Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. (NKJ)

Each child of God will serve as a medium or material by which the Shekinah glory of God will be seen.

27. THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS.

Far easier to comprehend than that just considered is the truth that the believer has an inheritance in God. The believer's inheritance is God Himself and all that God bestows. This is asserted by Peter thus:

1 Peter 1:4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, (NKJ)

The present blessings which the Spirit brings into the Christian's heart and life are likened to an earnest or comparatively small payment of all that is yet to be bestowed. The Apostle writes:

Ephesians 1:14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (NKJ)

Colossians 3:24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. (NKJ)

Hebrews 9:15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (NKJ)

An eternal inheritance is a possession under grace; its specifications are unknowable until they are claimed in heaven.

28. LIGHT IN THE LORD.

As presented in the Scriptures with its symbolic meaning, an extensive body of truth is related to the general theme of light. Above all and supreme is the revelation that "God is light" (1 John 1:5). The meaning of this term as thus applied to God is that He is transparently holy and in Him is no moral darkness at all. That holy light which God is, has its manifestation on the face of Christ.

1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (NKJ)

2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (NKJ)

The believer has, by divine grace, become light � not merely that divine light shines upon him, but is light in the Lord.

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (NKJ)

This great reality does not dismiss the truth that the believer is commanded to "walk in the light", the light which God is.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (NKJ)

Both truths obtain and each engenders its own obligation. To walk in the light is not to become the light; it is rather to be wholly subject to the mind and will of God and adjusted to the holy character of God. In this respect, the Bible is a lamp to the feet and a light upon the path.

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (NKJ)

However, with regard to the light which the believer is, it may be observed that to have received the light into one's being is a possession and to be light in the Lord is a position. No person becomes the light by attempting to shine; rather, having become light in the Lord and that as a divine achievement, he is appointed to shine as a light in a dark world. It is reasonable to conclude that the light which the believer is may be determined as the indwelling divine nature, and that that light is veiled in this world, but will have its manifestation in glory.

29. WE ARE VITALLY UNITED TO THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

As perplexing as it may be to the human mind, the Scriptures advance six distinct revelations regarding relationships between the Godhead and the believer, and these relationships represent realities which find no comparisons in the sphere of human intercourse. It is said:

(1) that the believer is in God the Father:

1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJ)

(2) that God the Father is in the believer: that God the Father is in the believer:

Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (NKJ)

(3) that the believer is in the Son:

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (NKJ)

(4) that the Son is in the believer:

John 14:20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (NKJ)

(5) that the believer is in the Spirit:

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (NKJ)

(6) that the Spirit is in the believer:

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (NKJ)

The force of these stupendous declarations is centered in the intensity of meaning which must be assigned to the word "in" as used in each of these six declarations. It is evident that to be in the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit is a position; and for the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit to be in the believer onstitutes a possession.

A corresponding truth grows out of all this which is a result of it, namely, that the believers are one in each other as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father.

John 17:21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (NKJ)

Since the believer's physical body is a corporate entity, it is not as difficult to think of that body as an abode; and the body is termed a temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (NKJ)

On the other hand, it is exceedingly difficult to understand the truth asserted that the believer is in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This peculiar relationship to the Son is amplified by a sevenfold declaration or under seven figures:

(1) the believer is a member of Christ's body:

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (NKJ)

(2) the believer is to Christ as a branch to the vine:

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (NKJ)

(3) the believer is to Christ as a stone in the building of which Christ is the Chief Cornerstone:

Ephesians 2:19-22 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (NKJ)

(4) the believer is to Christ as a sheep in His flock:

John 10:27-29 27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. (NKJ)

(5) the believer is a part of that company who forms the Bride of Christ:

Ephesians 5:25-27 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (NKJ)

(6) the believer is a priest in a kingdom of priests over which Christ is High Priest forever:

1 Peter 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NKJ)

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (NKJ)

(7) the believer is a part of the New Creation over which Christ as the Last Adam is the Head:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJ)

In John 14:20 three great truths are declared as those which the believer is to know specifically in this age, namely, (1) Christ is in the Father, (2) the believer is in Christ, and (3) Christ is in the believer.

John 14:20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (NKJ)

Similarly, there is much in the New Testament respecting the relationship which obtains between the Holy Spirit and the believer, which will yet be considered when we study the work and nature of the Holy Spirit.

The truths declared and distinguished under this heading represent not only the most vital positions and possessions which infinite grace can create, but are the very heart of Christianity, being never intimated in the Old Testament.

30. WE ARE BLESSED WITH THE EARNEST OR FIRST-FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT.

As before intimated, the immeasurable blessings which come to the child of God because of his relation to the Holy Spirit are as a comparatively small down-payment which binds with certainty the larger gifts of heaven's glory. These present ministries of the Holy Spirit are said to be an "earnest" and "firstfruits" of the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 1:22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (NKJ)

2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (KJV)

Ephesians 1:14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (NKJ)

Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (KJV)

Romans 8:23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (NKJ)

Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (KJV)

There are five of these present riches:

(1) The believer is born of the Spirit, by which operation Christ is begotten in the one who exercises saving faith.

John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (NKJ)

(2) The believer is baptized by the Spirit, which is a work of the Holy Spirit by which the believer is joined to Christ's Body and comes to be in Christ, and therefore a partaker of all that Christ is.

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (NKJ)

(3) The believer is indwelt or anointed by the Spirit, by which Presence the believer is equipped for every conflict and service.

John 7:39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (NKJ)

Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (NKJ)