November 8, 2026, Morning Service
Joint Heirs With Christ
Pastor Greg Isom
This will be our fourth message out of chapter 8 of Romans. Everything we have seen so far has been totally amazing. Paul revealed to us that despite all of our struggles with sin in our journey of following Jesus that “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8:1) We are not bound to a set of rules and regulations as we follow Jesus, if we are “in” Him because He has given us the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct us. His laws are now written on our hearts and minds and we walk free of the bondage of the unforgiving law. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our life is also the key to our retirement plan. That same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will give eternal life to our mortal bodies on that great Resurrection Day! (8:11) Just when we thought we had heard it all, it got even better! God did not call us to be simple servants to work in His kingdom, He has adopted us as His own sons and daughters! We are able to come to Him with an intimate love and address Him as “Abba Father.” Following Jesus is not a religion it is a relationship. One in which we know and are known. We love and are loved. We follow Jesus and serve God, not as a slave or servant, but as a child lovingly, willingly obeying our Father with our whole heart. Today the news even gets sweeter, but this news is a coin with two sides that opens our eyes to another truth that may not be as sweet. I backed up a bit to give us the full picture.
Romans 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (15) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Notice that I have emphasized each of the statements Paul is making about us being the children of God. These are not hopes that we have in Christ, they are true facts that we can stake our entire life on. I am a child of God. He is my Heavenly Father who loves me, wants a relationship with me, cheers for me and has a plan and purpose for my life. Paul here takes that a step deeper as he show us in verse 17 that we are not only His children, but His heirs and “joint heirs with Christ!” Let’s think about that for a minute. An heir inherits his father’s estate. My Heavenly Father owns everything because He created it all. I stand to inherit all that and will one day enjoy it to the fullest and finally experience the true peace, joy, and happiness I have longed and searched for on this earth. Christ will rule and I will be a part of His coming kingdom as a joint heir with Him. That is what our future holds as a child of God. The day will come when we shall reign with Him in a world God created just for us. We have read the end of the book and we win and will be glorified with Christ!
I did say that this coin has two sides to it. Notice the second part of verse 17; “if indeed we suffer with Him that we may be glorified together.” Adoption does come with only benefits, but also other less desirable responsibilities like suffering with Him. The “if” in that statement, I believe, needs to be “since” not in any way making it a requirement, but more of result of being “in” Christ and being joint hers with Him. Jesus revealed this truth to the disciples that is still true for us today:
John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. (19) If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (20) Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
Jesus was very transparent in His teaching and did not always paint a picture that life would be easy and without conflict. The world, Satan’s kingdom of darkness and evil, hates Jesus and His message of love, light and hope for everyone. When we confess our faith in Jesus we become hated by the world just as He is and Jesus’ enemy declares us his enemy by association. Our relationship of being adopted by God into His family bring great blessings to us, but it will also bring persecution. This is not a picture of a heroic condition of suffering for the sake of “earning” salvation, but it is a state brough to us because we are now “in” Christ and heirs with Him;” a family thing. “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you.” It is a real part of our journey through life with Jesus. Paul made this very clear to Timothy:
2Tim 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Where does that leave us? We are promised both blessings from God but that comes along with a promise of persecution as well. The early church suffered greatly as when a Jewish family confessed Christ they were removed from society as an outcast. They faced immense economic and social persecution that we have never seen. Many were even martyred for their faith as were all the Apostles except John. We all suffer, but certainly not to the level they did. We suffer when we put our needs aside and take up the burdens of others to help them carry them. We suffer when at work we refuse to conform to the lower standards of this world and stand strong for living to the high standard God has called us to live. We suffer when yield our will to God’s and give up something we desire to have or do and choose the path God has called us to. We do suffer because we belong to Christ and we now have to weigh in the balance if the blessing is worth enduring the suffering. Paul knew that and shows us the answer.
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
The scale does not sway back and forth when we weigh the blessings of God against the suffering that comes with it. The blessing side drops to the bottom quickly and decisively. Paul tells us very clearly that our sufferings now “are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us!” Any suffering we endure here on this earth will seem like nothing when we hear Jesus proclaim to us “Enter in My good and faithful servant!” Even those Christian martyrs that were fed to the lions will proclaim it was worth it to hear those words that will last for eternity! We must be able to live above our persecutions and suffering that comes with this world and look to the horizon where our hope of a better future lies. Paul told the Colossian church to do this:
Col 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
The world we live in is broken. Things are not perfect. Life is full of many heartaches, struggles and tribulations. We cannot escape persecution and suffering and we all will experience it. How do we go through our day to walk with suffering here on this earth and yet “set our mind on things above?” James tells us to count it all joy when tribulations come (1:2) and we all know how hard that can be. Paul told us earlier that these tribulations are part of a process that we go through to build our perseverance, character and hope (5:3). Paul gave the Corinthians another approach we can use that ties in well with what he tells us in verse 18. These trials all have a purpose for us and encourage us to hang on.
2Cor4:15-18 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. (16) Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. (17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, (18) while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
There is a saying that says a man is wise to let go of the things he cannot keep, but hold tightly to the things he cannot lose. This world is temporary. We all go through the stages of life quickly and things can change for us in a heartbeat. No matter how hard we try, we are unable to hold onto the things of this world. Paul tells us that all things, trials and the uncertainty of life, is to cause us to be thankful to God that our future is set in stone and will not change. These trouble are meant to drive us closer to God as we rely fully on Him to be our all in all. Our “light affliction” we endure here is far exceeded by our “eternal weight of glory!” As Jesus followers our eyes are not on the present things that we can see, but we are focused in on the things that we have not yet seen but have faith that one day our hope will become sight. The best is yet to come! Hold tightly to the hand of Your Father as you walk through this life and trust Him to lead you safely home.