Ephesians 4:30-31, 5:1-2 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice… Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” 

The problem with all these forms of malice–bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander–isn’t just what they do to our love for each other. They certainly do plenty of damage there. Lifelong friends can become enemies, churches split in two, the work of spreading the gospel comes to a grinding halt.

The more serious problem, however, is how these sinful attitudes and actions affect our God.  Paul tells us, “don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” Our Lord takes sin very seriously. He isn’t merely angered by it. It grieves him. Our sins give our Lord pain and heartache. They are still deserving of death and hell.

Though our sins grieve the Spirit of God, Paul tells us that he continues to regard us as his “dearly loved children.” Parents may not always be happy with how their children behave, but they would do almost anything to help them. With a similar and greater love, God has loved us as his dearly loved children. We don’t always please him with our lives, but he loves us just the same. Jesus proved this love by giving himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. He led a perfect life so that he could become an offering without any spot or stain. He was a perfect, sweet smelling sacrificial offering for our sins. He shielded us from the burning blast of God’s anger at sin by stepping into our place and sacrificing himself.

What Jesus did is more than popular legend, a mythological story of events and places long ago. God has also given us a guarantee that forgiveness and heaven are ours. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” In Bible times, if someone’s personal seal, a design carved on a cylinder, had been rolled across a document or letter, that made the document legally binding. It guaranteed that this was the real thing, much like your signature on a contract today.

God has given us such a guarantee. He has put his signature on us by giving us the Holy Spirit and faith. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee that we will see the “day of redemption.”

That “day of redemption” exceeds our comprehension. The phrase “day of redemption,” tells us we will be finally, completely free of all the effects of sin. In other places Scripture promises no pain, hardship, tears, hunger, or violence. We may not understand all the positive things we will have. But the present gift of the Holy Spirit is our promise that the day will come, and its gifts are ours.

Until then, we live as the children God loves, and imitate the one who gave so much to have us.