possessing the promise
Joshua 23:1-16 Joshua’s Farewell Address
from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on Links page)
Now it came about after many days, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years, 2 that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years. 3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you. 4 See, I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun. 5 The Lord your God, He will thrust them out from before you and drive them from before you; and you will possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. 6 Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7 so that you will not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them. 8 But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. 9 For the Lord has driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10 One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. 11 So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God. 12 For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
14 “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed. 15 It shall come about that just as all the good words which the Lord your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. 16 When you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”
In today's text we see that the nation of Israel has been brought into their inheritance. Joshua says: you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you.... not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed. Joshua then warns the Israelites that they need to be careful to continue to follow God. They need to continue to possess and inhabit the land God has given them by following and serving God.
The promised land, Israel's inheritance, is an Old Testament foreshadow or illustration of the promise and the inheritance we have in Christ. What we are promised and inherit through Christ is much more than a parcel of realestate. The Israelites were delivered from a land of slavery to a place of their own to live in freedom. We have been delivered from a spiritual slavery to sin into freedom as a child of God. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Our inheritance includes eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.(John 3:16) Eternal life though is only a part of the inheritance we have in Christ. Jesus Himself says: ... I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. An abundant life, here and now, in this realm, is also our inheritance in Christ.
Just as God delivered the nation of Israel into the promised land and defeated their enemies. Jesus has completely defeated our enemy the devil. When He went to the cross, died for our sins and rose from the grave the victory over sin and death was complete.
Colossians 2:8, 13-15 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Our enemy has been completely defeated. Yet, like the nation of Israel, we must continue to possess and inhabit our promised inheritance in obediance to Christ. In Christ we are joint heirs with Him. We have all the rights and authority of children of God and rulers over this world. That inheritance though, all the promises of God for our lives, are only ours as we continue in Christ. In Psalm 91 the psalmist says:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For
it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He
will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that
flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the
destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And
ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You
will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For
you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against
a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion
and the serpent you will trample down.
These promises, the protection, the provision, the victory over enemies are promised for those who dwell and abide in the Lord. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior we gain eternal life through the finished work of the cross. But, if we are to live the abundant life that He has provided for us, if we are to live in the fullness of the inheritance we have in Christ, we need to dwell and abide in Him. We need to possess the land we have been given in the name of our Lord.
It's not my desire to debate the doctrines of eternal salvation, whether once saved we are always saved or whether we can actually lose that eternal inheritance. I'll leave those deeply theological questions to the theological experts. What I do believe is that we are called to much more than a future life with God. We are called to live for Him and with Him now. Our inheritance, the promise we have in Christ includes the privilege of serving Him, of joining Him in His work on earth. Jesus says He came to give us abundant life. The abundant life He gives us is not about cars, houses and material things, though He may bless us with those. The abundant life Jesus gives is a life of victory, power and authority over evil in our lives and the lives of others. Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.(John 14:12) He says: These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”(Mark 16:17-18)
That's abundant life in Christ! That's our inheritance, our promise in Him. Inhabit the land. Dwell and abide in Him. Live in the inheritance and promise you have in Christ!
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