Supper club

Love caregroup on Tuesdays! Thank You Abba, it's always receiving time, it's always a time to taste of Your goodness all over again.

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)

I'm still meditating on this verse.

The Holy Spirit is in us, given as a seal.

You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke. (Esther 8:8)

We are sealed in His name. Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelations 14:1) We are marked out and set aside. How? Through Jesus Christ, lamb of God.

We belong to Him.

Jeremiah 32:8-10

So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard in accordance with the word of the Lord, and he said to me, I pray you, buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

Elohim made the first man. Whatever was on earth, He gave to Adam to have dominion over. But Adam sinned and dominion was given over to the devil. There is a leasehold over the earth although the earth belonged to Him. Legally though, it was given to Adam for a time and God cannot justly come in and simply take it back from satan.

But when Jesus Christ came, as the Son of God and the son of man (Abrahamic covenant), He has the right of inheritance (earth) and to redeem us (man whom He created).

And I bought the field that was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son and weighed out for him the money--seventeen shekels of silver.

And I signed the deed and sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed out for him the money on the scales.

All that Christ has restored to us, and much more, through the finished work on the cross - that's His inheritance to us, that is, it's now our interitance. Which includes both eternal life AND material blessings.

So in Ephesians 1,

the Holy Spirit is a "guarantee of our inheritance". This clause, I believe, is 'time-bound'. It means that when we are first born-again, the Holy Spirit is given to us. But nothing has changed outwardly. So initially, we don't see our inheritance yet.

But we walk by faith, and not by sight. The Word says that Christ is in us, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) He is the one who worketh mightily in us (Colossians 1:29) and He will teach us all things.

That is why, He is our "guarantee". Our inheritance is already given. We are sure to see it manifest because we have the Holy Spirit who is our helper.

"until the redemption of the purchased possession"

I don't quite understand this clause above. So if you have an alternative view, do let me know.

I thought, 'what is purchased possession?' Is it us? That seems to be a rather cold way to describe us.. and haven't we already been redeemed?

I believe, the redemption referred here is "bodily redemption". Jesus Christ purchased us with His blood; our spirit is alive but housed in a mortal body. Our bodies are described as 'earthern vessels', an object, because the real us is not found in the body, but in our spirit.

Jesus had conquered death. This not only refers to spiritual death (eternal separation from God) but also, physical death (because He was resurrected bodily). What we see today, is that we have eternal life (spiritually), but not yet triumphing over physical death yet, till the rapture. The 'last' redemption' is our bodies - which actually have already been purchased in His physical resurrection.

Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)


Hmm.. actually got side-tracked. This was not what we discussed in caregroup yesterday...

Power question: How to let the Holy Spirit reign?

It is what we are conscious of.

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:17)

But are we conscious of this? How do we make it 'practical' in our lives?

Well, I believe it's not anything we do. It's a matter of believing in the heart. A daily renewing of the mind by chewing on His Word.

We still have our weaknesses, so how?

Romans 8:26-29

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

The Holy Spirit will help us. I believe this in part refers to praying in tongues (groanings) I don't understand that 'cannot be uttered' bit.

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

When we pray in tongues, we pray perfect prayers, according to the will of God.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Therefore, we have this assurance. In the Christian life, it's all about a winning life. ALL things, good or bad, work together for good. Note that we "are the called according to His purpose". It is not that we have to 'do things' according to His purpose.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

"Predestined to be conformed" - from the word, 'destiny', Christ in us, being transformed from glory to glory. Hence, he may be the 'firstborn' - we can be called his brethren, his brother or sister, borned into the same family.

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

So, since we know that He has predestined us, He has already called. Called for what? His purpose? What is His purpose?

We can read it as "these He also called to His purpose and justfied" His purpose was to justify us? What does justification mean? "and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39) "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24)

So justification is believing in Jesus Christ, His Son, He has given freely.

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood (Galatians 1:15-16)

God did not reveal Jesus TO Paul. But God revealed Jesus IN Paul, "that [Paul] might preach Him among the Gentiles" It is the knowledge of the truth AND it's power. Jesus Christ in a person can be seen. It's that inner glow. A living epistle of Christ.

And God is no respector of persons. We have no glory of our own. Only by Him revealing Jesus in us can we be glorified! Hallelujah!