"When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13b-14
Christians really don’t realize how infinitely wealthy they really are! If we did, I think we would spend far less time complaining about temporal circumstances that do not even compare with the future God has stored up for us. In the 19th century, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” John Newton, gave an illustration of an English heir who was riding with a friend in a horse-drawn carriage to London to receive a stunningly large inheritance. It was raining and a few miles from the city, the carriage hit a rock and was too damaged to continue. The heir and his friend had to finish the rest of the journey on foot in the pouring rain. The whole way, the heir was complaining, “My carriage is broken! My carriage is broken!” Finally, the friend had had enough and said, “You are about to inherit enough money to buy a hundred new carriages!”
In a similar way, Christians are travelling to a glorious city and a glorious world which we will inhabit forever in glorious resurrection bodies. We will see the glorious God face to face and have intimate fellowship with him, swimming in a sea of his infinite love and grace for all eternity. That is our inheritance, and nothing can stop us from receiving it… “not death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation” (Rom. 8:38-39). It is guaranteed to us, written in the shed blood of Christ and the immutable Word of God. And the Holy Spirit is given to us, to dwell within our hearts, minds, and souls, to deliver a “deposit guaranteeing” that inheritance.
The Greek word arrabon, implies a small amount of the full inheritance which is delivered to the heir, like a down-payment guaranteeing the full amount to come later. Or better, like a regular stipend check paid monthly to the underage heir of a vast fortune—picture a billionaire’s estate and a sole surviving heir. While the heir is underage, he cannot legally inherit the 20 billion dollars he will receive at age 21. But he will be well-provided for; the monthly stipend checks will meet all his needs for food, clothing, shelter, spending money, education, transportation, and anything needed at all in life. These stipend checks do not scratch the surface of the full amount, but they amply meet every present need.
"The Holy Spirit delivers heaven to us early, in small amounts of assurance and peace and joy and love."
So, the Holy Spirit delivers heaven to us early, in small amounts of assurance and peace and joy and love. God’s love is “poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom he has given us” (Rom. 5:5). Dear Christian friend, ask the Lord to give you through the Holy Spirit a greater sense of the heavenly glory that will most certainly be yours when you die. Ask him to cash that deposit check in your account, your mind and heart, to greatly increase your joy and peace in all the trials you face. God the Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Lk. 11:13)!
