Unspoken Sermons · Chapter
The Inheritance explained
This chapter explores the nature of the believer's inheritance as the light of God himself, emphasizing that all good things derive from God and that true possession lies in the ability to give.
What happens
This chapter explores the nature of the believer's inheritance as the light of God himself, emphasizing that all good things derive from God and that true possession lies in the ability to give. It discusses the eternal atonement, the joy of repentance, and the freedom of heaven where law and religion are replaced by direct communion with God.
Themes in this chapter
God as Loving Father
God is portrayed as a father who gives his very self as inheritance, desiring only the good of his children.
The Individual Relationship with God
Emphasizes direct, personal contact with God as the essence of heaven, where every thought is of God.
Inner Transformation and Perfection
Discusses the necessity of repentance, confession, and the purifying process to become inheritors of the light.
Characters to notice
- God the Father
Described as the source of all light and inheritance, the loving Father who desires his children to share in his own being.
- Jesus Christ
Referenced as the one whose life is the light of men, awakening the life of the Father in them.
- Dante
Cited for his vision in the Paradiso of the thousand splendours crying out about increasing loves.
- St. Paul
Mentioned in the context of early Christians questioning Paul and the assurance of reunion with loved ones.
Key passages
“the very inheritance upon which, as the twice-born sons of our father, we have a claim—which claim his sole desire for us is that we should, so to say, enforce—that this inheritance is simply the light, God himself, the Light.”
Our inheritance as children of God is not material but is God himself, the Light, which he wants us to claim.
Defines the central metaphor of inheritance as divine light.
“The thing that is mine is the thing I have with the power to give it. The thing I have no power to give a share in, is nowise mine; the thing I cannot share with everyone, cannot be essentially my own.”
True ownership is measured by the ability to give; what cannot be shared is not truly possessed.
Expresses a radical redefinition of possession in the heavenly kingdom.
“Heaven will be continuous touch with God. The very sense of being will in itself be bliss.”
Heaven is unbroken communion with God, where existence itself is joy.
Describes the experiential nature of eternal life.