The new covenant is God's law. Can someone who does not know the law judge fairly? Just as judges must master the laws of their jurisdiction, we must master and be able to teach the laws of heaven—the 66 books of the Bible.
The son who receives the inheritance of God
References: Gn 1, Rv 21:7, Mt 11:27, Gal 4:1-7
Only those who overcome can receive God’s inheritance.
Before discussing the topic of inheritance, we must understand God from God’s perspective. For the last 6,000 years, Satan has ruled over God’s creation. After conquering the world for himself, Satan will never willingly cede control to God.
Before God can give anyone his inheritance, he must retrieve from the devil the earth he lost. Satan will not, however, willingly lock himself in the Abyss just because the Bible promises that it will happen. Satan must be seized with a great chain and locked up (Rv 20:1-3). For this to happen, there must be a war, and God must emerge victorious. We know that although Satan had authority over the kingdom of the air, Jesus has overcome him and taken back heaven for God (Eph 2:2). Still, if God’s pastor does not overcome Satan’s pastor here on earth, the earth becomes a possession of Satan and his servants. God’s will must be done on earth as it is in heaven for his kingdom to be established on earth. In other words, God’s people must overcome for God to retrieve his creation from Satan (Rv 12).
When God retrieves the world from Satan, the one who overcomes becomes God’s promised son. As God’s son, the one who overcomes receives God’s inheritance (Rv 21:7). When the heir is a child, he is subject to trustees and is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. When the time comes, however, God sends the spirit of his son into his heart, the spirit who calls out “Abba, Father”, and being a son, he also becomes the heir (Gal 4:1-7).
God had several things to accomplish. First, he had to retrieve the world from Satan. He also had to atone for our sins so he could send the spirit of his son to us. This is how we can become the sons and heirs who are part of God’s family and kingdom. This is the true meaning of salvation and it is our hope.
For this to happen, war and judgment must take place. God said that by fighting and defeating Satan, God’s kingdom and salvation will come (Rv 12). This means that overcoming is the condition on which God’s inheritance can be given and received. It is by the blood of Jesus and the word of testimony that this war is won (Rv 12). This is the same blood that purchases men and makes them God’s kingdom and priests (Rv 5:9-10) and the same blood in which the great multitude washes its robes and makes them white (Rv 7:9-14). In other words, it is through the blood of Jesus that God’s kingdom is established. According to the word of promise (Mt 26:28-29), Jesus’ blood was shed for the era of the fulfillment of Revelation when the twelve tribes of God’s kingdom are established. In fact, it is actually through the blood that Jesus shed at the time of the first coming that the twelve tribes of God’s kingdom are established. Revelation finally answers the question of why and for whom the blood of Jesus was spilled (Rv 21:6).
In this era of immature, childlike faith, many people have claimed to have received salvation, to have received grace from God, to have been to heaven, to have attained eternal life, and to be the heirs who will receive blessings from God just by believing in Jesus. Since we have become mature believers who understand reality from God’s point of view, we have been purchased with the promised blood of Jesus and transformed into God’s kingdom and priests. We have actually attained salvation and eternal life. This is the greatest of all great works.
People who are true believers, as stated above, must overcome the world by uniting flesh and spirit. True believers must give their whole hearts for the creation of God’s kingdom. By overcoming, we can free ourselves from the clutches of the devil and free ourselves from sin through the blood and grace of Christ. This is how we can become citizens of heaven—God’s kingdom, priests, and the great multitude in white.
Let me explain further. God created the universe and everything in it. He then gave this as an inheritance to Adam, but Adam believed the words of the serpent and sinned (Gn 3). God then came to Noah, who was a ninth generation descendant of Adam. God judged Adam’s sinful generation and established Noah’s generation. After Noah’s second son Ham spoke of his father’s nakedness just like the serpent did in Adam’s time, he was cursed just like Adam was. Ham’s son Canaan fell into the worshiping of gentile gods, just like Adam did. This was when God came to Abraham, a tenth generation descendant of Noah. God told Abraham that his descendants would enter the gentile nation of Egypt and come out four hundred years later.The descendants of Israel entered Egypt and after those four hundred years had passed, God came to Moses and led them out of Egypt into the land of Canaan. That was when God judged the sinful land of Canaan and gave Israel the law. During the time of King Solomon, these Israelites, who had received the law, sinned by worshiping gentile gods (2 Kgs 11). God then spoke through the Old Testament prophets about what would happen later. At the appointed time, Jesus, who was the promised pastor, came to fulfill these prophecies. Thus, the Mosaic Law and the physical Israelites who sinned came to an end with John the Baptist (Lk 16:16).
Jesus came according to the prophecies of Jeremiah 31 to do a new thing. This new thing was the sowing of the seed of heaven and the making of a new covenant. After Jesus fulfilled this prophecy (Jn 19:30), the seed of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven was preached to the whole world. When this was completed, the first coming’s work of sowing the seed came to an end (Mt 24:14, Mt 13:24-30, Mt 13:39) the second coming’s work of the harvest began.
The Mosaic Law held us prisoner until Jesus came with the revealed faith. In other words, the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ. Now that faith in Christ has come, we need no longer live by the law, but by faith (Gal 3:23-27). This faith is faith in the New Testament, but the New Testament prophecies are fulfilled at the time of Jesus’ second coming. This second coming is the end of the 2,000 year-long work of sowing the seed and it is the end of the churches of the world. That is why Jesus called the harvest the end of the age (Mt 13:37-39).
The generations of Adam, Noah, and Moses all came to an end. In the same way, the work of Jesus’ first coming and the people of Spiritual Israel both come to an end at the time of the second coming (Mt 24). At the time of his first coming, Jesus did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. In the same way, at the time of the second coming, he does not come to abolish churches, their pastors, or the gospel; he comes to fulfill them. In other words, Jesus comes to the field where seed was sown (i.e., to Christian churches) to harvest and create God’s kingdom and priests.
This is not something he does without warning; he does it in fulfillment of the prophecies that have been proclaimed for the last 2,000 years.
Jesus shed his blood so we can fight and overcome Satan. Jesus shed his blood 2,000 years ago to create God’s kingdom at the time of Revelation’s fulfillment (Rv 5:9-10, Rv 17:14, Rv 18:4, Rv 12:11). This is the goal of the entire New Testament, which was written because of and through the blood of Jesus. Fighting and overcoming Satan is the condition on which we can receive God’s inheritance. It is only by overcoming Satan that he can be seized and locked up so that everything that was lost (i.e., all of creation and God’s kingdom) can be retrieved. When everything that was lost is retrieved, it is given as an inheritance to God’s son—the one who overcomes. The greatest part of this inheritance is the kingdom of heaven and eternal life, but bigger still is God and God’s family.
God has given us the truth through revelation; he has revealed himself as the only true God. In addition to making himself known, God has also made known his promises, his will, his inheritance, and the qualifications necessary receive them. The inheritance can only be received by overcoming and by believing and keeping the promises of the New Testament when they are fulfilled.