Heaven, Perfection and Immortality

In hope we saw the promise of the full harvest in the firstfruits.  Sin has been subdued by grace, but we expect to see it utterly exterminated.  When the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us, our hope concluded that the body would be delivered as surely as the soul had been.  The moment that faith introduced hope into the heart, hope said, “I have complete salvation – not in the sense that I am experiencing it now, but Christ Jesus holds it in trust for me.”

As the priest in the Old Testament waved the sheaf of the firstfruits before the Lord as an acceptable sacrifice, we in hope, offered the firstfruits of our faith to God and so took possession of the full harvest of salvation.  When God gave you and me a love for Jesus and deliverance from the dominion of evil, these firstfruits signified a perfect salvation that has yet to be revealed in us.  Our first joy in salvation was like a tuning of our harps for everlasting song.  Our first peace was like the dawning light of a never-ending day.  When we first saw Christ and worshiped Him, our adoration was our initial bowing before the throne of God and of the Lamb.  Therefore, in hope we were saved.  Hope brought us the source of perfection, the pledge of immortality, the beginnings of glorification.

Moreover, in hope, we are so sure about his coming blessing that we consider it already obtained.  Suppose you get a confirmation from a trader with whom you have conducted overseas business.  He says, “I have procured the goods you have ordered and will send them by the next ship, which will probably arrive at such and such a time.” Then another trader calls and asks you if you want to buy the same kind of goods, and you reply, “No, I already have them.”  Have you spoken the truth? Certainly, for although you do not have them in your warehouse, they have been invoiced to you.  You know that they are on the way, and you are so used to trusting your foreign trader that you regard the goods as yours.  The agreement has been made that makes them yours.

It is the same way with heaven, perfection, and immortality.  The deed has been done that makes these the heritage of believers.  We have confirmation from One whom we cannot doubt, our Lord Jesus, that He has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us and that He will come again and receive us to Himself (John 14:3).  In hope, we are so sure of this fact that we consider it done.  We may also draw practical conclusions from our hope.

(Charles Spurgeon ~ Stand in Hope)