Coheirs with Jesus

The covenant with Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus, the Heir of the Patriarch and his Seed, including the possession of the Earth – Romans 8:1-23.

The Apostle Paul presents Abraham as the great exemplar of the faith, the model for believers to emulate as they live from “the faith of Jesus.” God counted the Patriarch’s faith as “righteousness” while he was uncircumcised and thus justified him apart from “the works of the Torah.” He is the father of all those who live “from the faith of Jesus,” whether Jew or Gentile, and Abraham is “the heir of the world.”

Only after instituting the covenant with the Patriarch did Yahweh command Abraham to undergo the rite of circumcision as “the seal of the righteousness” he had demonstrated already through his trust in the promise of God.

[Cosmos - Photo by Josh Gordon (Washington, DC) on Unsplash]

In the Letter to the Romans, references to “promise” and “heir” indicate future realities, things not yet received. For Abraham and “his seed,” the receipt of “the inheritance” will mean nothing less than the possession of the entire “world” or ‘kosmos’. Paul has universalized the original land promise, so it now includes the entire planet rather than just the small territory of Palestine. This will be realized fully in the future New Creation:

• “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin. Is this blessing then pronounced upon the circumcision, or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say, To Abraham his faith was reckoned for righteousness. How then was it reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be reckoned for them. And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision. For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world [‘kosmos’], but through the righteousness of faith” - (Romans 4:8-14).

Since the receipt of the inheritance is through faith, “the promise is firm to all the seed” of Abraham, that is, to all those who live by the same “faith as our father Abraham,” regardless of race, nationality, or circumcision.

God appointed Abraham to be “the father of many nations” because he believed the word of the promise given by the One who raises the dead. Therefore, God granted him “seed,” though Sarah’s womb was effectively “dead” because of old age.

References to “raising the dead,” “heir,” “seed,” and “children” in Chapter 4 anticipate the discussion in Chapter 8 about the resurrection of the righteous dead, the redemption of the creation, and our joint inheritance with Jesus Christ.

• “If anyone has not Christ’s Spirit, the same is not his; but if Christ is in you, the body, indeed, is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness. Moreover, if the Spirit of him that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised Christ Jesus from the dead will quicken even your death-doomed bodies through his indwelling Spirit” - (Romans 8:10-11).

We are mortal and therefore remain subject to death, but that is not the end of the story. The Spirit of God “will quicken our mortal bodies.”

In the preceding passage, Paul links the past Resurrection of Jesus to our future resurrection, as the Apostle does elsewhere in his letters, and the Gift of the Spirit is the guarantor of this resurrection hope. The Spirit is the agent who will accomplish it, and the Gift of the Spirit is the “first fruits” of our future resurrection.

• “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ's, at his arrival [‘Parousia’]” - (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

• “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all will not sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” - (1 Corinthians 15:51-55).

• “To the end, that we should be for the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ, in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, for the redemption of God's own possession, for the praise of his glory” - (Ephesians 1:12-14).

RESURRECTION AND NEW CREATION

If God is to redeem humanity and recover all that was lost, redemption must include our physical body. The creation was enslaved by decay, disease, and death because of Adam’s disobedience, and so it must be redeemed likewise, by the obedience of another, Jesus Christ, “the Last Adam.”

• “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, heirs also, heirs, indeed, of God but coheirs with Christ, if we are suffering together that we may also be glorified together <…> for the eager outlook of creation is ardently waiting for the revelation of the sons of God” - (Romans 8:15-20).

• “So also, it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” - (1 Corinthians 15:45).

• “So then, as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so, through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one will the many be made righteous” - (Romans 5:18-19).

Though still mortal, we are “the children of God” and coheirs with Christ, but to be a coheir with him also means suffering for his sake in this life so that we also will be glorified together with him. However, the sufferings of “this present season cannot be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed,” that is, on the day of Christ’s “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ when he will raise us from death and terminate Death itself forevermore.

• “Then comes the end, when he will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. <…> And when all things have been subjected to him, then will the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all” - (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

The creation was subjected to death and decay. It continues to suffer while “awaiting the revelation of the sons of God.” When we are revealed, at the return of Jesus--:

• “The creation itself also will be freed from the bondage of decay into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God  For we know that all creation is sighing together and travailing-in-birth-throes together until the present, and not only so, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit in us sigh, ardently awaiting sonship, the redemption of our body” - (Romans 8:21-23).

• “But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” - (2 Peter 3:13).

Thus, Paul connects the coming New Creation to our bodily resurrection and the Gift of the Spirit. Everlasting life and immortality will be received at the resurrection, an event that will coincide with the New Creation when Jesus returns.

The redemption of the creation is dependent on the resurrection of “the sons of God” - Bodily resurrection and New Creation are inextricably linked, and all of God’s promises are based on the past Death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

This is the goal of all men and women who “walk in the faith of our father Abraham,” whether Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. As the children of Abraham, we are coheirs with “the firstborn” son and therefore destined to inherit everlasting life and glory in the coming New Creation.

• “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” – (Philippians 3:10).

[PDF Copy]

SEE ALSO:

• The Faith of Abraham - (The faith of uncircumcised Abraham provides an example for Jewish and Gentile believers who live from the faith of Jesus – Romans 4:11-17)

• The Seed of Abraham - (Jesus is the Seed of Abraham, the heir of the covenant promises, and receipt of the inheritance is based on how we respond to him)

• Death, the Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean our resurrection and the end of the Last Enemy, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• Héritiers avec Jésus - (L'alliance avec Abraham est accomplie en Jésus, l'héritier et descendant du Patriarche, y compris la possession de la Terre - Romains 8: 1-23)