Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

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Sealed

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Out here on the edge of the world, 10,000 miles from all things American, we hear only what comes via news outlets and websites. It is more commentary than journalism, polarized and politicized. Because of that, the truth is difficult to discern.

Believers from many different theological backgrounds try to connect current events with the imminent return of Christ or the arrival of anti-Christ or some global cataclysm that will force us to submit to a one-world government. Others believe it is merely a recycling of historical patterns—after all, man is fallen and hasn’t really changed that much over the millennia. Whatever your thinking, there is a notable waxing fear in the West with an attendant desire to escape what lay ahead.

A prominent truth for believers, however, will allow us to stand apart from fear and escapism as beacons of light in the gathering darkness: you have been sealed by God and marked. 

Definition

What is a seal, anyway?

In antiquity, a seal was either a cylinder (hung on a cord and worn around the neck) or a signet ring that bore the mark of its owner. It could also be a bracelet or stamp. The seal was embossed with its identifying mark so that, when pressed into a malleable material (like clay or wax), it left its imprint.

Uses

Seals Mark Identity or Ownership

Consider the rather unusual story of Judah and Tamar as found in Genesis 38. Tamar is married to Judah’s son, who dies before giving her a child. Onan is expected to take Tamar as a wife and produce an heir for his late brother, which he refuses and is struck dead. Judah refuses to give Tamar to his other son and so Tamar is left destitute and goes into mourning, a young widow.

At some point later, Judah’s wife dies and, as he is going to the town of Timnah to shear his sheep, he decides to take comfort in the arms of a prostitute. Little does he know that the “prostitute” is indeed his daughter-in-law, Tamar. He promises to send her a young goat in payment, but she demands his seal, his cord, and his staff as collateral in case he doesn’t send the goat, which he gives to her. She becomes pregnant and returns home with his identifying items. 

A few months later pregnancy is obvious. She is accused of  immorality, which could result in her stoning. In a coup de grace, she produces Judah’s seal, cord, and staff as proof that it was  Judah who was in the wrong. His seal identified him as guilty.

Seals Validate Character

Seals not only identify ownership, they validate character. John six is a litany of trademarks of Jesus’ character as the Son of Man. The chapter begins with the miraculous feeding of 5,000 men (plus women and children). As a result, the people tried to make him king by force. Before they could, however, he withdrew to a solitary place on the mountain to pray. As he withdrew,, the disciples attempted to cross the lake, though the wind was against them.  Jesus finished praying and  walked to them on the water. Next morning the diners rushed to find Jesus when they discovered that he and his disciples were gone.  

“You aren’t seeking me because you saw the signs, you’re chasing me because you got a free meal. Stop working for food that rots! Work for the enduring food which the Son of Man will give you.For on him God the Father has set his seal.” God the Father validated Jesus’ character as the Son of Man via the miracles. He placed his mark (or seal) upon him.

Seals Secure

Numerous times in both Old and New Testaments seals are used to guarantee that what has been closed will not be illicitly opened. In Daniel 6:17 we find Daniel in the lion’s den which has been covered by a stone and sealed with Darius’s signet and that of his lords. His unbroken seal would prove that no one removed Daniel from the lion’s den during the night.

In the New Testament, when Jesus’ dead body is laid in the tomb, Pilate orders the stone to be sealed with what is presumably a rope and seal—to prevent someone from secretly removing his body and claiming resurrection.

Seals Mark a Binding Agreement

A poetic and beautiful example of this is found in Song of Solomon 1:8: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave.” The binding agreement here is love and lasting commitment. The imagery is transformative. The Song of Solomon is believed by many to be fulfilled in the marriage of Messiah to His Bride, the Church. The love of the husband took him into death and the grave—and out again.  He sealed the marriage with his own blood. 

Sealed

As interesting as these tidbits might be, the question remains, “What does it mean for us to be sealed?” 

Paul writes the following to the church at Ephesus: “In him [Jesus] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we take possession of it . . .” (Ephesians 1:13-14). And later, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)

We are sealed (imprinted, stamped, marked) by the Holy Spirit. We bear his mark, inscription, and character. In the Holy Spirit a binding agreement is sealed, secured, and validated.

When we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, we relinquished ownership of ourselves. God the Father placed his mark of ownership upon us. Writes Paul to the church at Corinth, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Those who choose to disbelieve the gospel are blinded. They too bear a mark or seal. It covers their attitude (forehead) and their actions (right hand). They plunge into a flood of dissipation that will lead them straight to the fiery lake and the coming judgement. We might even call their mark the mark of the beast.

Those who choose to believe the gospel are sealed with the Holy Spirit. We walk in tandem with the Lamb who took away the sins of the world. We follow him wherever he goes and He writes his name and the name of His God on our foreheads (he changes our minds and hearts).

What Ezekiel Said

Ezekiel 9 paints a poignant picture of being sealed with the Holy Spirit. God is about to execute judgment upon Jerusalem for their idolatry. He calls six executioners to the temple. With them is a man dressed in white linen, holding a writing kit. To the writer He says, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” He instructs the executioners, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity . . .”

Conclusion

As the age comes to a close and the world once again attempts to unite in rage against God, it behooves us to be those who “sigh and groan” in prayer over the evil that is besieging the world. It is to everyone’s advantage that we not only cry out to God in desperation for the salvation and redemption of this generation, but that we take up the sword of the Spirit, proceed in faith, hope, and love and declare God’s majestic name to the nations.

We were sealed for the day of redemption, guaranteed in the Holy Spirit for that inheritance. While the world cowers in fear, looking for every escape possible, we can confidently and boldly engage this generation with the good news of Jesus Christ.

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Life

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A few weeks ago my family and I were watching the classic musical, Fiddler on the Roof. The main character, Tevye, is wrestling with whether to arrange the marriage of one of his daughters to the local butcher, a much older man named Lazar Wolf. There is drinking and talking and eventually singing and dancing as Tevye consents to Lazar’s proposal (it is a musical after all). The song they belt out? To Life.

Tevye’s life is centered in family, tradition, faith and troubles. These are the elements that make up the lives of many believers. Family makes life bearable. Tradition brings order to our values. The God in whom we put our faith carries us through our troubles. In Tevye’s life, though, community is the framework within which all these elements find their truest and most valuable expression.

I have spent much of my adult life in and around Uria Village, on the slopes of Mount Somau in Papua New Guinea. Cultural differences abound. But there are four broad categories we share in common: family, tradition, faith, and troubles. We have different ways of reckoning family (we value the nuclear family, they the extended [much like Tevye]). Our traditions are different, but are still traditions. Expression of faith depends upon the person or family. Troubles are troubles.

What is Life?

Despite the differences, we all grapple with the question, “What is life?” The Somau Garia have no single word for “life”, but a collection of idioms that hint at life’s meaning. Westerners, especially Americans, talk of “the good life”, referring to ease or wealth or amassing goods, or holding power over others. Experience teaches us that these are hallow pursuits that end poorly–no matter how fun the journey seems.

Satan waves shiny trinkets before our eyes to draw us away from true treasure. If he can distract us just long enough to derail our faith, values, traditions, families, or communities, he has won a battle in this great war.

There is no short way to answer “What is life?” Perhaps we might just catch the slightest essence of its meaning by looking a few passages from the Bible. If we catch just a whiff, we might gain some advantage over our adversary, trumping his lies with capital “T” truth. We might cast off the temporary for the lasting.

God-Breathed

A few Old Testament passages might enlighten us. Consider the following:

Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

Genesis 2:7, NLT

From a lump of dirt God formed a magnificent, complex being, made not only of flesh and bone and blood, but also of soul and spirit. Paul later refers to our bodies as “tents” that we inhabit while on this earth. So there is one kind of life in the body, but there is more to us than just body.

Ezekiel has a rather strange vision of a valley filled with dry bones. Despite its strangeness, we gain insight about the nature of life from it.


4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Ezekiel 37:4-6, NLT

Notice the consistency in how the beginning of life is referenced. In Genesis God breathes life into Adam’s nostrils. In Ezekiel prophesies that God himself will put breath into the dead, dried up, rotting bones and they would not only have sinews, muscles, and skin but that they would stand on their feet, comprising a vast army! What was dead he would make alive again. What was a chattel house of death would become a living army that would make his name known.

Dead and Raised

Paul writes in Colossians that we were dead in our sins and that we were buried with Christ when we were baptized (2:12). Just as we were once dry bones, dead and wasting away in our sin, God himself buried us in the grave and raised it to life by faith. When he raised us, he didn’t bring us back to life to leave us in the same condition that caused us to be death, he raised us by his mighty power and gave us all that we need for eternal life and godliness. He took our sin away and made us stand in grace.

Satan would have us believe that our ongoing failure and sin defines us. He is a liar. We are defined by the life, death, resurrection, and ongoing priesthood of Jesus Christ. We stand in that place of unmerited favor where God our Father loves us, disciplines us, and makes us holy so that we might know him (and make him known).

Lasting and True

Jesus prays for us in John 17, saying to the Father:

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 17:3, ESV

So death is marked by slavery to the demands of the flesh, the world, and the devil. It is characterized by lying tongues, sexual immorality, unbridled anger, malice, hatred, covetousness, idolatry and a multitude of others. Death is characterized by a single characteristic that encapsulates them all: selfishness which might also be called devotion to self.

Life is marked by love, compassion, humility, patience, generosity, forgiveness, and a knowledge of God–not knowledge about God, but knowing him in the deepest and truest sense. It’s an intimate knowledge that is shaped by respect, honor, obedience, affection, and love. It is a selflessness that finds its completion in God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son.

All is Christ

Have you ever written a love letter? It is common to include the phrase, “You are my life.” It means that a person lives solely for the beloved. Paul reminds us that Christ is our Beloved, the one for whom we live:

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:4, ESV

God breathed life into us. He gave us a body, soul and spirit. He knew our frailty in being made from dust and, knowing we would fail and fall into sin, created us anyway. He breathed life into us. Having died and been buried with Jesus Christ, he breathed life into us a second time.

For the believer, life is being raised with Christ, hidden in Him, joined to Him, adopted through Christ into God’s family. Life is a transformative experience where we are invited to put off death and put on life. As Paul writes, Christ is our life.

The Hard Road to Victory

You want victory over the adversary? You want to make his name known throughout the nations? You want to shake the gates of Hell in your generation? Live in the reality that this earth and these years are merely temporary. Live with eternity in view. Put off the obscenity and absurdity of this generation. Put on Christ.

After all, Christ is your life. How can you live any other way?

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Mindset

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It is no secret that the mind is a spiritual battleground. Here Satan plies his wares of lies and lusts, tugging at the flesh to pull the pilgrim away to destruction. To protect our minds from the attacks of the enemy, we do well to cultivate a hedge of Truth.

A  few weeks ago, my family and I were discussing what Truth to focus on together in 2019. We settled on the early paragraphs of Colossians chapter three, which build upon Colossians 2:12:

“For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”

Paul writes:

“If then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

As the world presses in upon us, it relentlessly pushes its message in our faces: smartphones, social media, billboards, TV, etc.. If we aren’t diligent, our minds can become polluted, distracted and blunted. We must operate in reality if we are to win the battle for the mind, and that reality is not bound up in the temporary. To operate there, we need to set our affections there. But how can we fix our minds on something so other as the heavenly realms? Are we left merely to our imaginations?

Bible teacher Alistair Begg rightly points out that we are not merely fixing our minds on a place so much as a person. In the “above”,  God the Father sits enthroned over all. At His right hand sits the victorious Son, who overcame sin and death in order that we might be with him where he is.

Where is the Son? What is he doing there? Plant a seed of Truth by taking a few moments away from whatever device you are using to read this. Quiet your mind. Grab a Bible and read through Hebrews chapters 8 through 10. Finished? Read through it again, chewing on passages that jump out at you. Lay your Bible before you and kneel (if you are able) and begin to talk to God in prayer about what you read there. Who are you in relation to who He is?

There is much more to be said on this topic, but I’ll leave you with a short passage that sums things up pretty well:

“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest . . .” —Hebrews 6:19-20

He has gone before the face of God to prepare the way for us to join him there. Now there’s something to set you to thinking!

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Dancing in a Hurricane

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The Christian life is filled with its share of heart-ache. It should be so. God chose to take up a dwelling place in us when he gave us his Spirit and because of that, we experience the world differently than we once did. That which once pleased us now grieves us. He even told us that in this life we’d find plenty of trouble, though knowing that we are going to experience suffering or pain or trouble is little comfort. Especially when the pressure is on.

Believers are often pressured to paint a smile on a grieving heart. There is a price for being plain spoken about high cost of discipleship. Though it is becoming more mainstream to be candid about our experiences, we too often are expected to tell touching stories where everything turns out like the ending of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

I remember a scene from Spectre (a recent James Bond movie) that may speak more to my experience. Mr. White (one of the bad guys)  taunts Bond, “You’re a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond.” He wanted to steal Bond’s hope of finishing his mission, convincing him to stop then and there. What a compelling description of how Satan frames our situation and attacks. Like Mr. White, he intensely wants us to succumb to fear of the tumult of the hurricane.

Seeking some answer to this taunt, I ask:  “Lord, why aren’t we just blown away in the gale?” or “Why are we not consumed by the enemy?” 

His answer reflects his compassion. I realize that when I cannot see I must trust. When I cannot hear I must open the pages of the Scripture to see what I cannot hear.

Here is, in part, his response to my asking:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” —Lamentations 3:22.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’”—Psalm 91:1

“We have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf . . .” —Hebrews 6:19-20

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” Psalm 46:1-2

The language in these verses is violent, noisy, threatening. It shows us our need for protection and deliverance. But it also depicts the compassionate love of God and Father, Warrior and King, Refuge and Fortress.

Take His words to heart, warrior. “Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea . . .”