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Matthew 20:1-16
Part 2: The Believer’s Inheritance

Previously, we looked at a parable that Jesus told as a means of explaining His statement concerning the
priority of the church over the nation Israel, in receiving eternal life.

Although the church was the last called-out people of God, they have been receiving eternal life first -
before Israel. Why? Because they have trusted in Christ first - as shown in the parable by the last groups
of laborers, who trusted that the landowner would give them whatever is right.

The nation Israel was God’s first called-out people, but as a nation they will receive eternal life last - why?
Because they try to justify themselves to God, based on their own good works - their keeping of the Law.
We saw this in the parable with the first group of laborers, who negotiated with the landowner to work all
day for their wages - a contract of work, reflecting the covenant of the Law.

Now, in the parable, all the laborers earn the same exact wages - what was it? One denarius. Whether they
worked all day, or hardly worked at all, the wage the landowner paid them was the same. Do you
remember what the denarius represents, in the parable? Remember it’s a silver coin. It’s the redemption in
Christ Jesus - which, when a man receives it by faith, gives him eternal life.

The church has received that redemption through simple trust in Jesus as their Savior. The nation Israel
will also one day receive the redemption by faith - when they cease laboring to keep the Law, and instead
let the Law lead them to their Savior - as God designed it to do (Gal 3:24).

Paul speaks of the redemption in Christ Jesus in his general letter to the churches in Asia. Turn to
Ephesians chapter 1. Paul began this letter by outlining all of the spiritual blessings that the believer has,
by virtue of being “in Christ” - through their union with Christ, realized through their faith.

Verses 1 to 14 are one long run-on sentence of Paul’s, in the Greek, but English translators often divide his
thoughts into more manageable sentences. We’re just looking at verses 7-8 first - and we will still be
stopping mid-sentence, in order to focus on an aspect of redemption. Also, I will be substituting the
persons of the Godhead that were intended, in place of the third person singular pronouns used - “He, Him,
His”.

[Ephesians 1:7-8] “In Christ we have redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of the Father’s grace which the Father made to abound toward us in all wisdom and
prudence [or understanding]”

The Greek word for redemption in verse 7 is apolutrosis, which means “release upon payment of a
ransom”. There is something that is holding men prisoner - it is the Sin, which reigns over all men in Adam
with absolute tyranny.

The Sin holds the souls of men as its captives; they are powerless to escape its dominion over them. A
ransom payment must be made, in order to obtain their release; what is that payment? The blood of Christ.

This is the ransom that the Father, according to the riches of His grace, extended to all mankind - the
precious blood of His own Son - His death for them, on the cross. This is what it cost God to release
sinners from their sin; so that men could be justified, in His sight; so that the Judge of all the earth could
declare them “not guilty”.
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For those who believe to receive the blood of Jesus personally, that ransom then releases their soul from the
Sin. Delivered from Sin, justified in His sight, the Father can now forgive them; and through forgiveness,
believers are also reconciled to Him. All of this is a result of the release of the soul from sin.

But there is more to redemption than just the release of the soul from sin; there is an additional release. The
creation in Adam is not just a prisoner of sin. What else are they a prisoner of? Of Death.

Death was the penalty for the transgression in the garden, which passed through upon all men, since all sin
(Rom 5:12). You could say that death is what we inherit from Adam through natural birth, yet it is also the
just recompense of God for our own personal sin, in our lives.

Like Sin, Death reigns over the sons of Adam with absolute tyranny; in Adam, all die (1 Cor 15:22a).
Death results in the corruption of the natural body, leaving the soul of spirit life unclothed, and unfit for the
presence of God (2 Cor 5:1-4). But as we now continue at a later point in Paul’s catalog of the spiritual
blessings of those in Christ, we discover that it is God’s will that men be released from Death.

You’ll note that in this section, Paul begins to speak of “we” - referring to himself and Jewish believers -
and “you” - referring to the majority of his readers; Gentile believers. Once again, I’ll be substituting the
person of the Godhead that was intended, in place of the third person singular pronouns.

[Eph 1:11-14] “In Christ also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose
of the Father who works all things according to the counsel of the Father’s will, that we who first trusted
in Christ should be to the praise of the Father’s glory. In Christ you also trusted, after you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to
the praise of the Father’s glory”.

Did you notice that the word “redemption” is used again, in verse 14? It is the same word as Paul used
earlier, meaning “release upon payment of a ransom”. But this is not a redemption that has been received
already by the believer, as in verse 7; it is a future redemption: “until the redemption of the purchased
possession”.
Something of the believer has already been purchased, but it has not yet been redeemed. All believers have
been purchased with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28) - that was the ransom price, to release the prisoners.

We’ve seen earlier that the believer’s soul has already been released from Sin; so what has yet to be
redeemed, for the believer? His body - it too has been purchased with the blood of Christ, but it has yet to
be released - from Death.

The redemption of the body will be when it is raised as a glorified, ever-living body of spirit-life; death will
no longer have dominion over it. This is what completes the believer as a son of God, so that he may enter
the kingdom of God.

And that future redemption is absolutely sure for the believer; why? Because it has already been
purchased with Christ’s blood. It is our utterly certain, future hope. And the Father gives each believer His
Holy Spirit - acting as the Father’s seal - guaranteeing our destiny.

This is the fullness of the redemption that is pictured in the silver coin, the denarius, in the parable that
Jesus told. When a man receives it, he receives eternal life - or as Jesus had said, he inherits eternal life
(Mat 19:29).
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You may have noticed that Paul also spoke of an inheritance in this passage in Ephesians - in verse 11,
Paul indicates that we have obtained an inheritance, in Christ; and in verse 14, he says that the Holy Spirit
is the guarantee of our inheritance, until our bodies are released from death.

So the sense from Paul is that there are both present and future aspects to this inheritance, for the believer.
But what exactly is it, that the believer receives - present and future?

Well to dig into this a little deeper, let’s think about an earthly inheritance; what kinds of things are
inherited, on earth? First of all, you might inherit a house; a dwelling place, where you can live.

What kind of dwelling does the believer receive, to live in? Hint: It’s a habitation which is from heaven (2
Cor 5:2). An ever-living, glorified body. That will be the believer’s forever dwelling-place, in the future,
that fits him for the kingdom of God.

But the believer receives the Life of that body the moment he puts his faith in Jesus as his Savior; he
receives eternal life, in the here and now - in the present time. Every believer receives this same
inheritance, or gift from God - reflected in the parable by the single denarius, which all of the laborers were
offered.

This is true for all the saints down through the ages; the OT saints; the church; the Tribulation saints; and
the believing remnant of Israel. All will receive this same reward, eternal life in a glorified body; but as the
parable reflected, they receive it at different times, with the church receiving their completed redemption
first - at the Rapture, when they are caught up to be with the Lord (1 Thes 4:15-17).

But there can be other aspects to an inheritance, on earth. Beside a house, you might inherit - land. Is this
something like what believers will inherit? Certainly! All believers will have a forever home, in the land
of the living - in God’s kingdom, as His sons. But there will be two different realms in that kingdom.

There will be the heavenly realm. What is that called, in the Scriptures? In the book of Revelation? The
New Jerusalem. The apostle John saw it come down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband (Rev 21:2). The New Jerusalem is the place that Jesus told His disciples that He was
preparing for them - and for all of His church (Jn 14:2-3).

Turn to John chapter 14. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples to comfort them, shortly before He went
to the cross.

[John 14:1-3] The word “mansions” is literally dwellings; a place where you abide, or live. The dwellings
are the glorified bodies, that believers will live in; in eternity, they are already realized; they’re reserved in
heaven, for you (1 Pet 1:4-5).

The words of Jesus evoke the image of an ancient bridegroom. During the betrothal period, the bridegroom
would go to prepare a home for his bride - often adding it on to his father’s house.
That’s the New Jerusalem, the home of Christ and His church - the workmanship that Jesus wrought (Eph
2:10), through His redemption on the cross, and His work of reconciliation.

When all is complete, the Bridegroom will return to catch up His Bride, present her to Himself a church of
glory (Eph 5:27) and carry her over the threshold of time, into eternity - into their new home in the
heavenlies.
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There will also be an earthly realm in God’s kingdom, for other of His sons. The OT saints and Tribulation
martyrs will be resurrected in glorified bodies for that realm.

Turn to First Corinthians chapter 15. Paul was answering questions that the church in Corinth had posed to
him, after he had departed. Here Paul was addressing the absolute certainty of the resurrection.

Those who embraced Greek philosophy refuted the idea that the body would be raised from the dead,
because they viewed the body as evil; something the soul needed to be freed from. Instead, Paul points out
the design of God for men includes their body, which resurrection will free - from Death. The body is not
the enemy; Death is.

First Paul establishes the certainty of Christ’s resurrection, which fulfilled the Scriptures, and was attested
to by many witnesses. Next, Paul points out the futility of our faith, if there is no resurrection.

As Paul continues, he then shows that God’s plan has always been to overcome death through the Second
Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. In a later section (vv. 50-58), Paul will show how this will be accomplished for
the church, raised up in glory through the Rapture, for the heavenly realm.

But in this section, Paul reveals how the kingdom that will be established on earth is also contingent upon
death being overcome through resurrection.

[First Corinthians 15:20-23]

15:20 The resurrected Christ is like the first-ripened grain in a field; the assurance that all who possess His
life will be raised in like manner; all believers, throughout time.

15:21-22 God accomplished everything He planned through just two men. Through Adam, God obtained
natural men. Through Christ, God is transforming them into His glorified, righteous sons.

The next section pertains specifically to when Christ returns to the earth at His Second Coming. The
church is discussed later in this passage (vv. 50-58); they will have already been caught up to be with the
Lord, time-wise.

15:23 In the context, “those who are Christ’s at His coming” are those who have died and are raised as He
returns to the earth, in what Jesus called the resurrection of Life (Jn 5:29). These would include the OT
saints and the Tribulation martyrs, whose bodies are released from Death at Christ’s return. These glorified
believers will reign with Jesus on the earth for a thousand years (Dan 7:27, 12:1-3; Rev 20:4-6).

There will also be believers who are still alive in their natural bodies when Jesus returns - the remnant of
Israel, and believing Gentiles. These will be invited into the Kingdom on earth. They will receive bodies
of glory by the end of the Kingdom Age - after such time as they multiply and fill the earth, to bring forth
men who can choose to become sons of God - to fill the Kingdom on earth. And everything in that
Kingdom will be conducive to them becoming sons of God.

All enemies will have been vanquished; including natural death (Isa 65:20, 1 Cor 15:26) - and therefore,
disease and deformity. Jesus will reign with absolute authority; there will be no more wars; no crime; no
substance abuse; no sexual immorality or perversity; no disobedience of any kind, permitted (Ps 2:10-12);
it will be a kingdom of perfect righteousness and peace (Isa 32:17).
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Satan will have been bound (Rev 20:1-3); he will be powerless to deceive or to afflict people. So there will
be no more idolatry or false worship; and there will be no more illness - physical, mental or emotional -
whether from natural or supernatural causes.

The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isa 11:9). Everyone will
be taught the truth, and have understanding of it. No one shall want for anything that they need; all men
will prosper. Can you see that the earthly realm will be glorious?

But remarkably, the heavenly realm will be more glorious still. In the New Jerusalem, the natural world
will have been left completely behind. The church will administer the rule of Christ, over the earth, sitting
with the Lamb on His throne (Rev 2:26-27, 3:21).

Love will always rule; and the believers there will delight to serve one another in love. Every aspect of the
heavenly realm will reflect the glory of God and the Lamb. All will be glory.

So we can see that, while all believers will inherit eternal life, and become glorified sons of God, the realm
of the kingdom that they inherit will vary. Only the church will occupy the heavenly realm - those who
readily embraced the Good News of Christ once He came to the earth.

Let’s now consider one final aspect usually involved, in an earthly inheritance. Riches! We surmise that
there is a corollary to this, for the believer - because Jesus spoke about storing up for oneself treasure in
heaven (Mat 6:20).

But what exactly is this treasure, of the believer? What riches does he inherit? It all begins with his key
inheritance - eternal life. Each believer is given that same gift; the reward of his faith. But it is what the
believer does with that gift, that then determines his treasure in heaven - just how rich he will be. We can
assume this would be true for believers in the earthly realm, as well.

We’re going to take a look at the second letter we have of Paul to the church in Corinth. This is a letter he
wrote expressing his relief that the assembly in Corinth had recognized they were being deceived by false
teachers, and had once again embraced Paul and the true gospel - the light of truth.

[Second Corinthians 4:6-12, 16-18, 5:6-10]

4:6-7 So Paul is speaking of the gospel as a treasure - because it reveals how men can be saved and inherit
eternal life. That is a treasure! It’s one that Paul and his fellow missionaries carried around the Roman
Empire, in their earthen vessels - their frail human bodies. The messengers themselves weren’t glorious; it
was the message they bore that was the treasure.

The power of God is seen in the message - the power to save men. Paul contrasts this with the weakness of
their bodies, as they endeavor to deliver that message.

4:8-10 What did Paul mean by “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus”? Paul died
with Christ once - when Paul was joined to Christ, by faith. But Paul made that his constant experience, by
which he lived.

It’s another way of saying that Paul always walked in newness of Life - the Life that Jesus brought out of
death - and that was the Life that was then manifested - seen by others, such as the Corinthians - Christ’s
eternal life, through Paul’s body.
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Paul then expresses his afflictions and persecutions in light of this.

4:11-12 Having been crucified with Christ, Paul now lives by faith in the Son of God (Gal 2:20) - and for
Paul, that walk of faith brought frequent brushes with death. But that was no less than was necessary, in
order for Paul to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph 3:8).

So in more than one respect, Paul could say that death was working in him, and the other ministers of the
gospel - but Life, in those to whom they served.

Paul then showed how his ministry resulted in gain for the Corinthians and other believers, as well as in
glory for God.

Now let’s jump down to verse 16.

4:16-18 Now Paul is showing that his ministry also brought personal gain. Paul speaks of the outward
man - the body; and the inward man - the being, in the body.

Paul was not concerned for afflictions that he bore in his body, for the sake of the gospel - because he knew
that his body would be redeemed - released from death - in glory. And meanwhile, the inward man - Paul,
in his being - was constantly being made new, by what he suffered; his mind was being transformed - into
the mind of Christ.

And what did this produce, for Paul? In verse 17 - it worked what? A far more exceeding and eternal
weight - of glory. So that treasure of the gospel produced eternal life in Paul - for an ever-living body - and
then as Paul lived that Life in the here and now, in submission to the Lord, he developed heavenly thinking;
God’s thinking; and in so doing, Paul acquired more and more glory - his treasure grew.

As Paul continued, he emphasized how death of the body is not a concern for him, as a believer. The
believer has assurance from God that his body will be glorified, and he will live forever in it. That
assurance comes in the form of the Holy Spirit, dwelling in the believer - the Father’s guarantee.

And Paul drew confidence from this. Skip down to verse 6 of chapter 5.

5:6-8 The emphasis in verse 6 is “from the Lord”. Paul wasn’t confident in just being absent; but in the
fact that it was the Lord he was absent from - with whom he knew he’d be present, some day. And until
that day - the day when Paul was absent from his earthly body, and present with the Lord - Paul would walk
by faith, looking to the Lord; not by looking at his circumstances.

5:9-10 Paul was showing the reason why he lived to please the Lord - because the Lord would judge him,
one day. The Lord will be the judge of all men - believers and unbelievers - according to their works.

Unbelievers will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment, following the 1000-year reign of Christ on
the earth; since none will have received the work of Christ on their behalf, they will all be judged according
to their works, and condemned to the Lake of Fire.

Believers appear instead before the judgment seat of Christ. There is no condemnation at this judgment;
Jesus took all of our condemnation for our sins upon Himself, on the cross. This is a judgment to determine
rewards.

For what? Paul indicates, for what the believer has done - whether good or bad - the word bad here means
lacking or worthless.
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Now, Paul had shown in chapter 4 that the believer is rewarded based on his thinking being made new with
God’s thinking. But here, he is showing the believer is rewarded based on the good he has done, in his
body. Well, which one is it, Paul? Paul would answer, it’s both. He shows the link between them in First
Corinthians 3, which is where we’re going next.

Paul was showing the believers in Corinth that he had done his part - to preach the gospel to them. Paul
then goes on to show the Corinthians that, having received the gospel, they now have a responsibility
toward it.

[First Corinthians 3:9-15]

3:9-11 Paul has switched his metaphor here from planting, to building. It was Paul who laid the foundation
of the Corinthians’ faith - the only foundation that can be laid - what is it? Jesus Christ. The idea here is
that Christ is the foundation of the only true Life for men - the Life that the Father has purposed for men, as
His righteous, ever-living sons.

Paul laid that foundation when he preached the gospel to the Corinthians; that was his part. But the
believers have a part as well, as God’s building - each of them, personally - and Paul cautions each believer,
take heed how you build on your foundation!

3:12-15 What does each believer build, on the foundation of Christ? His own individual life. Building is a
process. You take your building materials, layering one upon another, until your building is complete. Can
you go back and change what you laid on the bottom? No; it’s cemented in; and everything else is built up
on top of it. Once it’s laid, it is laid.

Life is like that. Living our lives is a process, it’s done through time. And time is like that cement; once an
opportunity is past, it’s past. What you did is cemented in place; you did it. Whatever building material
you chose, that’s part of your building; it’s laid. So Paul says, be careful what you build with.

Paul names some things that men build with. These fall into two basic categories. The first – gold, silver,
precious stones – are enduring materials – non-combustible. These are all valuable, and they are relatively
rare; items of beauty and glory. They are found under the earth; you have to dig, in order to obtain them.

These are the precious, hard-won truths of Christ, that a person builds into his life, through faith; the
believer takes them into his thinking, and makes them his own. They become a part of the believer, and so
are manifested through the believer in righteous living; obedience to the will of God; and the beauty and
glory of the Lord can be seen. Now we see that the thinking and the doing are linked together as one - in the
building of the life - in the living of it.

The second set of materials – wood, hay and straw – are most notably combustible. They have little value,
as they are commonly found strewn all over the surface of the earth. They can be easily picked up,
anywhere.

Building with these materials represent a life built with the thinking of this world – which is self-serving.
That thinking is easy to come by; no effort at all required to find it, and to take it in. But because that
thinking always serves self, it cannot serve God; in choosing this material, the will of God is not done, in
the believer’s life. No righteousness to be seen in that life – the righteousness, that Christ died to give him.
No beauty or glory of the Lord, seen; all that is seen is self.
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These are the materials with which a believer builds his life – and he can choose one type, or the other, at
any given time. Paul’s point here is not on how this affects his witness, in this present life – although of
course it does – his point is how it affects the believer himself, once that life comes to an end.

The “day”, in verse 13, refers to the day when each believer will give an account of his life, at the judgment
seat of Christ. It would most likely be the day each believer dies; when his earthly life is complete; when
he finishes his building. As we had read in Second Corinthians, when the believer dies, he is absent from
the body, present with the Lord; he will go to be with the Lord in heaven.

In order to be with the Lord, the believer must leave behind all of the things that are not of the Lord; the
worthless things, that were done by him, in his body; the wood, hay, and straw, with which he built his life.
The Lord will consume those things, in the fire of His holiness, at His judgment seat. The believer will
suffer the loss of these things; this does not mean suffering, as in pain, but simply, that he will forfeit those
things. All gone!

The believer himself will not be lost; he is still secure on the foundation, Christ; but he will lose all of those
worthless things that he did, for himself. All of those things represent lost opportunities, when he could
have been serving His Master; when he could have been loving his brethren, and his fellow man. It is
indeed a loss.

But it is also a purification. Even as the fire of God’s holiness burns away that which is worthless, what
remains? The things of value. The things of God. The good, that was taken in and acted upon, in this
body, in obedience to the Lord. The righteousness, that he lived. The glory of the Lord, that he reflected.
These things will be clearly seen, to be of God.

With the dross burned away, our sanctification will be complete. What we are left with is our heavenly
treasure; what we took in, and believed, and lived of Christ Himself, while here on earth.

And that treasure will vary - as Paul wrote, each one will receive his own reward according to his labor (1
Cor 3:8). So where all believers equally receive eternal life, their reward will be commensurate to how
much they lived that Life.

When the Lord returns to catch up His church, and our bodies are all conformed to His body of glory, then
that treasure – that outshining of the Lord, Himself – will fill our glorified vessels; light, in a lightholder.
That’s our reward; our riches, for eternity.

We will all shine with the brightness of the firmament, like the stars forever and ever (Dan 12:3). We will
all reflect our Lord; and we will be content, in the extent that we do so.

But just as stars differ from each other in the radiance of their glory (1 Cor 15:41), so we will differ in how
splendidly we reflect our Lord – based on how we built our lives, here - and that will be forever. So if we
care about our inheritance - if we treasure our Treasure - we should all heed Paul’s warning – to take heed
how we build.

Reading: Matthew 20:17-34; Mark 10:32-45; Luke 18:31-43