April 16, 2020

Good Morning Fellow Followers,

Yesterday as we looked at the question, what does the resurrection mean to me. We learned that the indwelling Holy Spirit is a very special gift that comes to the true believer through the death and resurrection of our Lord. Today I would like to piggyback on yesterday’s talk. Because we have the Holy Spirit, we also receive power.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit is a major theme in Luke and Acts and is the major point of continuity between the life of Jesus and the ministry of the church. When the Spirit comes, Jesus told his followers, you will receive power. Power to do what? To tell people about him. Often, we as Christian believe that the only evidence of the Holy Spirit is signs and wonders, great visible miracles. To me the greatest sign that the Holy Spirit dwells in us is a desire to share Jesus with the world around us.

Not only do we receive power, the Holy Spirit also seals us for the day of redemption.

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV)

God identifies his people by placing the Holy Spirit in believers’ hearts. God himself has given us his mark of ownership when he sent his Spirit to live in us. Let’s look at how Paul describes this event.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)

Finally, Paul described the Spirit as the first installment of everything God will give us. This “installment” is like a down payment that a buyer will give a seller to declare the intent of paying the full amount. God gives his Spirit to his children as a down payment. It is only a foretaste of the glorious joy they will experience in heaven, the full payment that God has given us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Holy spirit is also our deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.

Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:12-14 (NIV)

He is the first payment of all the treasures that will be ours because he has purchased us to be his own people. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us demonstrates the genuineness of our faith, proves that we are God’s children, and secures eternal life for us. His power works in us to transform us now, and what we experience now is a taste of the total change we will experience in eternity.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,
Pastor Dennis