Are you eating the whole piece of the pie?

For you have not received the spirit of slavery again to fear. But you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:15-17, MEV).

As I was praying before ministering at a church that we work with here in Minnesota, I saw a picture of a pie. It was a very nice, appetizing pie which had been sliced into portions. Then I saw that one of the portions had a very thin slice taken from it, leaving the rest behind.

The pie, I believe, represents all that has been given to the body of Christ … or we could say “all of Christ.” The portions are our individual parts. We have each individually been given gifts and callings, and together, we reproduce Christ on the earth today. That is why we are called “the body of Christ.”

The thin slice, however, represents the small portion that we are partaking of all that has been given to us through the work of Christ through the Gospel. Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us that when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into our heart crying “Abba Father” and lets us know that we are children of God.

We ARE the children of God! Think of what that means. Once, we were children of the devil, having His nature. But when we are born again by the Spirit of adoption, we are the children of God. But then He goes further, saying, “… if children, then heirs … heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” Think of it.

We ARE joint-heirs with Christ! We share equally in what our big brother, Jesus, has procured for us.

Certainly, we are different. He is the Savior. He is the Lord. He is God. But through His work of redemption, He has graciously given us a share in all that He has. As the Scripture says, we are partakers of the divine nature. The blood of Jesus has given us access to the throne of God, and all that He has. We are heirs of God!

The problem is that we don’t realize what has been accomplished for us on Calvary. We don’t realize all that we have and what it really means to be a child of God. We need to latch hold of our full inheritance, not just a sliver of the pie.

Paul prayed in Eph. 1:18 that our eyes would be opened and we would know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Lord, open our eyes to who we are and to what you have done for is in Christ. 

Let’s think about what we now have in Christ:

1. We have a relationship with our loving heavenly Father. Jesus said, “For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came from God.” (John 16:27, MEV) Many Christians have a revelation of the love of Jesus, but Jesus came to introduce us to the Father so that we can know Him and receive the healing that comes from experiencing the Father’s love. Run into your Heavenly Father’s arms and allow Him to embrace you as the father embraced the prodigal son and restored him to the family.
2. We have freedom from condemnation. As the scripture says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1, MEV) How many Christians are living under a heavy weight of condemnation, when God has provided total forgiveness through the blood of the Cross? Be free! The price has been paid!
3. We have deliverance from the power of sin. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2, MEV) We have a law within us (a guiding principle) which leads us to live right. This guiding principle does what the law of Moses could not do. It produces true righteousness and holiness. You ARE a new creature! Old things ARE passed away! All things HAVE become new!
4. We have divine healing. Isaiah 53:4 in the Literal translation reads, “Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains — he hath carried them, And we — we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4, YLT). Divine healing is a part of our inheritance. It has been given to us through Jesus’ work on the cross, just as much as forgiveness. We may receive help from others concerning our health, but Jehovah Rapha is the main Doctor on the case. He both forgives our iniquities and heals our diseases.
5. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. As Jesus told the disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, MEV). We have been given power to reach this world for Jesus Christ. We do not need to stand by wringing our hands while the world goes to hell. We are empowered to do something about it. Receive the power of the Holy Spirit! Function in the power of the Holy Spirit, and you will see lives changed before your eyes.

If we have our eyes on the world and all the associated problems, we can become overwhelmed and discouraged. But we will look into the Word of God and find out who we are and all that we have in Christ, we will realize that we are the agents of change and not the helpless victims of a cruel and demonized society. Rise up and take your inheritance! You are a joint-heir with Jesus!

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