Our Inheritance (part 2)

To continue looking at our inheritance, we first must define two words that are translated “world”, the reason being is that Abraham our father and we his seed, or sperm, have a promise from YHVH to inherit the world; howbeit, not through trying to keep the law, but through faith.  Of the patriarch it was written, “the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world [kosmos], was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith”   (Rom. 4:12-13).   The word used here for “world”, in the Greek, is from Strong’s 2889 - ko,smoj kosmos {kos'-mos}, described as: “An apt and harmonious  arrangement or constitution, order,  government.”  The Apostle John gives a glimpse into what constitutes this present “kosmos”: “For all that is in the kosmos, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the kosmos.  And the kosmos passes away, and the lust thereof” (1 John 2:16-17).  Is this the kosmos that Abraham was promised, or is there another, that will not pass away, that was preserved in heaven but has now come to us through the Spirit of Holiness (ref. Col 1:5-6)?

The other word that is translated world is aivw,n aion {ahee-ohn'}, described as: evermore, age,  eternal, period of time, a fixed order of time.  This is the world that according to Paul we have been transferred out of:  “…Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world [age], according to the will of God and our Father” (Gal. 1:4). 

In order to understand what makes up this kosmos, we have to return to the garden of man’s delight - Eden.  Man was created with an inherent weakness (see 1 Cor. 15: 42-49).  Unlike the reptiles, animals and birds, to which YHVH gave natural instincts, smells and colors to govern them and attract like-life forms in order to perpetuate their respective species, man was given faith, a will and an attribute of the heart called desire. He was given these in order to enable him to have a relationship with his Creator, himself, and others of his own order as well as with the creation. Adam/man was to grow into the same likeness and nature as Elohim.  The Creator also declared that he was to have dominion and rule over all living things.  To the first humans it was given to establish the first “kosmos”, as they walked by faith with their Creator.  Adam and Eve were to serve and to channel Spirit-life and light that they received from this divine relationship, to the kosmos of the creation. That was to be the first expression of the Kingdom of YHVH on earth.  However, we know that in the Garden there was another tree, which contained a potential spiritual influence over man’s faith, will and desire.  Let us remember who placed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden in the first place. And let us also bear in mind that YHVH already had a signed and sealed document called the scroll of redemption.  In other words, He was taking full responsibility for His plan. 

Satan was well aware of Adam and Eve’s inherent weakness, of which he was about to take full advantage.  He knew that they had the potential to believe a lie, and once their faith was diverted from looking toward their relationship with their Creator, he could tempt them through desire (lust), and cause their will to choose his kingdom and express his nature.  So when Eve looked at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil she saw that the “tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Gen. 3: 6).  However, the fruit was not congruent with her (and Adam’s) well-being. Instead of eternal life coursing through their being, death began to reign in and through them, consequently affecting the rest of Creation.   This may sound tragic, but it was all in YHVH’s plan (see Rom 8:20).

Adam and Eve still had dominion over a now groaning creation, but they were being governed by another spiritual kingdom; Satan became their lord, king and constant companion.  Satan’s corporate servant called “Adam” became his channel of expression through the demonic forces that could now influence, inhabit and give expression to their nature through the usage of lusts.  Adam’s kosmos was thus being manifested through the lust of flesh (“good for food”), the lust of the eyes (“pleasant to the eyes”), and the pride of life (“to make one wise”), and consequently man was trapped in his own prison house; the principalities and powers of this evil spiritual kosmos were now in charge.  Humanity was thrown into a realm of spiritual darkness so deep that they believed themselves to be like Elohim.  Satan’s nature of disobedience, rebellion and the pride of life, self-preservation and self-centeredness occupied the heart and mind of man.  Deception engulfed him to such an extend that he now believed that the knowledge of good and evil would enable him to take charge of his life and become like God, and that he therefore no longer needed his Creator. 

Satan now had a body, which Paul defines as the “body of sin” (ref. Rom 6:6), through which he could express his fallen nature.  However, there was a mystery that still smoldered like a spark in the heart of man; a mystery which YHVH, in His wisdom, kept hidden in the depths of His own Spirit-life.  It was like an embryo that would have to wait until the seed (the flesh of man) could fall to the ground and die. This happened when Yeshua went to the stake and gave up His life.  From YHVH’s standpoint, through His Son all of humanity received the penalty for sin, that is death (ref 2 Cor. 5:14-16).  Adam the seed, (1 Cor 15: 44) was now planted into the ground with Yeshua, (Rom 6:4) but as Paul relates, it will be raised but each man in his own order. (1Cor 15:23).

As for us, who have been raised in Messiah in order to receive the promise that our forefather Abraham was given, we must now live in this faith reality of life in Messiah Yeshua.  We can only be in Messiah by faith, and it is only faith which will allow us to continue living in this truth.  “I am crucified with Messiah: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Messiah lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by [or because of] the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”  (Gal. 2:20).

Paul says that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin”  (Rom. 14:23). “Let us [therefore]           

lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with        

patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Yeshua the author and finisher of     

our faith”,  so that we of the Abrahamic seed might receive the promise of our   

inheritance. 

      Ephraim