Before Jesus left earth and returned to Heaven, He promised His followers that He would not leave them alone. The Holy Spirit, He promised, would come and live life alongside them and all future believers. This promise came to fruition in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit came upon believers just as Jesus predicted. Still today, the Holy Spirit dwells among every believer, guiding us and leading us to honor God by the way we live our lives. The Spirit is also a guarantee of what will come one day for followers of Christ: eternal life with Christ in heaven one day.
The apostle Paul talked about the Holy Spirit in the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians 1, he explained that because of Jesus’ death, we have freedom and forgiveness of sins if we place our faith in Him (verses 7-8). He later explained that when we place our faith in Christ, “He identifie[s] [us] as His own by giving [us] the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago” (verse 13). We are often so used to teaching about the Holy Spirit that we miss the magnitude of what a gift the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit gives us guidance, truth, and peace as we walk through this life. The Holy Spirit is also a promise of eternal life with Christ that is to come one day. Paul continued writing, “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people” (verse 14). The Holy Spirit living in us is a guarantee of God’s promise to us that one day, we will spend eternity with Him forever and ever. The Holy Spirit is a daily reminder of the guaranteed hope we have of heaven and eternity with Christ after we have breathed our last breaths.
My friend, the truth we studied today brings hope and peace, knowing that God is faithful to do what He promised and bring us to spend eternity with Jesus one day, where there is no shame, pain, heartache, sin, or any other consequence that we experience on earth because of sin and death. This great truth and promise from God should lead us to worship and praise. That is why Paul ends this teaching about the Holy Spirit, writing that God saved us and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit so that "we would praise and glorify Him” (verse 14). The gift of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life in Christ indeed are reasons to praise God. May God be praised and glorified for all He has done for us, including giving us the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life in Christ.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is something worth celebrating. Make plans to attend one of our weekend services and worship and praise God for His faithfulness, especially for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We can’t wait to see you there!
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise for spiritual blessings in Christ
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen,[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. 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.
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
