Ephesians 1:13-14, so what is this inheritance? Paul says the Spirit is the down payment of your inheritance to the redemption of God’s own possession. Redemption, that word means to buy back, to set free by payment. And God’s own possession, do you hear the echo in that? In the Old Testament God spoke of Israel in exactly those words, Exodus 19:5. The prophet Malachi, Malachi 3:17, calls God’s people his treasured possession. Paul is taking that language, that ancient language of belonging and he is applying it to you, you are God’s own possession and the redemption of that possession is still coming. The seal marks you as his now, the down payment guarantees the rest, but the full redemption, the day when everything that was lost is bought back, that day is still ahead.
Consider what that word redemption looked like to the people who first heard it, in the ancient world, a family could lose everything, a bad harvest, a debt, a legal dispute. And the land their grandfather worked was gone, the family heirloom, the thing that carried their name and their memory, sat in someone else’s hands. And there was only one way to get it back, a kinsman, a close relative, could step in and pay the price to redeem it, he bought back what the family could not buy back for themselves. That is the word Paul is using, redemption and he is telling you that you are God’s treasured possession and that God himself has paid the price to redeem you and that the full redemption is still coming, the day when everything that was lost is bought back.
The seal marks you as his now, the downpayment guarantees the rest and here is the detail that ties it all together. The seal is not just for the present, it is for a specific day, Ephesians 4:30, sealed for the day of redemption. The seal was placed on you with a date in mind, it is like a document that has been signed, sealed and held, waiting for the day it will be opened and honored. And that means the seal is still doing its work, it is holding you, it is marking you, it is keeping you safe until the day the full inheritance is paid out. Consider what that day looks like, because this is where the hope gets real, think of a graveside, think of someone you love who believed and who is not here anymore, the world would tell you that the story ended at the grave, but the seal tells you something else, the same Spirit who sealed them is the downpayment of their inheritance and the day of redemption is the day the grave gives them back.
Consider what that word redemption looked like to the people who first heard it, in the ancient world, a family could lose everything, a bad harvest, a debt, a legal dispute. And the land their grandfather worked was gone, the family heirloom, the thing that carried their name and their memory, sat in someone else’s hands. And there was only one way to get it back, a kinsman, a close relative, could step in and pay the price to redeem it, he bought back what the family could not buy back for themselves. That is the word Paul is using, redemption and he is telling you that you are God’s treasured possession and that God himself has paid the price to redeem you and that the full redemption is still coming, the day when everything that was lost is bought back.
The seal marks you as his now, the downpayment guarantees the rest and here is the detail that ties it all together. The seal is not just for the present, it is for a specific day, Ephesians 4:30, sealed for the day of redemption. The seal was placed on you with a date in mind, it is like a document that has been signed, sealed and held, waiting for the day it will be opened and honored. And that means the seal is still doing its work, it is holding you, it is marking you, it is keeping you safe until the day the full inheritance is paid out. Consider what that day looks like, because this is where the hope gets real, think of a graveside, think of someone you love who believed and who is not here anymore, the world would tell you that the story ended at the grave, but the seal tells you something else, the same Spirit who sealed them is the downpayment of their inheritance and the day of redemption is the day the grave gives them back.
