Our identity is based on the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives...

This week we have been looking at the opening section of a letter in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Ephesians, where the Apostle Paul has revealed for us the reality that Our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings. Wednesday, we discovered that our identity is based on God the Father’s choice of us to be His children. Yesterday, we discovered that our identity is based on Jesus Christ rescuing us from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God and that  our identity provides us an inheritance according to His plan and for His glory.

As a result of being chosen by God the Father to be adopted as a child of God; As a result of being rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God by Jesus Christ, we have obtained an inheritance as a result of being a part of the family of God.  Today, we will see Paul reveal for us a fourth blessing that we receive as a result of our identity as a follower of Jesus in Ephesians 1:13:

 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Here we see Paul reveal for us the fourth way that our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis for our spiritual blessings. And that fourth way is that our identity is based on the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives. In these verses, we see Paul reveal for us two ways in which we see the blessing of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives.

First, in verse 13, Paul reveals for us that the Holy Spirit identifies our rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Paul reminds the members of the church at Ephesus, and followers of Jesus throughout history, that it is our response to God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that rescues us from our selfishness and rebellion and brings us the forgiveness and the relationship with God we were created for.

And it is the Holy Spirit’s activity that opens our eyes to our need for rescue and the truth of the message of the gospel. Upon responding to the Holy Spirit’s activity through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, Paul explains that “you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise”. But what does that mean?

In the culture of the first century, a ruler or king would have an official seal that would be used to mark and identify personal property or documents that they had authored. This seal would mark the authenticity and ownership to that ruler or king. Paul’s point here is that the Holy Spirit was given to followers of Jesus as a seal that marks us and identifies us as being rescued from our selfishness and rebellion and in relationship with Jesus. The Holy Spirit identifies us as being rescued from our selfishness and under the ownership of Jesus.

Second, in verse 14, Paul reveals for us that the Holy Spirit identifies us as being God’s very own possession. When Paul states that the Holy Spirit was give to us as a pledge of our inheritance, the word pledge literally means to pay part of the purchase price in advance. Paul’s point here is that the Holy Spirit was given to us as a down payment toward the full inheritance that we will receive when we go to be with Jesus for all eternity in Heaven.

In a sense, God the Father has put us on lay away. And as a deposit toward the full payment, we have received the Holy Spirit, until the day when God brings us into the fullness of the relationship that we were created for with Him in Heaven. Paul then explains that the Holy Spirit was given to us as a deposit so that our lives lived under the influence of the Holy Spirit would bring admiration of God’s glory, or splendor. God’s blessing of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives would shine a light on and make much of God’s character and conduct.

So here is a question to consider: Where are you trying to find your identity? What I.D. card do you pull out to define you? Because our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings.

 

Our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings because we have been chosen by God the Father and adopted as His children. Our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings because we have been rescued by Jesus Christ from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God. Our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings because we have obtained an inheritance according to His plan and for His glory. And our identity as a follower of Jesus is the basis of our spiritual blessings because we have the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in our lives.

If you are a follower of Jesus, are you living your day to day life in light of the blessings that God has already blessed you with as a result of your relationship with Jesus?

 

And if you don’t buy the Jesus, Bible, church thing, God offers you the same opportunity to experience the blessings that come not from finding your identity in your position, possessions, or performance, but in placing your confident trust in what God has done for you through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.