Click here to go to the Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:12-22

God pulls out all the stops to get humans back to Him. He was even prepared to let His Son Jesus Christ come from heaven to earth to make it easier for people to get to heaven. Yes, Jesus had to die on the cross in our place to bear the punishment for all our sin. I don’t think we realise every day how much God loves each of us.

However, God doesn’t stop sharing grace with the cross and the resurrection. No, we get something else. We receive the Holy Spirit as Comforter and Friend. God’s Spirit who lives inside us is available to each of us 24/7. He helps us to understand and obey the will of God. God really tries to do everything possible so that we can be with Him in heaven.

But the Spirit’s presence inside us tells another story. It tells the story of what is waiting for us after this. Paul explains it so well: 22 By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee that there is life after this. The Holy Spirit is a deposit for what is still to come. If the Holy Spirit is only a small piece of what is coming after this, how much bigger the life coming after this will be! I suspect there are simply too few words in our language to try and explain what it is all about. Times like these I want to burst into tears for those people who don’t believe or who are so attached to things on earth and are not interested in what will happen after life on earth.

God goes to a lot of trouble to make the way to heaven as easy as possible for us. Not only did His Son die for our sin, but we also receive the Holy Spirit as deposit and insurance for life after this. When uncertainty about life hereafter rushes at you or when you ask again whether we believe the right thing, hold onto the deposit that God gave us. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that there is something after this life. That there is something big after this life.

That is why it is so important that we make more space for the Holy Spirit in our lives, that we will be quiet every day and adjust our ears to the Holy Spirit’s wavelength. Then we’ll understand the deposit better and the picture of the life hereafter will become so much clearer. And let’s not keep this wonderful news to ourselves. Let’s tell our friends, family, colleagues and strangers, so that one day they can share in the glory of God.

Reflection

Do you believe the Holy Spirit is a deposit on the life that is still coming?

What does it tell you about life after this?

To whom should you tell the news?

Prayer

O, Spirit of God, we don’t always hear You and we don’t always see You as a deposit on the life hereafter, because we run around too much. The world out there is so loud that we miss Your voice. Please help us to make quiet time every day so that we can hear You, feel You and experience a small part of the life after this. Amen