The Holy Spirit: The Surety of Our Hope

​Have you ever noticed how fast the human body starts deteriorating?  Or how susceptible we are to little things like viruses, bacteria, and deadly toxins?  Too much of one little thing could kill us or at least make us extremely sick.  We hit our physical prime around the age of thirty and get to enjoy it for about five to ten years until we begin the downhill slope, also known as the aging process.  Not very uplifting, is it?!  In fact, it’s downright depressing.  However, this is the truth of the matter. 
 
But the good news is that this is not the end of the story.  Our earthly body, or as Paul says in II Corinthians our tent, is just a temporary home.  We are not destined to stay in this broken, weak body forever.  God is waiting to give us an eternal home that will not be destroyed or found wanting.    

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”
~II Corinthians 5:1-5

This earthly tent, mortal body, temporary home is far from perfect.  In fact, the older we get and the more we age, the greater we feel its imperfections.  Isn’t that right?!  The bones start hurting, the skin starts sagging, and the hair begins to gray.  However, we must remember that this aging body is not our eternal home.  God is preparing for us an eternal dwelling that will be marvelous, beautiful, and imperishable.  Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord!
 
But right now, are you burdened?  Do you feel the groans and trials of this mortal life?  Are you longing for that heavenly dwelling?  In the midst of the brokenness and pain of this world, do you sometimes doubt God’s promise to provide a perfect, eternal home?
 
Well, I have good news for you!  God has given us a guarantee of His promise.  The Holy Spirit is God’s down payment, or surety, that God will fulfill what He has promised.  While the Holy Spirit fulfills many purposes in our spiritual lives, one of its chief reasons for being sent is to encourage our hearts and remind us that God has not forgotten or forsaken us. 
 
The Greek word guarantee can literally be translated as “pledge, part of the purchase—money or property given in advance as security for the rest.”  The Holy Spirit was part of our purchase from slavery.  It is the pledge given in advance as security that we have an eternal home in heaven.  
 
What a beautiful picture and an encouraging reminder!  Because we have the Holy Spirit within us, we can be confident that God has not forgotten us but will carry on to completion the good work He began in us.  And no matter how we feel, the Holy Spirit is our guarantee, pledge, and surety from God that we have an eternal home in the heavens. 

"Thank you, oh my Father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
'Til the work on Earth is done"
~"There Is A Redeemer" by Keith Green