What is God's down payment on our body?
The down payment God has placed on the believer's body is the indwelling Holy Spirit, who serves as His seal or brand. Though the body is not yet redeemed, the Spirit guarantees that one day it will be made new and reunited with soul and spirit for eternity.
Les explains that the adoption is the redemption of our body. At salvation the soul and spirit are totally redeemed and made ready for eternity, but the old body is not ready yet. God has nevertheless put His down payment on it by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit—His brand on us. That guarantees that whether we pass through the valley of the shadow of death, are placed in the cemetery, or face some other bizarre disaster, one day we will have a new body reunited with soul and spirit, making us a complete entity for the eternal. He also notes from II Corinthians 5:6 that while we are at home in the body we are absent bodily from the Lord, though spiritually we are already citizens of heaven; Colossians says we have been translated into the kingdom of His dear Son.