The following two texts are so rich! His love to us just keeps on shining in the explanation. We have made it so hard…a matter of difficult theology instead of receiving grace from His hand. Let us take these texts apart and see what God is doing for us.
Ephesians 1:13 & 14: “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
Trusted: I don’t know about you, but after I was told that I could not go to heaven because I did not belong to a certain church, my eleven-year old heart had a wall around it. Trust is not what I could do. It took some “hearing the word of truth"…the gospel (good news) of my salvation to find my way back to trust. It did not happen overnight. It probably could have if I had more understanding and had realized that there was nothing wrong with me…I was not unaccepted, unwanted, unworthy! I had not heard the truth from the pulpit. Does this resonate with any of you?
Truth: The truth that we need to hear promotes trust. The good news we want to hear changes us for the better! By beholding, you become changed. How was I being changed into the message of the above lie? I was judgmental, harsh, and unloving. I was being towards others how I was told that God was to me. This is really the way mankind treats each other, not how God treats us. There is so much good news that could have made a difference in my life and spiritual maturity. It is the truth about God (good news) that sets you free.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise: This is the truth about God’s children. We have been sealed with the promise…the Holy Spirit. Our identity as God’s children is part of this truth. When I think of sealing, I think of old-fashioned wax imprinted seals of yesteryears. That meant something was really special…often hand delivered. We are really special to God and we have a seal on us…the Holy Spirit of promise. If God seals us with His Holy Spirit…what does that say about your identity in Him.
Earnest (down payment) of our inheritance; Until redemption of purchased possession: What really excites me here is the redemption of purchased possession (us). Did you ever save stamps? I’m showing my age, but I loved to save grocery store stamps and “redeem” them for things I thought were valuable. It shows the heart of God towards us to think of Him “buying” us back with the blood of the Lamb and having the right to redeem us because of the Holy Spirit’s “promise.”
Unto the praise of His glory (character). It just keeps getting sweeter! He does all of this because it is His nature…His character…to do so. The scripture says that we love Him because He first loved us. I just never heard the story this way…from the standpoint of love because we were created as children who were deceived and taken captive…not from the sin consciousness that is promoted from the pulpit most of the time. According to the Bible, we are righteous because He is righteous. As I said, it just keeps getting sweeter! Human nature wants to say: I don’t deserve that. He did not ask us to deserve anything. He did all of this before we even came along. All He asks for is our love. That changes me from the inside out.
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