The Guarantee

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."
Ephesians 1:13-14

Have you ever had a guarantee of anything in this world? It is very difficult to get a business to guarantee even their own products these days. That is because they have come to learn what believers in Christ for centuries have known: this world is temporary and is on the decline. Just as our bodies get older and begin to deteriorate (not knocking anyone over 50), so too this world in which we live is wearing out. It is winding down. Time is getting short.

In these days, there are so many winds that seem to be blowing through the Church. The latest fad takes over by storm, and many, many believers jump on board, thinking that if everyone is doing it, it must be okay. But Paul is reminding us, that it is in Him whom we have trusted for our salvation. It is in Him whom we have believed for our salvation. Not the works of men. Not in the "power" of positive thinking. Not in the "speaking it into existance." None of these things. It is in Christ alone. Sola Christos. And since we have trusted and believed in Him for our salvation, He has given us the Holy Spirit. He has sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise. He has given us the Holy Spirit to be with us always (John 14:16), and to teach us all things (John 14:26). We don't have to rely on what the man on the television tells us, or what the article in the latest Christian magazine is telling us. It is the Holy Spirit of God, who teaches us all things. It is He who illuminates the Scriptures for us, and opens the "eyes of our heart" to see the truth that God wants to reveal to us, even for this day.

The thing that Christians sometimes forget, is that this world is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven. Now, I realize that it is possible, as someone once said, to be "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good," I know it is also possible, and more like probable, that if we get caught up in this world, and the things of this world, it has a hold on us, and can tie us down to this world. But beloved, we have an inheritance in another world, and a guarantee of that inheritance. And these are not the words of some used car salesman (not knocking that line of work), but these are the words of the Creator God, the Father who loves us. He has given us the Holy Spirit. He has sealed us by the Holy Spirit, as a guarantee of our inheritance in heaven. Let us not get too attached to the temporal (this world), that we miss the eternal (heaven). This world is not our home. We are just passing through. And one day very soon, we are going to be redeemed, "to the praise of His glory." Come, Lord Jesus. Come.