Ephesians 1:13-14 Podcast
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. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
Essential to our salvation are two things found in these verses: the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit. These are the means by which God performs His work in our lives. The Word is made understood to us by the Holy Spirit.
The gospel of Jesus Christ made it possible for mankind to be brought back to reality. When Christ paid the price for sin, the illusion of the evil one was exposed. The lie that we could exist without God was shown to be a sham. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ describes the true condition of mankind and the hope that we all so desperately are pursuing.
But the gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that we are sinful. This is where the gospel begins. You will remember "gospel" means "good news", but in order to be the "good news", we have to know why it is "good news." The fact is we have all been infiltrated by the rebellion of evil. And, the truth is we all have the potential of the worst motives and actions in our hearts.
We are not capable of curing ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. Yet, the gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that God hasn’t forgotten us. It tells us God has entered human life to share in our sorrow and pain. And, He personally bore the penalty for our evil condition. He died because we were without hope. He died in our place so that we might have the reality of forgiveness and deliverance and freedom as children of God. That is why in v.13, it is called “the message of truth.”
Our rescue began when the Lord Jesus came and died on the cross. It was applied to us when we heard the word of truth, and learned the facts and believed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
According to v.13, once we believed, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit, who made our once dead spirit to God, alive to God. And, believing in the Lord Jesus is more than admitting the intellectual truth of our need and God's provision. Saving faith is entering into a personal relationship with a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Ephesians 1:1-14, the Apostle Paul mentions the Lord Jesus Christ fifteen times to remind us that we can not experience blessing from God apart from a continuing personal relationship with His Son. Note the phrase in v.13, "you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit?"
In the day that Paul wrote this letter, there was a practice of sealing letters with sealing wax and impressing the wax with a seal worn on a ring and bearing the identifying image of the King. The use of the seal denoted ownership. When God sent the Holy Spirit into our lives, it was the mark that we belong to Him.
In the Greek, the word for “guaranteeing” in v.14 means “a down payment.” When we place a down payment on something, the down payment guarantees that there is more to come. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the guarantee that there is more yet to come, much more, much better, in fuller quantity, in greater quality even, than what we have experienced so far.
The guarantee is our "inheritance" which is mentioned in v.14. This inheritance is our home, our real home. Our home is where we are most at home. Homeliness is defined not by us but by the Lord Jesus, the one who best defines all things. If our bodies need a home, then our souls need a home. This is the guarantee because home is where the heart is. God has, through the Holy Spirit, chosen to make His home within us. Our home isn't a proximity. Our home is a person. And, that person is the Lord Jesus. He completes His creation through His presence.
Finally, I find it helpful to remember that when the LORD GOD created Adam, he was not a living being until the LORD GOD breathed breath into him. When the breath came, Adam was at home. In like manner, we arrive home when the Holy Spirit has brought the triune God home to our existence. And, the moment we sense the tug of God to be at home with Him, we must be careful to lean into that space.
