INHERITANCE

Have you ever gotten an inheritance? Last fall at Annual Conference I talked about how when my grandpa Hotrum passed away I got an inheritance and became a multi-hundredaire. How much more amazing is the inheritance we receive from the Lord? The Bible says that it is a "priceless inheritance." 

Peter, the friend of Jesus, is seen all through the gospels and in the book of Acts. Yet, his two epistles are tucked away toward the end of the New Testament. Peter was as close to Jesus when he was here on earth as you can get. Peter wrote:

1 Peter 1:3-4 "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance..."

When Peter says that God raised Jesus from the dead we know it's true. Peter was an eyewitness to the empty tomb and the risen Lord. Jesus is more than a nice idea and a good teacher, but he is the risen Lord. As a result we have a great expectation. This is called hope. We have hope in this life and hope for the life to come. Peter also says we have a priceless inheritance. Jesus fed thousands of people, he performed miracles, but he didn't leave Peter and the early church with a multimillion-shekel endowment. Jesus told Peter that he would be with them, and that was good enough. Peter was full of hope, focusing on the priceless inheritance we receive from Jesus. We get forgiveness of sin, peace in the midst of trouble, guidance from the Holy Spirit. All this and Heaven too. 

On my desk I have a pocket watch that doesn't work. My uncle Ken gave it to me a couple years ago. He said his grandpa (my great-grandpa) had given it to him over 40 years ago and Ken said that maybe I should hang on to it for a while. My great-grandpa Cleveland did not leave an inheritance of money to the family, but he did leave an inheritance of moral and godly character. He is the one who helped my dad through college and seminary. He is the one who we knew was praying for us. Are we passing on to the next generations part of the inheritance that we have received from the Lord?