Earnest

If you haven’t had the opportunity to buy a home yet, you probably haven’t been introduced to the idea of “earnest money”.
And even if you have, it’s not the kind of thing that really ever crosses your mind.
How would you define “Earnest money”? According to Investopedia (yes, it’s a real thing), Earnest money is ‘a deposit made to a seller that represents a buyer's good faith to buy a home.’ So basically, it’s a tangible symbol of serious intent. It conveys the value of your promise. I’ve never considered where this word came from and when I first heard it, I chalked it up as realtor/finance talk. However, with spiritual eyes....take a look.

Here’s The Word:

2 Corinthians 5:4 – 5 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13 – 14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Biblically, if I had to define the word “earnest” as derived from the context of its usage in certain passages, I would associate it more with a deep emotional eagerness, rather than the money I relate it to when buying a house. But I see now, that looking at these two ideas together, I see a richer, deeper reality coming to the surface.

In the fullness of time, God sought to “buy back” a piece of property. A piece of property that had been swindled into the hands of a deceiver by our disobedience.

This property has been abandoned and condemned, but God has a plan for it. In order to begin His restoration, He established His intent in securing us with earnest money, which in this case, is: God, The Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is God’s tangible symbol of serious intent. His payment for your eternal security and redemption.

In real estate terms, I see it now as we, (who have heard the word of truth and are trusting the gospel for our salvation) are “God’s property”, secured and sealed by the payment of The Spirit, and He’s scheduled a move in date once the “redemption of the purchased possession” is complete.
This is BIG reason to rejoice: In earthly terms, even after you’ve put up an amount of earnest money, something can still happen to give you an out. Contingencies. However, when you are writing that check for earnest money, they’ll tell you to be as sure as possible in regards to the likelihood of the purchase, but also to write the check for only as much as you’re able to recover from losing if something disagreeable comes up.

God is so sure about His purchase, that His check is Himself, in the Person of The Holy Spirit. That means for Him, there’s no backing out of the deal. YOU HAVE BEEN BOUGHT! He’s 100% invested and committed to our renewal, even in the midst of our groaning. Mortality WILL BE swallowed up by life! Move in day is coming!

In Him,
Cros