When you accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you joined God’s family. You became one of His children, and you received the same rights and privileges that Jesus has. Romans 8:17, NKJV, refers to you as a “joint heir” with Jesus. What a powerful description! You are no longer a sinner saved by grace; you are a joint heir with Jesus, raised up to do the Father’s business. And you have work to do. Of course, you can’t even begin to be effective in what God has called you to do until you see yourself the way God sees you.
Think about it. If you cower in a spiritual corner, will you truly be ready to go out in the power and authority of Jesus Christ, ready to take the Word of God to the lost, believe for healing for the hurting, and stand against the work of the enemy? No, if you view yourself as a sinner who will one day barely crawl through the gates of heaven, then you’ll see yourself as powerless and unworthy of the authority Jesus died to give you.
Take a look at these verses concerning your position as a child of God:
- Ephesians 1:5: “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
- Galatians 4:5-7: “God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.’ Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”
- John 1:12: “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
- Romans 8:14-19a: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.”
Now think about the truth of those scriptures. You were:
- Happily adopted by God
- Made to be one of His children
- Filled with Jesus’ Spirit
- Freed from slavery
- Given rights as God’s child
- Made an heir.
Realize that historically, adoption was a very serious subject. To be adopted, especially in a royal family, meant that the child would receive the same rights, name and inheritance that the blood children received. Families did not give that privilege lightly. They worked to preserve the lineage of families so that royal blood flowed through every successor.
But God set that aside.
God made a way for every person—Jew and Gentile—to partake in His inheritance. And what an inheritance it is! God didn’t give this inheritance so that you would cower in the corner and refuse to make contact with Him. He didn’t give this inheritance so that you would repeat over and over (either verbally or mentally), “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy.” And He didn’t give this inheritance so that you would refuse to claim your rights, saying, “Oh no, I couldn’t ever do that. I’m just a sinner saved by grace. I’ll just sit here, take whatever comes my way and be content.” No, your Father gave you a royal inheritance so that you could “quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us” (John 9:4).
So, get rid of the religious attitude that says you’re a sinner saved by grace. Start seeing yourself as a child of the Most High God—a joint heir with Jesus—who has “the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13)!