The Down Payment On Heaven Series

Introduction

When we make a major life purchase—perhaps a new tricycle for a business, or even a house and lot—it's very common to pay in installments. You start with a down payment. That down payment does two very important things. First, it proves you are serious about the purchase. Second, and more importantly, it is a guarantee. It is the first installment that promises all the future payments will be made until the item is fully yours. It's a tangible, present taste of a future, complete ownership.

Last week, we saw the incredible truth that the moment we believe, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. God stamps us as His own authentic, secure property. Now, in this final verse of this section, Paul gives us one more beautiful image to help us understand the Spirit's work. He shows us that the Spirit is not just a seal that marks us, but He is the divine down payment of heaven itself, living inside us right now. He is God's personal guarantee that the full inheritance He has promised will one day be ours.

I. The Nature of the Guarantee: The Earnest of Our Inheritance

Paul begins by defining what the Holy Spirit is for the believer: "Which is the earnest of our inheritance..."

A. A Divine Down Payment

The word translated "earnest" is the Greek word arrabon. This was not primarily a religious word; it was a business and legal term used in the marketplace. It meant a deposit, a down payment, a first installment. It was a portion of the total purchase price, given in advance, which legally obligated the buyer to pay the rest.

By calling the Holy Spirit the "earnest," Paul is telling us something astounding. God has already begun to give us our inheritance. The Holy Spirit is not just a promise of heaven; He is the actual substance of heaven, given to us in advance. The joy, the peace, the love, the sense of God's presence that a believer experiences through the Spirit is a genuine, authentic, first taste of the glory that is to come. He is heaven's down payment, living in our hearts today.

B. The Foretaste of Glory

Think of it this way. If someone promises you a feast, they might send you a small, delicious sample to taste beforehand. That sample guarantees the quality and the reality of the full banquet to come. The Holy Spirit is our spiritual foretaste of glory. The moments when you feel God's presence in worship, the inner peace that guards you in a crisis, the love you feel for your fellow believers—these are not just emotions. These are the work of the Spirit, giving you a real, tangible foretaste of the atmosphere of heaven.

II. The Purpose of the Guarantee: Until Our Final Redemption

This divine down payment has a specific timeframe and a glorious goal. It is our guarantee "...until the redemption of the purchased possession."

A. The Purchased Possession

Who or what is the "purchased possession"? It's us! We saw in verse 7 that we have "redemption through his blood." Christ has already purchased us from the slave market of sin. As we saw in verse 11, we are God's own treasured inheritance. We belong to Him. The price has been paid in full.

B. The Final Redemption

But if we're already purchased, what is this "redemption" we are still waiting for? This refers to the final and complete fulfillment of our salvation when Jesus returns. Right now, our souls are saved and the Holy Spirit lives in us, but we still live in mortal bodies that are subject to sickness, decay, and death. We still live in a world broken by sin.

The "redemption of the purchased possession" is the day when Christ will return and redeem our bodies. He will give us new, glorious, resurrected bodies that will never again feel pain or temptation. It is the day He will redeem all of creation from its curse. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee that this final, glorious payday is coming. He is the divine deposit, securing us until the day our redemption is made complete.

III. The Goal of the Guarantee: Unto the Praise of His Glory

Finally, for the third time in this chapter, Paul brings us back to the ultimate purpose of everything God does. The Spirit is our guarantee, until our final redemption, all for this one magnificent reason: "...unto the praise of his glory."

A. The Culmination of Worship

This is the grand finale toward which everything has been building.

In verse 6, our adoption as children is to the praise of His glorious grace.

In verse 12, our inheritance as the first believers is to the praise of His glory.

And now, here in verse 14, the guarantee of the Holy Spirit for all believers brings the entire plan to its ultimate conclusion: the eternal praise of God's magnificent glory.