Being Sealed By God

seal-of-godWhen it comes to God, what is the number one duty of all humans? Atheists would tell you nothing because there is no God. They have violated the First Commandment of God. Agnostics would say that we cannot really know our duty towards God because we can’t really know if there is a God. They too violate the First Commandment of God. Atheists do so because they believe in themselves; agnostics because they believe in knowledge. By placing either self or knowledge before God, they make each their gods thus violating:

    “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)

The number one duty of man towards God is to believe in His Son Jesus Christ:

    “Jesus answered them and said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.’ Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” (John 6:26-29)

What is required of you when it comes to contractual matters? Yes, a signature is required when it comes to a binding contract between two parties. Not so in ancient times. Elmer Towns explains:

    “Jesus appealed to people to believe in Him because He had the seal of God upon Him (6:27). In the East, it was the seal rather than the signature that authenticated a document or guaranteed the contents of a package or fulfillment of a contract…When Jesus spoke of being sealed by God, He was emphasizing that His message was true for the beginning, the middle, and the end of life.”

Some people believe that they can earn their way into heaven and do not need the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross. Let’s entertain that lie for a moment.

You are hired to do a job. Your job is to work your way into the good graces of your employer by pleasing him. You work real hard to figure out what pleases your boss, but you don’t seem to be making much progress. Then you happen upon a notebook that says, “Things that please me,” and it is clearly in your boss’ handwriting. Excitedly you open it and see his top ten list. However, your excitement turns to angst because you cannot do the first thing on his list. Well you could, but you decide you know best and are not willing to do, so you try to figure out a way around the boss’ number one way to please him.

This is what we do when we decide to believe in any other thing for salvation than the Lord Jesus Christ. God has made it clear in whom we should believe and trust:

    “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23)

God has placed His signature upon His Son. His First Commandment is for us to have no other gods before Him. And Jesus and the Father are one, so we must believe on Christ:

    “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)

In light of the contractual image, I want you to go back and read the above passage again. That sounds like a guarantee, and the signature is of God. Jesus Christ has been sealed by God. God’s signature is upon His Son, and if His Son says that He and God are one, then we must place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To not believe in Christ is to not believe in God. You can easily come to that conclusion just by reading the words of Jesus and the Ten Commandments.

The atheist who does not believe in God is a fool. Those are not my words, they are God’s sent through the pen of David:

    “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.” (Psalm 14:1)

To reject Christ is to reject God Almighty. Jesus left no doubt that He is God by using the same words God used with Moses to describe Himself; “I am.” Seven times, the number of perfection and completeness, Jesus said “I am.”

As C.S. Lewis has rightly said, only three possibilities exist for Christ and the words He spoke. He is a lunatic, because only a crazy man would say all the things Christ has said, and many a crazy man has followed Jesus proclaiming to be Him. Jesus could be a liar, but then a lie does not pass the test of time, nor would any man die for a lie. Or He is the Lord!

Reject Him if you will, but understand you have rejected the One who has been sealed by God. God the Father’s signature is upon His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Choose well; all eternity awaits you.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2013 David Jeffers

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