‘Glorious Inheritance.’
- Jan 30
- 6 min read
A. W. Tozer, says: "The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him."
In September 2025 I asked if we needed help in discovering what this might mean?
Ephesians 1:17 states, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”
Then notice what Paul goes on to pray.
Reading - Ephesians 1:18-19: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, (know) the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and (know) his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
Here's a clear indication of what it means in getting to know Him better!
Notice our text asks that "You may know the HOPE to which you’ve been called." (See the last two weeks blogs.)
Today, in order to know God better, we need to know or rediscover "the RICHES of his glorious inheritance" (who we are in Christ and what it really means for us today).
His ‘glorious inheritance’ is incredible. 1 Peter 1:4 tells us it’s a “priceless inheritance; an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.”
What is an inheritance? One definition states - 'The carefully accumulated possessions of another, set aside and preserved to pass on to one's heirs.'
Paul says our inheritance consists of glory in His presence and is rich beyond all comparison.
The word ‘riches’ in the Greek is ‘ploutos’, meaning wealth, abundance, plentiful supply. It is not meagre but abundant and beyond counting. It’s ‘priceless’ and nothing can match it! According to 1 Peter 1, it's eternal (imperishable). It’s ‘undefiled,’ meaning it’s perfect in every way. It will never diminish in any way (unfading). It’s a guaranteed inheritance (kept in heaven for you).
We also need to realise when considering "the riches of His glorious inheritance in his holy people," that we, the ‘holy people’ (saints) are His inheritance as well! He considers you and I a treasure of incomparable worth! How amazing is this, what grace!
Also, in addition to this, ‘the riches of His glorious inheritance’ includes all that we will inherit in Christ now and in times to come, and forever! Wow!
My dear friends, this should make a difference to our lives today!
We are His inheritance. We are the Father’s love gift to His Son; He won us at Calvary. We are his valued possession. Simply, I am His and He is mine.
Our lives should be unmistakably identified with His life.
John Stott likens it to a “truly dramatic transition from the status of a condemned criminal awaiting a terrible sentence to that of an heir awaiting a fabulous inheritance.”
We're “Co-heirs with Christ . . . that we may also share in his glory” (Rom 8:17).
All because of God’s grace, which ‘renews the irreparable, salvages the unsalvageable, and grants the incalculable inheritance’ of life with Him!
“You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph 1:13-14).
You and I are God's ‘glorious inheritance.’ The Holy Spirit is the pledge of such and secured until redemption. See Exodus 19:5 and Deuteronomy 7:6, which state we are His ‘treasured possession’, or 1 Peter 2:9, which reads ‘special possession’.
Paul says, "I really pray that you understand that you are God's possession, and that you will be His completely and completed on that day."
Do you know and understand the value that God places on you now, not only because you are intrinsically worthy, but because you are Christ's?
We are of extraordinary value.
God looks at us and says, "I've always wanted - YOU!"
Look at it another way, what does God want that He doesn't have? Amazingly, the answer is, US! Paul says we are His wealth, treasure and His pleasure. This is so wonderful and indeed so powerful that Paul prays the church, you and I, grasp it and live it now, and then for eternity.
I don’t know about you, but there are times when I don’t feel this, that there must be 1000s of others that God’s really looking forward to having in glory but ‘not me’ - you know, those Christians that are really good and seem to do everything right! But that’s not what the Bible says. The wonder of this text is that YOU and I are God’s treasure. It says we are incredibly valuable and precious in His eyes. We’re His “glorious inheritance!” We belong to Him. We are the trophies of His grace. He has great things in store for us and through us, and He wants us to know it!
Pause and wonder
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “The ones who did the most for this world had their eyes set on the world to come. The greatest benefactors of this world are those men and women of God who were concerned about the inheritance of the saints. If mankind forgets the next world, everything goes wrong for this world. Not to be interested in the glory to be revealed in heaven is to be unlike the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Our minds must be fixed on the glory to come when we will be with God.”
Imagine a couple who own one of the most valuable pieces of art in the world. Let’s say its assessed value is over one hundred million pounds, which is almost their complete net worth. To them the artwork is priceless. They would not part with it for anything; they constantly sit and look at it because it’s their hearts desire and delight.
It may be a poor analogy, but I like the idea, that according to our text, this is how God looks at you and I. Our God who created the universe, who owns all the galaxies, all the stars and all the wealth of all the planets, considers those who are in Christ, His treasure. That is how much he values you. What an amazing thought!
This truth is meant to encourage us, help us and build us up more and more as we discover it. Let’s not be blind to the wonder, the grace and beauty of what God has and is doing in our lives today.
C.S. Lewis captures this wonderfully in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia.’ “For us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
This is the wonder of God’s inheritance. God has a vested interest in each of us!
Paul prays, grasp this and your minds will be enlightened to know it and our lives changed to live in the light and wonder of it!
As I close, it’s worth noting Ephesians 1:11 in the NIV is "In him we were also chosen".
This can be translated, ‘we have obtained an inheritance’. This phrase of five words comes from a single Greek word that Paul uses, 'eklērōthēmen.'
This word refers to something in the future that’s so certain it’s impossible for it to fail to happen, so the Greeks would say it’s already occurred.
That is precisely what Paul means here. We need to remember that regarding our inheritance, nothing and no one can deprive us of claiming it! God has secured this for you that nothing can touch. Ephesians 1:12 tells us that all this is “for the praise of His glory” and nothing else!
Friends, no matter what you’re facing today, your life is moving towards glory which is unshakable. Praise God!
You may not feel you're rich right now. You may not be rich in friends, in experiences, in wealth, in gifts. But you are unbelievably rich and you are marching toward unbelievable, incalculable riches in Christ.
You and I have and are His inheritance.
John Piper suggests, “Reach out and seize it. God encourages you to take it now. Enjoy it now…Be strongly encouraged. Because your hope is secured with double infiniteness: the promise of God and the oath of God.”
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