The Great Assurance! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and
majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him today and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Corinthians 5:4-5,

"For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we
do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our
heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has
given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

We as humans have a level of self-awareness that exceeds anything else
in God's creation. With it we worry and fret. We make our plans. We
pick our priorities. We think back on choices we made and hope for the
best as we contemplate our future. Possibly within the stronger
elements of our self-awareness is the concern we have for our health
and our looming physical death. How far off will that certainty be?

Within that milieu is something Paul points to. "For while we are in
this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be
unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so
that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." We all think about
that time when we will leave our current physical bodies behind to be
"clothed... with our heavenly dwelling."

In a wonderful promise to us, Paul points out that God has made us for
this very thing! "Now the one who has fashioned us for this very
purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing
what is to come."

God knows us well and he knows of the need we have for assurance that
his promise of eternal life is headed our way. He has given us the
indwelling Holy Spirit as his guarantee to us of what is to come! In
Romans 8:11 Paul says, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in
you."

Earlier in this letter Paul pointed out, "Now it is God who makes both
us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of
ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Corinthians 1:21-22. This is a
reality Paul pointed to in Ephesians 1:13-14, "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, who is a deposit guaranteeing our
inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to
the praise of his glory.".

The writer of Hebrews points out a wonderful reality in regard to our
groaning "in this tent", "Because God wanted to make the unchanging
nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he
confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable
things [his promise and his oath] in which it is impossible for God to
lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be
greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm
and secure." Hebrews 6:17-19.

God knows us well. And, while we should never doubt him, he
nevertheless provides us great assurance of his promise to us of
eternal life in heaven with him!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

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