Romans 4:13
For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
The promise that Abraham and his seed should be heir of the world was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith, given not for obedience to law but as a gift received by faith. That faith by which the promise is received enables human nature to grasp the divine nature, as Christ in His humanity grasped divinity and overcame. Abraham is the father of the faithful because in the test of offering his son he carried it out in his heart as fully as if he had killed him.
The promised heirship includes not the land of Canaan only but the whole earth. The promise did not fail and did not meet its final accomplishment in the occupation of Canaan by the Jewish people. Abraham himself is to share in the inheritance. The world is God's but has been deeded to Abraham and his children, so the earth belongs to them as heirs of the world.
The promises to Abraham are to be fulfilled through Christ, so all who are Christ's are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. The Son's sacrifice makes it possible for fallen people to be rescued and made heirs of the world and of eternal glory. The inheritance is incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away, the earth freed from the curse of sin, where the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven is given to the people of the saints of the Most High and the meek inherit the earth and delight themselves in abundance of peace.
Wicked men are only permitted to live in the world until they have filled up the cup of their iniquity. God's people, Abraham's children, will take possession of the earth in the future, ere long. The fulfillment may seem long delayed, but at the appointed time it will surely come and will not tarry. Those who reject this offer for earthly enjoyment will lose the promised glory, and the invitation will go to others. God gave Abraham a view of this immortal inheritance, and with this hope he was content to sojourn in the land of promise as in a strange country, looking for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God, and those who are children of Abraham must likewise dwell here as pilgrims and strangers seeking that city and a better, heavenly country.