Ephesians 1:13-14 "Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory"
That word "earnest" means down payment. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of the inheritance we have as born again believers in Christ. He is the Foretaste, and the Beginning of so much more to come. How exciting is that?
Anyone remember the Old Testament story of the spies being sent into the Promised Land? They came back with some of the most beautiful grapes that anyone had ever seen! Those grapes were the earnest of the inheritance that was to come for the Israelites. They were only the beginning of so much more. They were a sample of what still awaited them. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is the earnest, and the foretaste of what awaits us!
He is the earnest of our inheritance...and we are left to imagine...what will the fullness be like? However rich our experience with God is in this life...it is only the beginning of what is to come! It's the inheritance that was described by Peter as being, "incorruptible and undefiled...that fadeth not away, and is reserved in heaven for us"
What a beautiful way of expressing to us that the best is yet to come! However amazing our life in Christ has been in the here and now...there is more to come and it will be even more amazing! All that the Holy Spirit has ever been able to do in and through us, including the peace He has given and the joy we have walked in...for every one of us..this has only been the beginning. What a beautiful example of what awaits us in the time to come!