In 1:11 Paul goes on to say, “In Whom also we were made an inheritance, having been predestinated according to the purpose of the One Who operates all things according to the counsel of His will.” It is possible to render the Greek translated “were made an inheritance” as “have obtained an inheritance.” Unless we have some understanding of verse 10, we shall not be able to understand verse 11. The words, “in Whom” in verse 11 refer to Christ as the Head. In Him, the universal Head, we were made God’s inheritance. The Greek verb translated “were made an inheritance” means to choose or assign by lot. Hence, this clause literally means we were designated as a heritage. We were made an inheritance to inherit God’s inheritance. On the one hand, we were made God’s inheritance (v. 18) for God’s enjoyment; on the other hand, we were made to inherit God as our inheritance (v. 14) for our enjoyment.
In verse 13 Paul says, “In Whom you also, hearing the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.” As verse 14 explains, the Holy Spirit of the promise is “the pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of His glory.” To be sealed with the Holy Spirit is to be marked with the Holy Spirit as a living seal.
We have been made God’s inheritance. At the time we were saved, God put His Holy Spirit into us as a seal to mark us out, to indicate that we belong to God. This Spirit is the pledge, foretaste, guarantee, token payment, a part payment in advance. Since we are God’s inheritance, the Holy Spirit is a seal upon us. Since God is our inheritance, the Holy Spirit is the pledge of this inheritance to us. God gives His Holy Spirit to us, not only as a guarantee of our inheritance, securing our heritage, but also as a foretaste of what we shall inherit of God, affording us a taste beforehand of the full inheritance.
We need to understand verses 13 and 14 in the light of verses 10 and 11. We have seen that in Christ God is in the process of heading up all things in heaven and on earth. However, without the church as the Body to match Christ as the Head, it will not be possible for God to head up all things in Christ. The heading up of all things is accomplished by the Head, but it cannot be accomplished without a Body for the Head. This Body is God’s inheritance, God’s possession. Because we were lost, we had to be redeemed, purchased back, by God. Through redemption we have become God’s acquired possession. We, God’s redeemed ones, the church, are God’s possession, acquired by His purchase with the precious blood of Christ (Acts 20:28). In God’s economy, God becomes our inheritance, and we become God’s possession. As God’s inheritance and possession, we are the Body of Christ, through which all things in the universe are being headed up in Christ.
It is important to see how God acquires His inheritance and His possession. Firstly, He purchased us by the blood of Christ. Secondly, He sealed us with His Spirit. The Spirit as the seal upon the Body is actually God Himself. This means that God put Himself as the seal upon the church purchased by the blood of Christ. The Spirit as the seal is upon the Body not simply in an objective way. On the contrary, through the process of sealing, the seal will permeate and saturate our whole being in a very subjective way. The more we, God’s inheritance, are saturated with the Spirit as the living seal, the more heading up there will be in the universe. As God’s inheritance and possession, we have been predestinated and purchased. Now we are in the process of being thoroughly saturated with the Spirit. When God’s possession has been wholly saturated with the Spirit as the living seal, the heading up of all things in Christ will be completed.
When everything in the universe has been headed up in Christ, everything will be in order. Nothing will be out of place, and nothing will collapse or fall. During autumn, leaves fall from the trees. This indicates that something is out of order. Surely in the new heaven and the new earth leaves will no longer fall from trees, for by then everything will be in perfect order, having been headed up in Christ. As we have seen, this heading up of all things in Christ depends on God’s possession, the church, being saturated with Himself.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we can experience a foretaste of the heading up of all things. When the church life in a particular city is strong, that city will be brought more into order. For example, policemen who work in the area of Elden Hall in Los Angeles have told us that the presence of the church has produced many positive changes in that area. There has been an improvement of the neighborhood, especially with respect to the crime rate. This illustrates that it is through the church that God is heading up all things in Christ. The more the church as God’s possession is saturated with the Triune God, the more heading up there will be. Firstly the church is headed up, and then the things related to the church and that rest on the church will be headed up also. If we allow Christ to saturate us thoroughly, eventually we shall see the completion of the heading up of all things in Christ.