Third, at the time of our redemption, we were mysteriously sealed with the Holy Spirit, and we received the Holy Spirit as the pledge (Eph. 1:13-14). At the time we believed in the Lord, we received the Holy Spirit as the seal. This seal of the Holy Spirit operates and works, reminding us and giving us the feeling that we have believed in the Lord Jesus and that we belong to God. I believe every one of us has had this experience. This tells us that we are the saved ones, and we have the Holy Spirit in us as the seal. This Holy Spirit is the pneumatic Christ (Rom. 8:9), who also is the Triune God (Matt. 28:19).
To be sealed with the Holy Spirit means to be marked out by the Holy Spirit as the living seal. The redeemed church has become God's purchased possession. At the time of redemption, this possession was sealed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of it eventually being fully redeemed. Since the seal of the Holy Spirit is living, it works within us, saturating and transforming us with the divine element, until we mature in the life of God. Eventually, even our bodies will be fully transformed and redeemed. Now we all have the seal of the Holy Spirit within us. This seal is daily sealing us and reminding us, so that we are continually rescued and delivered from our natural self. In the end, the image of God will be expressed from within us, and we will become like God. Moreover, the redeemed church not only is God's possession but also has obtained God as its possession, with the Holy Spirit as the pledge. God has given us the Holy Spirit not only as the pledge of our possession, assuring us of what we will possess, but also as the foretaste of our inheritance of God as our possession, that we may gain a foretaste of God as our full possession. Through the Holy Spirit in us as the firstfruit, we have a foretaste of the sweetness of God. This foretaste is in us as the guarantee, assuring us that one day we will enter into the full and rich enjoyment of God. By then our body will be redeemed in glory and will be changed in its form. We will fully inherit God Himself as our enjoyment.
Fourth, the mystery of Christ, the church, participates mysteriously in the resurrection power of Christ and in everything that He has attained and obtained in ascension, thereby becoming the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:19-23). We must participate in the resurrection of Christ and enter into His ascension before all that He has attained and obtained in ascension can become our enjoyment. By then, the Body of Christ will be expressed. The Body of Christ is produced fully from the resurrection and ascension of Christ. After Christ resurrected, He became the life-giving Spirit. In His ascension He became the outpoured Spirit. In this way He becomes the essential, economical, and compound Spirit. As the essential Spirit, He gives us life. As the economical Spirit, He pours Himself out on us. He is also the compound Spirit. In Him is included not only divinity and humanity, but also human living, the effectiveness of death, and the power of resurrection. Such a compound Spirit is in us and also upon us, making us the Body of Christ. In this way the Body life of Christ is expressed.
This Body of Christ is the fullness of Him that fills all in all (Eph. 1:23) as the corporate expression of the embodiment of the processed Triune God. This Body was mysteriously made alive together with Christ (regenerated—John 3:5-6) and was raised up together (taking Christ as life and living together with Him—Col. 3:4a; John 14:19b) and seated in the heavenlies together to participate in all that Christ has attained and obtained in His ascension (Eph. 2:5-6). We are regenerated in the resurrection of Christ. We are made alive and are seated in the heavenlies also in His resurrection.