Our Responsibility to Those Who Come After Us
“He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, . . .”
(Deuteronomy 6: 23a NASB)
- If you were to claim your spiritual inheritance in Christ, how would that look on you, as a person, changing the way you walk with the Lord in intimate relationship?
- If you were to claim your spiritual inheritance in Christ, how would that alter your relationships with others?
- If you were to claim your spiritual inheritance in Christ, how would that affect your life? And lastly,
- If you were to claim your spiritual inheritance in Christ, would there be in difference in the way you live?
This verse of Moses causes us to pause, reflecting on our salvation experience. Go back to the moment when Jesus Christ saved your soul. For me, I see a fifteen-year-old kid standing on the right side of the sanctuary of the community church during a fall revival. The year was 1981, and our mother had recently made a profession of faith. This was life-altering for our family, for she had thought she was already a believer, and had lived as a believer for our entire lives. However, after coming to Christ, our home changed. Living and acting “like” a Christian is NOT the same as living and breathing and existing as a believer in Christ. In one instance, a person goes through the motions, and in the other, a person reflects the light of Christ. The difference is daylight and dark.
That was the same year I accepted Jesus as my Savior, and that was the season “He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, . . .” (Deuteronomy 6: 23a NASB) If you too are a believer in Christ Jesus’ work on the cross and in the grave, then you understand the bringing out ”in order to bring us in, . . .” One moment a person is walking in darkness, and the next moment, he is walking in the light of Jesus. Truly, that statement cannot express the magnitude of the “coming to Christ” one experiences, but it’s real, and the one who has “come to Christ” senses the deep-abiding difference.
- The person may look the same on the outside, but the internal has dramatically changed.
- The believer may live in the same house, but the way he exists in his house is altered forever.
- The Christ-follower may work, attending the same job as before, but the conversations and interactions he now has with those he calls “his co-workers” changes.
Others see the change; they hear the change; and they notice the distinct difference Jesus makes.
“He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, . . .” so that we might overcome and claim our inheritance in Jesus Christ (Deuteronomy 6: 23a NASB). That’s right. Believers are overcomers, meaning the world, the devil, nor the old way of life no longer has any claim over the new creation Christ Jesus has created. Pause to consider the depth of change the Lord created in you when He saved your soul.
- We have the power to say: “Satan, in the power of Jesus, get away from me!” &
- We have the power to walk away from any temptation the world offers. &
- We have the power, through Christ, to exact any life-change the Lord is leading us to.
Amazing, right!
Even before we take our next breath, at the moment of our salvation, we are arrested in Him and without end but will life forevermore—Because Jesus now lives inside of our soul.
We claim our inheritance in Jesus Christ—Because we are now identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
Overcoming Power!
When Moses wrote these words of God, the children of Israel had been led by God through Moses out of the Egyptian bondage, across the parted waters of the Red Sea, and were now camped within the desert at the base of Mount Sinai. There was going to be so many acts of disobedience, of looking back over their shoulders to once they “thought” they once had, and numerous years would pass before the next appointed leader (Joshua) would lead the next generation across the parted waters of the Jordan River into the Promised Land. Nevertheless, in order to claim their spiritual inheritance, they needed to believe the Word of God, and so do we. That first step was totally essential, for the walk of faith could not begin without taking that first step of belief. They had to believe the Word of faith, and so does everyone today who chooses to believe. They had to take that first step, getting their feet wet, and so do we need to step forward in faith, stepping to believe. As the children of Israel were led out of captivity and eventually into the Promised Land, they needed to surrender themselves to the Lord, to die to the old self, AND SO DO WE!
“He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land
(Deuteronomy 6: 23 NASB)
which He had sworn to our fathers.”
Thank you, mom, for taking your step of faith, even at an older age, and even after serving as a Sunday School teacher for years. Your step of faith changed me, changed our family, and it changed our home.
- We may not think we have an obligation to the next generation, but we really do.
- We may not think our actions alter the actions of those who come after us, but they really do. &
- We may not think the way we live has any effect on our children and grandchildren, but our words, actions, and life-changes really do.
May others see Jesus in all we say and do!