This Promised Land that we have in Christ is not just what we inherit after we die, but it is the glorious new creation that we become in this life. However, when you are born it is not the fulfillment of your life, but the beginning. Likewise, when you are born again, it is not the fulfillment of your calling, but the beginning of the glorious journey. There is no life so exciting, so wonderful, and so fulfilling as the Christian life. It is the greatest quest for the greatest souls to ever walk the earth.
The Lord did not call Israel just to get them out of Egypt, but in order to lead them into their inheritance. Israel had a very specific Promised Land, and so do we. What is the Christian Promised Land that we are called to inherit in this life? As we read before in I Corinthians 10:11, after Paul gave an outline of Israel's experience in the wilderness he said, "Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." Israel's experience was a prophetic map, and a model, of both our journey and our inheritance in Christ. Let's look at a couple of basic parallels.
Israel's Promised Land was a relatively small nation, but it was in the middle of the emerging nations of the earth. It was to be a place where the Lord was worshiped and where the people lived by His ways. Their lives were to be a striking contrast to the nations around them as a demonstration of how the Lord's ways were higher. Those who obeyed and served the Lord were to enjoy extraordinary benefits, such as: all of their diseases healed, long life, peace, joy, and prosperity. Because He also instituted commandments for cleansing the land, even nature would prosper because of the righteousness and justice of those who would dwell in the land. This would result in an increased fruitfulness of the land.
Likewise, the Lord did not just save us so we can go to heaven, but so we can be a holy nation in the midst of the earth that testifies to the glory and power of the Lord and His ways. There are extraordinary and wonderful benefits for living under the domain of Christ. We are called to be witnesses of the power and glory of the kingdom of God by living in them now. It is a "land flowing with milk and honey." It is to be a blessing and wonder in the midst of this dark and confusing world. The seed of Abraham was called to be a blessing to all of the families on the face of the earth. This is our calling, to be a blessing to everyone around us.
In the New Covenant we find that the Lord gives His people authority over sickness and disease, as well as over all of the power of the evil one. We also see that Christians are called to a life of triumph and victory that gives glory to God and a revelation to the world of the Lord's victory on the cross. However, just as there was a journey that Israel had to make to get to their Promised Land, and then they had many battles to fight to possess it, the same is true with us. In a sense, the church has been making its journey through the wilderness since the first century. However, before the end of this age the church will possess its inheritance and live in it as a witness to all of the other "nations" on the face of the earth.
The wilderness that Israel crossed was essentially the exact opposite of the land they had been promised, and so is our wilderness. They had been promised a land flowing with milk and honey, but in the wilderness they did not even have any water. However, it was this journey through the place that was so contrary to the promises that they learned to trust in the provision of the Lord and know the righteousness of His ways. The same is true with us.
The most important thing that happened in the wilderness was they received God's instructions, and they built Him a dwelling place so He could actually dwell in their very midst. The Lord's presence with them was the greatest inheritance of all. The greatest of all the blessings that we have gained through Christ is Christ Himself. We must also esteem His presence with us as the greatest treasure of all.
It has been said that Israel could have crossed the wilderness in only two weeks. That may be true, but it was a full two years before the Lord led them to the place where they could enter. He first had to give them His command-ments, teach them His ways, and complete His tabernacle so He could dwell in their midst. We, too, must learn to be patient when in the wilderness— between the place where we are called and where we begin to enter into our promises.
The wilderness is hard, but it is essential, and it can be a most glorious place of fellowship and getting to know the Lord. For us to be trusted with the full inheritance, we must know fully that He is the greatest inheritance that we could ever have. Therefore, our primary goal must always be greater than just possessing the promises—it must be to know the Lord, to worship Him, and to serve Him in all that we do.
It is much better to stay in the wilderness where we are compelled to experience Him and seek Him than to possess our promises. The inheritance we have in Christ is so wonderful that it can easily become an idol in itself, if our foundation is not right. That is why so few Christians have truly walked in the fullness of the promises we have in Christ. Some assert that none have walked in the fullness of the promises since the first century. That is debatable, but it seems obvious that none are today walking in all of the promises we have been given in Christ. This is probably because so many quickly begin to esteem the promises above the One who gives them.
This is why we are taking our time in this study and patiently reviewing many things. Our goal is not just to know about the Lord and our inheritance, but to know the Lord and possess our inheritance. To do this we must possess the wisdom to know that the Lord Himself is the greatest inheritance, and that our possession of any of His promises is so we can be a witness of His greatness and glory in the midst of the earth, not just so we can be blessed.
As we proceed by examining how Israel's wilderness journey parallels our own journey to maturity in Christ, we will find that many of the experiences we go through are meant to review and reiterate the truths that we learned by our deliverance from "Egypt." Each new experience is both a review and a step forward. In that way, the strongest foundation is laid and is continually re-fortified. Every single thing in our lives is intended to do the same for us.
One of our main goals in this study is to be able to quickly recognize every thing the Lord is using in our lives in relation to what He wants to do in us. As we start to understand His work we will be more prone to work with Him, and thereby get out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land much faster. So let us go on to know the Lord, and possess our full inheritance in Him so the glory of His ways may be found in the midst of the earth as a witness to all.