“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:17

“There is nothing here below which does not belong to a Believer. If he has wealth, let him use it in his Master’s service, for it is His. If he has poverty, it is better for him, for poverty is his to help him to be sanctified and to long for Heaven! Whatever happens to him —sickness or health, adversity or prosperity —everything is his here below. You may walk the broad acres of this round globe and never look upon a single spot that is not yours!

You may cast your eyes to the remotest star, or send your thoughts beyond into the untraversed leagues of space—but look where you will—as all is Christ’s—so all is yours! You have not come of age, so you do not possess it yet—but the day shall come when Christ shall come to this earth, and take possession of it, and then His saints shall reign with Him. “The meek shall inherit the earth and delight themselves with the abundance of peace.” In Hebrews 1:2 we are told that God has appointed Christ heir of all things. Then we are heirs of all things—Heaven and Earth — time and eternity, anything that you can conceive of — the things that can be named and cannot be named, things conceivable and inconceivable, finite and infinite, human and Divine. Christ’s property extends to all and we are co-heirs.

Therefore our rights and our property extend to all things whatever they may be! “For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” Then in James 2:5 we are spoken of as being heirs of the kingdom. Christ has a Kingdom that shall never be moved. He rules over all. Does He call Himself a King? He has made us kings! Is Christ a Priest? We are priests unto our God! Does He sit upon a Throne? We shall overcome and sit down with Him upon His Throne! Will He judge the nations? Know you not that the saints shall judge the world? Will He be received with triumph by His Father? So shall we when His Father shall say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Will He be ruler over many things? So shall we be when He shall say unto us,

“Enter you into the joy of your Lord.”

Has He joy? We shall have joy, too, for we shall have His joy! Is He glorious? So must we be, for we shall be made like He. Is He everlasting? So shall we be, for because He lives, we shall live also. Brethren, I pray you, if your thoughts now can bring themselves to the matter—gather up all the honors, glories, treasures, riches that your thoughts have ever conceived as belonging to Christ — and while the hymn is ringing in your ear—

“Crown Him, crown Him, crown Him, Lord of All”

— remember that you are co-heirs with Him! Oh, it is a glorious Truth! Oratory may stand back and eloquence may hold her tongue. The Doctrine must be stated in its naked Truth. She is, “when unadorned, adorned the most.” This glorious Truth is most sweet when earth’s honeyed words are taken away, and most lustrous when we no longer attempt to illuminate her with human language. WE ARE HEIRS WITH CHRIST! All that He has, all that He is, therefore, belongs to us!”

Excerpted from sermon by Charles Hadden Spurgeon,
THE JOINT-HEIRS AND THEIR DIVINE PORTION, Sermon #402, preached July 28, 1861
Photo credit: Hubble Telescope Image Archive