Chuck Foreman – Teaching Pastor

What if the good we do in this life—everything we do in love and service and personal sacrifice that really makes a lasting difference in the lives of people in our world, changing their situation to one of hope, freedom, deliverance, restoration, prosperity, justice, healing—what if all that goodness that we make happen now in the name of Jesus is not just temporary but lasts forever, enduring into the new, eternal age when there is “a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness?”  (2 Peter 3:13)  What if the new heaven and new earth, spoken of so often in scripture, is the inheritance (also spoken of often in scripture) that the righteous, who do the will of God now, receive? Just think about that for a minute… 

Jesus said that “meek will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) He, the King of Matthew 25:34, told those on his right who had been compassionate in life, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” And Paul told the Colossians, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.” (Colossians 3:23)

Those in the family who are included in their parent’s or grandparent’s will are usually those who are favored because they’ve been faithful and contributing family members whom the will bearer wants to honor by leaving them an inheritance. Sounds like God is the same way. The good we do never goes away. It’s remembered by God. It shows him that we’re in thiswith him. And he gives us a new, restored world as our inheritance—the home of righteousness, God’s Kingdom with Jesus as the King and we will reign forever with him (Revelation 22:5). Can’t wait for that!