The reading of the will of God

So you are no longer a slave but a child,

And if a child then also an heir, through God. Galatians 4:7

Read Hebrews 9:15—22

The death of Jesus: Peter was offended by the very idea of it before it happened.[1] Saul the Pharisee (later Paul) was offended by the very idea of it after it happened — said all Jews were.[2] And the Greeks: they were offended, too, maybe even more so. Yet the cross happened. And I can see it took more and greater meaning the longer Christians thought about it. I can’t think too much about the cross. Tonight my mind is set along the lines of the inheritance that becomes available to me after a death. A promise has now become realisable for me, now that the death has occurred. So what have I inherited? I live in a new covenant, a new established relationship. I frankly have to admit that I’m prone to all the same moral failures as those who lived under Israel’s old covenant. So I ask, why is this one better than that one was? The answer is obvious. It’s not I who am better! It’s the will that’s better. It’s the eternal inheritance promised in the will that’s better. It’s the death that’s better. I am as undeserving as ever. But look what I’m inheriting: ‘an eternal inheritance!’ Life with the quality of God in it!

[1] Mark 8:31-33

[2] 1 Corinthians 1:23

Prayer
Dear Lord, I thank you again and afresh for the death of the Son of God upon the cross. Thank you for the reading of the will. That I, even I, should be included as a beneficiary. It is the very life of God and life in the fellowship of God that is willed to me. Life in the Father’s house, at peace with God, at home with God, actually nourished by the things of God. Enjoying them, daily, weekly, and looking forward to more.