S1P8 – Glory flows from our eternal reward

Eph. 1: 14

That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it–to the praise of His glory.

This series shows us the ways in which God not only changes us but adds to us in order to fulfill His gracious plan of restoring us to Him.  To what end does He carry out this plan?  It is this: that we would fully redeem our inheritance so that God may be glorified.  The Father “has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints [God’s people] in the light” (Col. 1: 12).  “[He] has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption…” (v. 13-14).

When we are stamped with the Holy Spirit, it is a guarantee that creates an anticipation.  That is the anticipation that one day we will come to fully redeem the inheritance that God has set aside for us.  The stamp reads “this one will inherit.”  And while that promise of inheritance is grand, the celebration that results when a creature’s soul turns back to his Creator is merely a foreshadowing of a greater celebration to come.  That occurs when the inheritance is fully redeemed, and we come into possession of the promise.

Now we see in part; then we will see fully.  Now we know in part; then we will know fully.  As great as God’s promise of inheritance is, and as much as He is glorified by bestowing that promise on us, He will be further glorified when we come into possession of that inheritance.  Let us remember that all these things happen to the same end, for the glorification of Him who causes them to pass.