The Seal of Christ

     A common practice among all cultures is to mark possessions.  The purpose is to denote ownership.  For the thing marked, a seal provides security, identity and purpose.  It also warns a thief of legal consequences should he try to steal the marked item.

     The Bible depicts God placing a seal on His people for the very same reasons.  His desire is to own us.  He wants to protect us and provide us with an identity and purpose.  He has also sent Satan notice to stay away from us.

     What is this seal that God has placed upon His people?  What is it that makes us His?  What has God given to us to protect us and provide us with identity and purpose?  What could be powerful enough to keep Satan at bay?

     Paul says in Ephesians 1:13-14 that the seal God uses for His people is His promised Holy Spirit (in essence, Himself).  Symbolically it is placed on our foreheads (Revelation 7:3; 14:1; 22:4) to be in plain sight so as to be the first thing others notice about us.  And by producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) we show the world that we belong to God, for no human can live this way consistently without divine guidance.  Jesus also said that loving others as He loves them demonstrates this in a vivid, visible way (John 13:35).  The Holy Spirit within us motivates us and gives us the power to continually live holy lives as we were created to.  And Satan cannot stand against us when we surrender to the direction and leadership of God’s Spirit (see James 4:7).

     We are told in Acts 2:38 that we receive this special marking when we are immersed into Christ.  From this moment on, we are owned by God, we are protected by Him, we are given an identity (child of God) and a purpose (to be holy as our Father is holy) with a blessed destination (heaven; God’s eternal presence). 

     Show the world, as part of your daily attitude and practice, that you bear the seal of Christ on your forehead (in plain sight of everyone).  As Paul’s says:

   “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”                                                                          (Romans 6:13-14)

Doug