Mere Missions

146 • M ere M issions : M oving F orward to M ultiply

taste of it now. In this age of the “Not yet, Already Kingdom” we experience these divine realities from our Great God and His Victorious Son: a. Our fundamental disposition is transformed. We have peace with God (Col. 1.20) rather than His wrath (Col. 3.6) b. We are cleansed from sin and unrighteousness (1 John 1.7-10) c. We have been rescued and delivered from the bondage of the Kingdom of Darkness (Col. 1.13) d. We have been redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1.14) e. We have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3.13) f. The nature of God is imparted to us (2 Pet. 1.4) g. The image of Christ is recreated in us (Rom. 8.29) h. We are made a child of God (1 John 3.1) i. We receive the precious gift of the Holy Spirit that we can live a life of true discipleship (John 14-15-31) 6. The Church is the co-heir of God’s exalted King – Jesus Christ. Romans 8.17 says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” As His children, we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade . . . kept in heaven” (1 Pet. 1.4). In other words, as His children (John 1.12), we have inheritance rights. We are His beneficiaries and therefore qualified to, “share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1.12). Jesus is the “heir” as the Son of God (Matt. 3.17; 2 Pet. 1.17)