"Sure" is like "yes" with emotion, conviction, and comfort in it. I want to REALLY mean it! And I do, to the best extent that I possibly can. Not joking. Not indifferent. Not wavering. Now without thought. Now without confidence.
JUST. SURE.
The Lord brought to my mind the word "guarantee" as I was wrestling with some UN-surety in my own life... which reminded me of the following verses, as I NEED, as His child, to KNOW, that HE is sure even when nothing else is. I heard it said once that moving frequently as a child can be as traumatic if not more so than the death of a parent. Children need a sure thing, a constant, if you will. I often find I am caught in the tension of living on earth with my only hope in heaven. It's not always easy... At the risk of sounding cheesy, I am going to have to mention the TV show Lost, because it really illustrated this. Desmond, in his conscious mind, was able to be in the past and the future, but this caused a great amount on confusion and disorientation. The physicist told him he must find a constant to connect the 2 worlds, thus uniting the past and the future. Wow. How much MORE, INFINITELY MORE, does Christ not only connect our two worlds, but give them PURPOSE and MEANING!? THEN we have peace in the reality of His holding ALL things together.
Eph. 1:11In him we have obtained (already!) an inheritance, having been predestined (that's definitely already!) according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believedsealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
That's SURE - words like promised, and guarantee... it's already done, but not yet fully in our possession, also stated, we live our new life in Christ on this earth only because we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and when that does not seem enough we are reminded that He did not leave is with nothing, He left us, at the point of salvation, WITH HIS SPIRIT, a GUARANTEE (something that assures a particular outcome or condition) of our inheritance. We have it, but it's not fully ours.
What an anchor to my soul that is so prone to search to find something stable in a quickly crumbling world. I wrestle with this balance: how to live in the "already but not yet" that this passage describes:
2 Cor 5:
1For we know (sure!) that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed,
so that (phrase of purpose coming up here!!)
what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (wow! It is HIS LIFE in the Spirit that conquers the flesh/mortality in us!)
(and the "how"- )
5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a
guarantee.
6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
7for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
I pray that my groaning stops at longing to be fully with Christ and does not progress into complaining or pessimism. I don't want the enemy to steal my joy. This joy is found in delighting in the glorious supremacy of Jesus Christ. The One that is the same: yesterday, today, and forever.
2 Cor 1:18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.Our being established in Christ is guaranteed by the fact that we HAVE His Spirit!
16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace (God giving, us receiving) and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,... Paul in Romans...
In faith we have the Spirit of Christ, our HELPER, that He left for us to testify to our being new creations. The Spirit IS our assurance, our testifier, our helper. When we feel stuck in the middle there is a SURE, constant Person who is Christ Jesus, guaranteed for eternity by His Spirit.
