Isaiah 54:17
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”
The psalmist was not exaggerating a bit when he said in Psalm 16:6, “…I have a goodly heritage.” When looking at the verse above, the Christian should realize that their heritage has nothing to do with them, but everything to do with Christ. Everything we have and everything we are is all because of Christ.
When God uses the word “heritage” to describe what He gives the Christian, He is using a word that is more powerful than just receiving an inheritance. In law, a “heritage” is an immovable estate. In other words, there is nothing that can change what God has done and will do for the Christian. There are three things you will discover about the Christian heritage from Isaiah 54.
First, the Christian heritage is founded in Christ. Verse 11 says, “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.” Notice that this verse says, “I will lay thy stones…” Everything that you are is because of Christ. You are a unique individual who is divinely created by God Himself. What a wonderful thought to know that everything we are is because God saw fit to make us this way. Friend, you must not run from the fact that everything in your life is divinely placed there by God. God laid the stones of your life. God takes every event in your life to give you a foundation to stand upon so that you can be a great witness for Him.
Second, the Christian heritage is invulnerability in Christ. Two powerful words in the verse above are, “No weapon…” Christian, it doesn’t matter what others say about you, “No weapon…shall prosper…” It doesn’t matter who stands against, “No weapon…shall prosper…” It doesn’t matter how many stand against you, “No weapon…shall prosper…” When you choose to live within the confines of God’s Word, you can rest in the invulnerability you have in Christ that “No weapon…shall prosper…” There may be times when you think you are going to be destroyed, and there may be times your destruction may seem imminent because of what or who you are standing against, but you can always be at peace that “No weapon…shall prosper…”
Third, the Christian heritage is success in Christ. It says about the righteousness of the Christian in the verse above, “…their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” You must be very careful that you don’t make your success about you. Anything the Christian has ever accomplished that stands the test of time will have been accomplished because of the LORD. The word “righteousness” is talking about righteous acts. In other words, any good thing performed can only be done through Christ. Yes, a person may be able to do right things in their own power, but what they do will crumble. It is only through the power of Christ that you will find success as a Christian.
Friend, the Christian heritage can only be found by losing yourself in Christ. You will experience the benefits of the Christian heritage when you die to self and let Christ be magnified through you.