“God…is the creator; he has no interest in leaving earth to rot and making do for all eternity with only half of the original creation. God intends to flood the whole cosmos, heaven and earth together, with his presence and grace, and when that happens the new world that results, in which Jesus himself will be the central figure, is to be the ‘inheritance’ for which Jesus’ people are longing…
“The spirit is to the Christian and the church what the cloud and fire were in the wilderness: the powerful, personal presence of the living God, holy and not to be taken lightly, leading and guiding the often muddled and rebellious people to their inheritance. But the spirit is more that just a leader and guide. The spirit is actually part of the promised inheritance, because the spirit is God’s own presence, which in the new world will be fully and personally with us for ever…
“…God has given us the spirit as a sign and foretaste of the whole renewed cosmos which awaits us as our inheritance…”