. The children of God who will become heirs of God are to obey God, please Him, and glorify Him. That is why God perfects us through trials and makes us children of God through discipline. We are heirs of God, children of God who will be heirs with Christ. The glory we will enjoy as God's heirs is indescribably great and great. I hope that you will become the saints who firmly hold on to this hope.