In reality, when a person accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that person is entering into a blood covenant relationship with God, the Creator of all that exists, has existed in the past, and everything to be created in the future.
Christians may have missed the blessings of such a relationship. The blessings begin at salvation. Then we are given the assurance of even more blessings by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The King James Version says it is, “the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” (2 Cor. 1:22) Here is what the Vines Expository Dictionary says about the word, “earnest” . . . . “it is used only of that which is assured by God to believers; it is said of the Holy Spirit as the Divine “pledge” of all their future blessedness”.
The first blessing after salvation is justification. Justification is the declaring of a person to be just or righteous. Luke 15:10 says, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” I like to believe that when a person accepts Jesus as Savior, God announces it to the angels in Heaven and the angels start praising God and shouting their joy!
The second blessing following salvation is sanctification. To sanctify something or someone simply means that thing or person is set apart for the use intended by its designer.
In the case of a Christian, the Designer is God. Once a person accepts Jesus, he is forgiven of all sins of his past. At the exact moment of salvation, God considers that person as holy. Also, then the person is given the Holy Spirit to dwell within to begin a process of maintaining their holiness.
Temptations to sin will come and continue to come until Jesus returns, but if allowed, the Holy Spirit will convict a person of sin until the person repents. I emphasize the words, “if allowed” because a person will sometimes tend to continue in sin, even after being convicted by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
God is patient and will give a person time to repent of their sin, but God also has limits. A very true saying is this, “It is better to judge yourself than to wait for God’s judgement”.
Another blessing of a covenant relationship with God is healing. We become spiritually healed at the moment of salvation. Physical healing is also available to us by the stripes laid on the Back of Jesus. Isaiah 53 tells of this blessing and Matthew refers to it in Matthew 8:16-17,
“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
God doesn’t seem to heal every time nor at the exact moment that we ask for healing but because of what Jesus suffered, we have access to the Throne of God to ask for healing. God may heal a person, but He may have reasons not to heal a person. That is a mystery we will have to learn once we are in Heaven.
A blessing that is given to believers is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised this just before His return to heaven:
Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts, chapter 2 tells about this happening to the disciples who were waiting and praying in the upper room. Suddenly a sound was heard, a wind surged through the room, and “tongues of fire” descended and hovered over every believer. They began to speak in tongues unknown to them but understood to others passing by outside.
The believers then and believers now, were and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ with boldness and confidence. This baptism is available to every believer today. It is received the same way salvation is received, by faith.
By His Holy Spirit:
God empowers us to overcome the enemy (1 John 5:4).
We have authority over demons and disease (Mark 16:17).
We live under his divine protection (Luke 10:19).
We are destined to reign in life (Rom 5:17).
Last, but not least, is the promise of glorification. Our present physical bodies cannot enter Heaven. When Jesus died, He rose from the grave in a new, glorified Body. The same will be true of every believer.
1 Corinthians 15:50:
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed– 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
Finally, have you received salvation through Jesus, and are you eligible for the blessings that follow? If not, you can receive it by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus and by asking for forgiveness of your sins. Don’t let another minute pass by without salvation.
God bless.