In my Estate Planning practice, I hear people joking about wishing they had a long lost rich uncle that left them a lot of money. The good news is that you don’t have a long lost rich uncle, but you do have a Heavenly Father that has made you His beneficiary.
There are several ways that one becomes an heir or beneficiary. You can become a beneficiary through someone’s Last Will and Testament or through their trust. You could also be a beneficiary by default according to state law if the decedent did not have a Last Will and Testament. This is called Intestate Succession. Other ways to become a beneficiary are to be listed on a beneficiary designation of an asset such as life insurance or an IRA.
As a beneficiary, you could be listed as a single beneficiary or you could be one of many where the asset is divided according to the decedent’s wishes.
If we are believers, then we are God’s family – his sons and daughters. Galatians 4:6-7 KJV says “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
This means that we are his children and as such, we are then, by default, his heirs. Romans 8:16-17 KJV takes it one step further. It says “The Spirit itself beareth witness with heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” According to these verses, we are not only heirs of God, but we are joint-heirs with Christ. Ephesians 2:6 KJV also says that as a joint-heir, we are seated with Jesus.
We know that Jesus was given legal ownership (being a beneficiary) of EVERYTHING in heaven and earth. Because we are joint-heirs with Him, we too have been given legal ownership of everything in heaven and earth.
We are made beneficiaries of God by God through his Last Will and Testament (the Bible – the New Testament). It is God’s will and has been God’s plan all along that we are his heirs. Romans 8:32 KJV says, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
The news is good. We don’t have to wait for the long lost mystery uncle in order to claim an inheritance. We can do it now. The inheritance includes everything in heaven and earth!