The Menu

Length: 15 Minutes

These are amongst the most fundamental things to understand about receiving from God. To most people, what God does or doesn’t do in their life is mysterious and unpredictable at best. People will use God’s sovereignty as an excuse to say that He will essentially do anything, at any time, and we don’t know what He’s going to do next.

I’m here to tell you that the work of God in our life is understandable, predictable, and organized. The God that made the universe does not operate in an unorganized fashion. I will prove that to you. 

With none of this am I saying that God is not sovereign. Sovereign just means that He’s the boss. But God being the boss of everything does not exclude the fact that He is just. And if God is just, that limits His options severely as to what He can do in our life. Not everyone will accept that, but that is the truth. To be just is to not be unjust. Therefore, God’s options are limited if He’s going to be just. And He is.

Here’s how receiving from God works the right way, in His justice.

Jesus Paid For An Inheritance

We know that we could never do enough to deserve anything from God on our own merit. Every Christian knows that. Because of this, Jesus had to come and pay a price so that we could receive from God. I’m not just talking about what Christians would call their “initial salvation.” I’m talking about everything.

If God’s power moves in undeserving Moses’ life to part the Red Sea, someone had to pay for that. If God takes undeserving Elijah up to heaven so that he’ll never see death, someone had to pay for that. If God’s wisdom moves in undeserving Daniel to see the future, someone had to pay for that. None of these men deserved the power and wisdom of God any more than we do, of our works. That’s why Jesus had to come and pay a price for us.

Romans 5 says that Jesus is our access into all the grace of God.

Romans 5:2 (NKJV) through whom [Jesus] also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand…

All power, wisdom, and any good thing that we receive had to be paid for by Jesus. God doesn’t just bless people with wages they don’t deserve. That is, unless Jesus takes the wages of sin that we deserved, so that we can receive the wages that He deserves! 

A price needed to be paid for everything we receive from God. In fact, there is nothing that you have ever received from God – no intervention, no protection, and nothing else – that Jesus did not pay for. Most Christians feel that God flippantly hands out blessings. Not so. He is just. He did it the right way. Jesus’ payment is the only way to receive grace from God. There is no other. So if you have ever received from God, you received through His payment. That’s for sure. 

Because our works didn’t deserve it, Jesus came and paid the price at the cross so that we could receive. That is the first thing to know. 

The Inheritance Is Not Just Anything 

Ephesians 1:18 (NKJV) …that you may know… the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…

This verse says that we have an inheritance inside of us. There’s a treasure in us. Why do we have this inheritance? We know, because Jesus paid for it. Now the question to ask is, what is this inheritance that Jesus paid for? What does it consist of? What does it include?

Let me first tell you something that sounds simple, but is revelatory: This inheritance that we have through Jesus is not just anything. There are defined parameters to what we have in Christ. There are defined parameters to what Jesus paid for. Jesus paid for us to have specific things. Not just anything. Only particular things. 

So what is this inheritance Jesus paid for? The quick answer is, “everything that God has.” That’s why we are called heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17). But let’s get more specific. What are the defined parameters of the inheritance that Jesus paid for? Here they are:

2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV) as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him…

This could not be more specific. We have only been given the things that pertain to life and godliness.These two things are the opposite of what you see in the world. Adam brought sin and death into the world. Sin has to do with wrong actions, feelings, thoughts, etc. Death has to do with all suffering, sickness, aging, handicap, and of course, breathing your last. For some substantiation on this, see below.

So, God has not given us anything that has to do with sin or death. He has only given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Godliness has to do with correct actions, feelings, thoughts, etc. Life has to do with (you guessed it) strength, healing, youth, resurrection, and of course, not dying.

The important take away here is that our inheritance, which is inside of us, that Jesus paid for, has very specific parameters. It is not just anything. This takes out all the guess work as to what we can expect the Lord to produce in our lives, as believers. Only life. Only godliness. Never death. Never sin. That’s so simple, you’d have to close your heart to not understand it.

The Inheritance Can Be Accessed At Any Time, By Faith 

Jesus paid for an inheritance. That inheritance has very specific parameters – life and godliness. What Jesus provided is not mysterious, but neither should it be mysterious how we access it in our lives. 

God being sovereign does not mean that He’s disorderly. He is not the author of disorder but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33 Darby). It should not feel like a guessing game as to whether we’re going to see something manifested in our life or not. It should not feel unpredictable as to when God produces things in our life.

You may have never heard this before, but we can access the inheritance that Jesus paid for… whenever we want. It’s already paid for after all. And the Bible explains very clearly how we access these things. It’s not a mystery. We don’t receive by merely asking (James 1:6). We access the inheritance by faith.

Romans 5:2 (NKJV) through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand…

It’s true that Jesus paid for our inheritance, but there’s one more ingredient to access. Faith. We need to believe in what Jesus provided. Faith is like saying “knowledge of the unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:18, 5:7). 

We can use the things that Jesus provided at any time, if we are willing to learn and believe those things. Faith doesn’t cause us to receive just anything from God. Faith only accesses the specific things that Jesus provided. And we know, those things are limited to life and godliness. So, when you believe, it’s specifically that inheritance that you’re drawing from.

Receiving from God happens in a very just and procedural way. It’s not unpredictable. Why would we expect anything less from our righteous God who created the universe? It’s not a guessing game. Jesus provided it, and when we believe it, we access. Simple as that. If we haven’t received something externally yet, then we continue to learn what Jesus did, until that seed of His word has grown enough in our hearts to produce it (Mark 4:8). 

How many times did people get healed, even in Jesus’ earthly ministry? And how many times did He say, “Your faith has made you well” or the like? Their receiving was not random. Their receiving was not a mystery. We know exactly why they received. Their faith made them well. It wasn’t merely Jesus’ will to heal them that healed them. It was their response to the finished work of Jesus, in faith. Very predictable. 

(For reference, in just the book of Matthew: Matthew 8:13, 9:2, 9:22, 9:29, 14:31, 15:28, 17:19–20.)

It even says that Jesus could not do any mighty work amongst those who did not believe correctly about Him (Mark 6:5). Remember, Jesus is the image of God, so if you see Jesus operating this way that means you’re seeing how the Father operates as well (John 14:9).

There’s only one way because of Justice

Scripture has made it very clear. Jesus paid for a specific inheritance – life and godliness. And we can access those specific things, at any time, through faith (learning it). While some Christians may agree with this, this procedure usually only gets applied to our initial salvation. Then, in our day-to-day lives, it’s just a matter of “what God wants to do that day.” Healing is not treated as part of a lump inheritance that Jesus paid for, which we can access by faith. It becomes a matter of what God’s will is that day. We treat most intervention from God this way. Most Christians are just praying and waiting to find out what their unpredictable God is going to do next. Maybe if we ask hard enough, He will answer. This is not how you receive from God. The price is paid. There is a specific, lump inheritance provided. You can access it by faith. That’s how you got saved. That’s how you receive everything from God (Colossians 2:6).

Yet, the reply from many will be, “But He is God. Surely there must be many different ways that God can intervene in our lives. Surely, it’s not just through Jesus, through faith in Him. Surely, God intervenes in whatever circumstance, for whatever reason, at whatever time. He is God.” Well let’s test that hypothesis.

Romans 3:25-26 (NKJV) whom [Jesus] God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith… that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This verse is specifically talking about how we receive righteousness. Did you notice those two ingredients again? 1) Jesus paid for it by his blood and 2) We need to put faith in it. This is exactly how Romans 5:2 says we receive all the grace of God. But this verse tells us why we need to receive this way. It’s because of five important words, “That He might be just.” God needed to institute this method of receiving (where Jesus pays for it and we believe it) because that’s the only way that we could receive, and He still maintain His justice. In short, it was the only just way. Receiving through faith in Jesus is the only just way for undeserving people to receive blessing from God. And because God is always just, that’s the only way He can legally do it (Acts 3:16).

How can I say that God needed to do it this way? He can cause people to receive anyway at all, right? After all, he’s God! After all, He’s all powerful! I would agree that He’s all powerful, but you missed something. He’s also all just. That’s why there’s only one way to receive from God. That’s why Jesus said He’s the only way. That’s why God does not just flippantly intervene in the affairs of mankind, for good. Because there’s only one just way for us to receive from God. Romans 3 just told us: It’s through the blood of Jesus, through faith in that blood. Jesus paid for it. People need to believe it. Just like you got saved.

I never thought I’d have to say this, but contrary to popular opinion in the church, Jesus payment, through faith, is the only way to receive any good thing from the Father. Anything at all. If those two ingredients are not present, no one receives any good intervention from God.

If we believe that God is intervening in the affairs of humankind, without regard to whether Jesus paid for it or someone believing it, then Jesus is clearly not the only way to receive grace from a holy God. In that case, there are alternatives. As for me, I don’t want to be caught saying there are alternatives to Jesus.

The Menu

Receiving from God is not random, according to some plan that God has, which we don’t know about. All the contrary, receiving from God is much more like a restaurant menu. A free restaurant, that is.

Everything on the menu has already been paid for previously, by Jesus. So it’s all free. 

HOW you’re going to afford these things is not a mystery. 

There are also very limited things on the menu. It’s not just anything. There are only things that pertain to life and godliness. You only get to choose from those things. If you want something that pertains to sin or death, you’ll have to go to another restaurant. 

WHAT you’re going to get is not a guessing game.

You can order whatever you want on the menu, anytime you want. It’s already paid for after all. You order the specific things that you want by believing and acknowledging these things (1 Peter 1:2, Philemon 1:6). 

WHEN you’re going to get it is not unpredictable. 

The Bible makes it very clear who paid for this inheritance, what the inheritance entails, and how you access it. If God’s children are just throwing out a thought and a prayer to God, hoping to receive if it happens to be His will, we are going to seriously hurt our receiving. And truthfully, we have.

His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. So we need to be armed with knowledge on how to receive from God. Jesus already provided some very specific, wonderful things to us. I’m just trying to show you the menu.

If this blessed you, share this with someone else!