There are a number of New Testament verses that speak of inheriting Eternal Life and inheriting the Kingdom of God (Matt. 19:29, 25:34; Mark. 10:17; Luke 10:25, 18:18; 1 Cor. 6:9-10). As I have stated several times, the Kingdom of God (among other meanings) is a present spiritual reality of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). It is a place where humans accept and live under God’s authority. Additionally, I contend that Eternal Life is much more than a never-ending existence. It is God’s own life that He wishes to share with us. Eternal Life is a description of life in the Kingdom of God. Eternal Life can, likewise, be described as a lifestyle of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is a life lived in fellowship with God.
To many, it might seem strange to speak of inheriting Eternal Life and inheriting the Kingdom of God. However, its meaning and roots are found in the Old Testament. Most Old Testament references to the “inheritance” or to “inheriting” refer to the Israelites inheriting the promised land of Canaan (Deut. 12:9,10; 31:7, Ps. 105:9-11). Yahweh promised this land as an inheritance to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ex. 32:13). The Promised Land was described as a “good and spacious land,” a place of incredible blessing, a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:8). The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery explains:
Next to bread, milk was the most important staple in the diet of the Hebrews. A land that produced an abundance of milk had to be rich in pasturage, so by extension a picture of successful farming enters one’s imagination. Honey, valued for its sweetness rather than as a necessity of life, was rare enough to rank as a luxury. As images of desirability and abundance, therefore, these two images combine to form a picture of total satisfaction. The image of “flowing” suggests a rich fullness that surpasses all need and sets up a contrast with the arid wilderness.[1]
The Promised Land was meant to be a place of fantastic blessing. In both the Old and New Testament, the verbs translated as “to inherit” include more than just the idea of receiving something by descent; it includes the general idea of “to acquire or to take possession of.”[2] Additionally, our Hebrew Bible demonstrates that the ideas of “inheriting” and “inheritance” were connected to certain character traits. In Psalm 25, David wrote, “Who is the person who fears the Lord? He [God] will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will dwell in prosperity. And his descendants will inherit the land” (Ps. 25:12-13). Those that inherited the Promised Land of blessing were also required to demonstrate certain characteristics like humility, righteousness, wisdom, and waiting on the Lord (Ps. 37:1-40). Further, those that possessed certain excellent character traits were said to inherit a certain status, like a wise person inheriting honor (Prov. 3:35) or a blameless person inheriting good (Prov. 28:10). However, the opposite could also be true, like a naive person inheriting foolishness (Prov. 14:18), or the one who troubles his own house inheriting the wind (Prov. 11:29). The Israelites were promised special blessings in the Promised Land only if they remained obedient (Duet. 28:1-68).
Biblical Imagery is a powerful symbolic language. The Israelites were promised a “land flowing with milk and honey” if they remained faithful and obedient to Yahweh. In a similar way, the Kingdom of God is a “land flowing with milk and honey,” a place of abundance and fullness, but we must remain faithful and obedient.
However, the most rich and powerful imagery speaks of Israel being God’s inheritance (Deut. 32:9) and of God being Israel’s inheritance (Jer. 10:16). “God belongs to Israel and Israel belongs to God.”[3] In a similar way, we, Christians, belong to God, and God belongs to us.
In so many passages of the Bible, the physical and material world is used to teach us higher spiritual realities. When we move to the New Testament, we see a similar trajectory. In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “Blessed are the gentle for they will inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5). The Greek word praus is most often translated as “gentle,” [4] but it is best understood as a person who accepts God’s dealings with him as good.[5] Such a person does not resist or dispute God’s will.[6] The gentle will inherit the Kingdom of God, a place of full and abundant blessing.
It is also very important to understand that in the New Testament, the Promised Land of blessing has expanded far beyond just the land of Canaan. The Apostle Paul taught that the promised inheritance to Abraham always included the whole Cosmos (meaning the World and even the Universe) (Rom. 4:13). Hints regarding the expanded idea of the inheritance were even evident in the Hebrew Bible. At Psalm 2:8, God said to the Messiah, “Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance. And the ends of the earth as Your possession.” Everything in creation belongs to the Lord, and He wants to share possession and ownership of it with His chosen and faithful people. At Revelation 21:7, we read, “The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be His God, and he will be my son.”
We learn from the Apostle Paul that inheriting the Kingdom of God is conditioned upon an ethical and moral lifestyle. We are warned that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10). The unrighteous includes the sexually immoral, idolatrous, greedy, envious, selfish, jealous, and dishonest, among other things (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21). As I have stated several times, “entering or inheriting the Kingdom of God” is not about whether or not you will go to Heaven after you die. The Kingdom of God is a place of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). It is a place of obedience to God, along with the blessings that flow from God because of that obedience. It is a place we can occupy only by the grace of God. Our ears must be open to the Spirit. The Apostle Paul taught that habitual ways of thinking and living keep us from living in a place of blessing. Paul said that those “who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21). Paul used the Greek word prasso, which means “practice.”[7] It is a word that describes one’s pattern or common way of living. Kingdom Living requires a certain lifestyle or practice. More and more, our lifestyle should look like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). As taught by James, the Lord’s brother, the heirs of the Kingdom of God are those who love God (Jas. 2:5).
First and foremost, when we inherit Eternal Life and the Kingdom of God, we take possession of the New Covenant Spiritual Life. More and more, we should walk by the Spirit, wherein the Word is a light to our feet, trusting in Christ Jesus, while having no confidence in our fleshly capacity to live this new, supernatural way of being (Phil. 3:3; Ps. 119:105). Such Kingdom Living is possible only by God’s grace and power. Eternal Life is a life lived under God’s authority by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a life lived in fellowship with God, wherein God is our primary and intimate companion. It is an ethical and moral existence. It is a place of righteousness, peace, and joy. And yes, if we embrace Kingdom Living, our eternal future will include fantastic spiritual and material blessings.
[1] “Land flowing with Milk and Honey.” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken, et al, InterVarsity Press, 1998.
[2] Ps. 25:13 – “H3423 – yāraš – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 21 Feb, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3423/nasb20/wlc/0-1/>. Prov. 11:29 – “H5157 – nāḥal – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 22 Feb, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h5157/nasb20/wlc/0-1/>. Matt. 19:29 – “G2816 – klēronomeō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 22 Feb, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2816/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[3] “Inheritance.” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken, et al, InterVarsity Press, 1998.
[4] “G4239 – praus – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 21 Feb, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4239/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[5] “G4239”
[6] “G4239”
[7] “G4238 – prassō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 21 Feb, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4238/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.