CONCEPT AND CONDITIONS FOR DISCIPLESHIP

UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT AND CONDITIONS FOR DISCIPLESHIP Page 1

GOD'S GREAT OFFER

Introduction
When God created man, He gave him an estate, a glorious

inheritance. God, the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth
decided to make man in His own image and after His own
likeness, and delegated His authority to man. God was to reign in
heaven while man was to reign (on His behalf) on earth.

"The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's, but the

earth He has given to the children of men" (Ps. 115:16)
The man was authorized to rule over all God's creation on earth.
But he was not to rule independently. There was a fellowship, a
communion between God and man daily. God would visit him in
the cool of the day to share fellowship with him. Even that was a
privilege, an inheritance that cannot be bought with money.

We cannot adequately explain the glory of that inheritance
at this point. The implication of the estate in which man was to
stand for God is beyond any one's imagination. God continued to
hold out this inheritance from one generation to another. Unto
Abraham, God offered Himself.

"Fear not Abram, for I Am thy shield and thy
exceeding great reward." "You will possess and inherit Me as
your own reward." This is still the great offer God holds out into
us even today. Unto the Levites also God offered Himself.

Though sin pushed the man out of this estate and made him
naked and helpless, God is still committed to finding a man- the
seed of the woman who would bruise the head of the Serpent and
enter into this glorious inheritance. Thanks be unto Our LORD
and Savior Jesus Christ, who offered Himself and laid down His

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life for us to deal with sin and then became qualified to open the
seal and get back the inheritance for us Yet to share in this
glorious inheritance, God desires not only that Jesus be the only
Begotten Son, but that He should bring many sons unto glory;
that He might be the first among many brethren. - Brethren that
have become conformed unto His own image (Rom.8-.29)

We shall in this study, attempt to peep into the great offer that
God holds out to us, and look at the way into our glorious
inheritance. May the Lord grant you understanding and a hunger
to arise and possess your possession.

1 Discover from the following scriptures that we have an
inheritance with God. Eph.l-.ll, 14, 18; Col. 1:12, IPet. 1:3-4,
Matt. 25:23,34, Rom. 5:17, 8:17.
Every child of God is a partaker of this inheritance. It is a
glorious inheritance spoken of widely in scriptures. It is
reserved not only in heaven for us but also here on earth.
Every partaker of it shall reign in life by Christ Jesus. Are you
among?

2 What is our inheritance in Christ Jesus?
(a) God delivers us, forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all

unrighteousness. Rom.4-.7-8, Heb.8:12 1Jn.1:9,Matt: 1:21. It
is a blessing to be forgiven by God. It brings peace, joy and
assurance to the heart. It makes us to stand righteous before
God. Whereas sin brings disgrace and reproach and make a
man fearful, righteousness exalts and makes a man bold as a
lion. It is a blessing, a glorious inheritance in Chris Jesus. Not
only are we forgiven but we are actually delivered from sin
and its consequences. Christ did it all for us. Gal. 3:13, 1 Cor.
15:56-57, Matt.11-28.

(b) Adoption as God's children. 2Cor.6:18,Jn.1:12, 1Jn.3-.l-3.
Ours is the adoption. It is our inheritance in Christ Jesus God
becomes our Father and we become his children. Not t any of

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His angels has He ever said "Thou art My son, today

have I begotten you." (Heb. 1:5). Great and mighty and powerful
as angels are, they are not given that privilege. It is not part of
their inheritance. But to us God has given this glorious inheritance
and privilege to be His sons and daughters. Are you one? Let us
look at the implications of the adoption.
(1) We have the Spirit of adoption. Rom. 8:14-17, Gal.4-.6-7,

Ezek. 36:26-27.
Being children of the same father is not just by words of mouth. It
is by birth. God made our inheritance authentic by giving us the
Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of His Son Jesus Christ. He removes
the spirit of disobedience and timidity: that spirit that worked in
Adam when he sinned, making him no longer to be bold. It made
him to start hiding from God. That spirit is removed and the Spirit
of adoption comes into us, whereby we have boldness to go into
the presence of our Father crying Abba, Father. It opens to us all
that belongs to God and makes it ours. God Himself becomes our
inheritance. That is glorious. It is part of God's great offer to us.
(ii) Discipline is part of our inheritance as children of God. Heb.

12: 5-8, Ps. 23:4, Job 5:17-18 Job recognized this and esteems
it as a treasure not be despised; David severally passed through
it and calls it a comfort. Those who dodge the discipline of the
Father only prove that they are bastards. As you consider
stretching forth your hands to receive God's great offer, it is
necessary for you to understand that discipline is an important
part of it. It is part of our glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus.

(C.) God Himself is our Portion. Rom.8-.17, Gen. 15:1, Ps. 16:5-6,
Lam.3-.24.
What a great offer, to inherit God Himself! The Possessor of
heaven and earth is our portion, our inheritance. As an heir of
God, whatever belongs to God is ours by inheritance. And that
is the truth. His nature, His grace, power, His possessions etc.

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belong to us. There is nothing in heaven or on earth that is
worthy enough to exchange with this glorious inheritance. No
wonder men of old like Daniel, Joseph, Paul were willing to
lose anything for them to maintain this inheritance. May you
not despise this great offer.

3 The Nature of our inheritance

a) It is invisible yet real. Gen. 39:1-4,
Gen.15:1-3,Gen.25-.29-34,1 Pet. 1:4,2Cor. 4:17-18.
By nature, things that are visible are temporal, but things
that are invisible are eternal. This inheritance is invisible to
the natural eye; though it is made manifest sometimes
physically, yet it has its roots in the invisible. This is the
conflict that Christians often face. Though their physical
condition may not show the greatness and reality of this
inheritance, yet it is real. Joseph was a slave in the house of
his Egyptian master. Yet because of his relationship with
God, the Lord was with him and so he was a prosperous!
man! A slave who has been stripped of his only dress by his
brothers and sold out to an Egyptian, yet a prosperous man.
That looks like a conflict. God was keeping his inheritance
intact for him. Though invisible, he knew the reality of it
and he would not exchange it for the pleasure of sin for a
season.
However, because it is invisible, Abraham did not
understand it in Gen. 15 when God presented this offer to
him. He was still asking for the visibles, the countables! If
not for the mercy of God, he almost lost it. Esau also could
not see the reality of this invisible inheritance in his hungry
situation. So he despised it and exchanged it for a spoon of
pottage. By the time he realized the glory of what he had
missed, he sought it with tears but it was too late.
Brother, sister, you have an inheritance. Though it is
invisible, it is real.

b) It is enveloped and enclosed in God's promises. Gal. 3:18
2Pet.l-.3-4; Gen. 12:1-3.
This inheritance is given to us by promise. It is contained in
God's promises, not in visible, countable material things The

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great inheritance prepared for Abraham was brought

into his life by promise. God spoke to him and even though
the inheritance was yet invisible, he believed God. As God
spoke to him, so he departed in obedience. To inherit God is
not a call to possess the visible but the invisible, enclosed and
contained in God's word to us. Are you ready for such an
experience?
4. God is committed to our possessing this glorious
Inheritance. Gen. 17:4-8, Mk. 7:25-29

God is not just giving us an offer; He is committed unto our
having it. Though Abraham disappointed God many times,
God was always looking for ways to bring him back on course,
into a position where he could possess his possession. When he
went into Hagar contrary to God's plan and backslid for 13
years, the Lord God still came and re-introduced Himself to
Abraham and stated His commitment to him afresh. If He has
promised, He will surely bring it to pass. The Lord keeps
covenants.
To ensure that His children unto whom He is reserving the
inheritance of divine healing for example, gets it, God prefers
to drive away 'dogs' and guard this children's bread jealously
until they come for it. The Lord is committed unto giving us
the inheritance.
Are you committed unto possessing it? What are those things
that are secretly making you despise your birthright? You need
to identify them and deal with all such decisively, lest they rob
you of your glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus.

5. What is the way into this inheritance?
a) The New birth. Jn.3-.l-3, Heb.2-.ll (KJV, NIV, LB etc)

The new birth in Christ Jesus is what ushers us into this
inheritance. Jesus has received the inheritance and God is
pleased to commit all things into His hands. Anyone who will
partake of this inheritance must therefore be of the same stock,
the same nature, the same Father with him. It is an inheritance
and it belongs only to children of the same father with Jesus; it
does not belong to bastards. You must be born

into the family of God. You must be born the second time.
The first time you were born physically by your parents, but
this time you must be born spiritually of the Holy Spirit.

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Someone may say 'how'?
Read Jn. 3:5-6, 1 Cor. 15:50, Isa. 59:1-2, Un.l:9, Rev.

3:20, Rom. 10:9-10, Ezek. 36:25-2 7.
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When you were born by your parents, you were born
naturally, born in the flesh. And God has concluded that flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Sin is the thing
that separates us from God. It is the quarrel between God and
man. But that was why Jesus came, laid down His life, shed
His blood and died for us on the cross. He did that to deliver us
from our sins. And if you believe in Him and confess your sins
to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you.
He is merciful. And even now He ii knocking at the door of
your heart, waiting to be invited into your heart, into your life
and into every affair in your life as the Lord. As you surrender
the key of your life to Him this way, making Him the Lord, the
Governor, the Director, the Driver of your life, a miracle will
take place immediately (Ezek. 36:25-2 7). He cleanses you,
removes from you the head of stone and puts within you a new
heart. He puts in you new spirit. You become a new person
inside. It is a miracle. You can bow down your heart in prayer
where you are no' and stretch forth your hands and heart to
receive this new life. It can be yours if you are willing!

b) Spiritual growth. This is the next crucial step into this glorious
inheritance. What does that mean? Gal. 4:1-3 (KJV,NIV,NEB)
Eph.4:13-14, Heb. 5:12-14.
Lack of spiritual growth makes us liable to demon
oppression. It causes instability in the faith and makes \ beggars
for crumbs when actually we 'own the whole estat (Gal.4:l).
People, false teachers and false prophets can easily toss a
spiritual babe to and fro and make a cheap merchandise of the
babe.

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And as a child, no one will commit precious things, even
your glorious heritage into your hands. Even Jesus will not
commit Himself unto you. Every child of God who will
become what his Father plans for him must of necessity grow
on to maturity. It is a precondition for us to possess our
possessions.

c) What is the standard, the mould, the yardstick, the pattern for
our growth? Eph.4-.13, Rom. 8:17,2 9,1 Pet. 2:21.
Jesus Christ is the standard, the pattern for our
development. It is His life that God uses to measure our growth.
He is the pattern Son, the one who has gone ahead of us to
possess this inheritance. He has laid an example for us and we
have been called to be conformed to His image and follow in
His steps. There is no other person in the Bible or in our
contemporary times that God introduced to us as His pattern
Son except Jesus. In Him God is well pleased. As you grow on
in the Lord, you must not remove your eyes from this Pattern
Son. Keep looking at Jesus and His lifestyle and pattern your
life after Him. You will not miss your inheritance.

d) Discover from scriptures that God's method for making us to
be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to
possess our glorious inheritance is DISCIPLESHIP. Matt.
4:19-22, Matt. 11-.28-30, Matt. 28:18-20(NIV),
Acts 4:13-14.
Following Jesus and learning of Him is the secret unto
becoming like Jesus. And that is DISCIPLESHIP. It is the
'SHIP' that conveys us from the realm of being fishers of fish
to the realm of being fishers of men. It is the relationship that
conveys us into our glorious inheritance, to possess this great
offer that God, in mercy and by grace, is extending to us.
Dodging it is the same as dodging your inheritance. Being a
believer alone will not take you into this inheritance. Even
demons believe and tremble (Jas.2-.19); yet they have no part
in this inheritance. Many believed in Jesus in Jn.

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2:23-25, but Jesus did not commit
Himself to them. That means He would
not entrust the inheritance unto them.
You must enter into this
Discipleship relationship with Jesus. Will
you?

1. Share with us how you became a
child of God. What was your life like
before this experience?
In your personal assessment, what has
this new birth various dimensions in which brought to your life?
Explain the this experience has affected you

2. Spiritual growth is so crucial in your possessing your possession: What
has been the major hindrance to your growth spiritually? What steps have you
taken or are you taking to tackle this problem.

3. In what practical areas would you say you are becoming like your Master
Jesus? If none, what is your challenge?

4. Have you experienced any form of discipleship? Discuss:
when, how and under who.