Gabe Fluhrer

God has prepared us for this thing and he has given us the spirit as a guarantee, a down payment.

In the first fruits of the resurrected Christ comes the first fruits of the life-giving spirit in our lives.

As he begins to make us grown and be burdened for that which is true life.

And that is why when Jesus speaks about this, don't you love this scene in John 7?

On the last, the great day of the feast, John tells us, he stood up and said in a loud voice, if any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

For as it is written, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.

And John adds that editorial aside, this he said of the spirit which he was to give, but he had not been given yet because Christ had not yet been glorified.

having been glorified, he does give the spirit and therefore we can stop being thirsty.

We can have true hope.

And another metaphor there, isn't that what hopelessness is?

It's a thirst that can never be slaked, a hunger that can never be satiated.

Try as we might to fill it up with drugs or sex or pleasure or movies or just distraction.

And what Paul and what Jesus tell us, the Spirit speaking in His Word tells us is, no, no, no, no, no.

It's so much better with Christ.

And the hope you have in Him, no matter what happens here, will be unshakable.

It will be certain.

It is as certain as the Spirit who was outpoured.

It is as certain as the empty tomb before the outpouring of the Spirit.

And that's why, if we turn to the end of the Bible,

We read what we read in Revelation chapter 1, chapter 21 rather, the penultimate chapter of the Bible.