OUR SEAL OF SECURITY
The word seal has many
meanings. It could be a sea animal, a wrapping that encloses a container, or an
emblem impressed on paper or into wax indicating ownership or authority.
There are also security
seals, some made from metal, others made of plastic. And just because a seal is
made of plastic doesn’t mean that it lacks security. You know what I mean if
you have tried to open certain kinds of plastic packaging.
We have a seal too, a seal
that God himself has given us. God’s seal is not metal or plastic, but the Holy
Spirit himself, who marks us as belonging to God and who guarantees our
inheritance in Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit unites us
with the Father and the Son and transforms us into the image of Christ.
The Holy Spirit reminds us
that we belong to Jesus Christ, who is not only our Creator, but also our
Redeemer. “All things were made by him and for him,” we read in Colossians
1:16. And verses 19 and 20 continue: “For God was pleased to have all his
fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to
himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven...”
In Christ, God shines his
light into our darkness and defeats our rebellion to reconcile us to himself. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13: “And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised
Holy Spirit…”
Throughout Ephesians, Paul
writes about being filled with the Spirit, being filled with Christ, and being
filled with God. These are not separate events, because to be full of the
Spirit is to be full of Jesus, which means to be filled with all the fullness
of God.
Our seal, the Holy Spirit,
proves that we belong to God, that we are included in the life Jesus Christ
shares with the Father in the Spirit.
And there is nothing in
heaven or Earth that can break that everlasting seal.
I’m Joseph Tkach, speaking
of LIFE.