Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 26 July 2014 "Down payment now, full inheritance to come"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 26 July 2014 "Down payment now, full inheritance to come"
Daily Scripture: Ephesians 1:11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
Revelation 21: Everything New
1 I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.
2 I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
3-5 I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”
Reflection Question:
Ephesians 1:14 used the Greek word arrabon for "down payment." Scholar William Barclay wrote, "There are many Greek commercial documents still extant in which the word occurs. A woman sells a cow and receives so many drachmae as arrabōn. Some dancing girls are engaged for a public entertainment and are paid so much in advance. Paul is saying the experience of the Holy Spirit which we have in this world is a foretaste of heaven; and it is the guarantee that some day we will enter into full possession of the blessedness of God."
Slowly savor each promise and image in Revelation 21:1-5. How can you believe that amazing, beautiful world made new will really happen? Ephesians said the best times of worship, praise, service or caring that the Holy Spirit brings us are God's "down payment," assuring us that full renewal is on the way. What are some ways you are experiencing the down payment of life in the Spirit? How is "the word of truth in Christ …the good news of your salvation" making you freer and less a slave today than when you first accepted Jesus? How can deepening your positive connections with other Christians make our community an appealing preview of the eternal world of love, joy and grace that awaits us?
Family Activity:
Enjoy a time of getting to know your church. Choose a time before or after worship when your family could spend an extra thirty minutes or so touring the building where you worship. Walk through the worship space, the children's area, the parking lot, and the hospitality center. Notice the Christian symbols. Where do you find Bibles? Crosses? Pay attention to the people you see. What are their similarities and differences? Consider asking two or three people why their church is important to them. Pray for the people and pray for your church. Ask God to bless each ministry area as well as everyone who serves and is served. Praise God for the blessing of your church!
Today's Prayer:
O Lord, how I long for the day when "death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain." In the words that end Revelation, I pray "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Amen.
Insight from Dave Robertson
Dave Robertson is the Director of Community Life at The Church of the Resurrection’s West Campus.
I love the passage from Revelation 21:5 which says, “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’  Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”  One of the reasons I love these words is they are recorded at the end of our Bible and because of what happened at the beginning of the Bible.
Dennis Garvin says it this way, “The last Bible I looked at contained over 2000 pages, and you humans managed to get yourself kicked out of Paradise by page 5. That has to be some kind of record.” God set us up for paradise with God and yet that wasn’t good enough for us. We now get to taste what life outside of paradise is like while ever longing for what was lost.  While we seek and strive for the Kingdom of God, we receive from God glimpses from time to time to show us what it is like. We also have God’s trustworthy, true promises to stand on.
One such time I received a glimpse was when I was in college. I never knew my grandparents, three of whom died before I was born. After my mother’s death, my father remarried and my step-mother’s parents were still living. I considered them grandparents. I was in college when my step-grandmother, Honey (her nickname) died. I had a three-hour drive back home and I remember being sad about her loss. I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular when all of a sudden, as I was driving, the Spirit of joy filled my mind and body. For a brief glimpse I felt like I was experiencing what Honey was experiencing–the pure joy of salvation and paradise with God. I believe God had made her new with a new spiritual body. I also believe God to be at work in this world making it new, getting us back to where God originally designed us.
This experience has lingered in my soul these 30 years. I long for that time of getting to once again experience that level of joy, but am also grateful for the chance to experience it already in that small moment in time. It was truly a down payment and a foretaste of heaven.
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