A Grand Inheritance

by Francine Biere
Published January 24, 2006

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 5:3

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This first beatitude ends with a promise of a grand inheritance – the kingdom of Heaven. It sounds almost too good to be true but its reality is based on our perceptions.

Ideas on what heaven will be like and look like vary dramatically. Forget the picture of chubby cherubs floating on soft, fluffy clouds drifting in a pristine sky. Satan would love to deceive us into believing this comical and rather dull image. That kind of eternity sounds boring and does such a disservice to our Creator. Life, be it here or in the eternal realm, is and was never intended to be boring.

God's care of us includes a path we can walk that will open our spiritual eyes in order to glimpse the reality of heaven. Of course, if you believe in the Creator of the universe, then you understand that He doesn't lie. His words are truth and his promises are real. In case you are interested in statistics, Heaven is mentioned more than five hundred times in the Bible.

But are God's promises only things that await us in the future?

If we can comprehend that heaven can be a state of peace, fullness, justice, and abundance, and then relate that to our spiritual life, I think we can begin to catch a glimpse of what is available to us in the here and now. If we can understand that God's presence in our life brings supernatural peace, then the perception of heaven becomes tangible.

God didn't just stick us down here with pie in the sky promises. He left us instructions and love letters, so that we would know how to live and what awaits us in the next stage of our lives. While our eyes will someday close to the things of this world, they will open upon things in the spiritual realms. We do have a kingdom inheritance, but unless we are His true children, that inheritance isn't ours.

God's promises and assurances are spread throughout the Bible. Words like peace and joy are mentioned repeatedly and many times relate directly to how we might obtain these blessings.

It's interesting that this first beatitude ends with a promise of contrasting magnitude. Yet, as you get to know Jesus more intimately, you will discover that His words stand out against worldly views and values.

It's tempting to seek to follow Godly wisdom just for the promises and blessings. However, when doing becomes more important than loving, you will find little satisfaction. Anyone who has once loved his or her job and then lost that desire knows exactly how miserable that can be.

Instead, we must love God because of Who He is above what He does for us. Yet, when times are tough, there is comfort in His promises.

Our inheritance doesn't begin with our physical death, but more importantly our spiritual death to self.

Many people have a problem right from the beginning of this sermon because being poor in spirit is a most obvious conflict with being ourselves – self-sufficient and independent. However, if we can understand the necessity of being poor, then God can fill us with His spirit and richly bless us.

It all comes back to emptying ourselves, becoming poor in spirit, and allowing God to fill us back up. After all, it's physically impossible to fill up a container that's already full.

Try pouring milk into a full glass of water. True, some of it will make it into the glass but the milk is weakened. That's what happens when we aren't poor in spirit and yet desire God's presence. Sure, some of it will get in but it won't be pure and it certainly won't be strong.

If we put aside the arguments as to what is or isn't worldly and focus on God's perfection, it's easy to see that the riches our Creator wants to give us – our inheritance – is better than watered-down Godliness.

Don't forget, as always, it's our choice.

And for those who have chosen to be poor in spirit, look up – God's heavenly kingdom is yours.

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