THE SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD (Part 1)
Kenute P. Curry
All believers who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and His redemptive work on Calvary have been branded by the Holy Spirit with a mark. God has every believer sealed and protected from the deceptive and uncanny forces of Satan at work in this world. There is not an angel, demon, or principality out there that is not absolutely certain whether you are saved or lost. You are either bearing a seal, or you are not. We begin with Ezekiel 9:3-4:
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” (Ezekiel 9:3-4)
In this scene, the Shekinah glory cloud, which was the symbol of God’s presence, departs before the destruction of the city and temple. God commands the angelic scribe with the writer’s inkhorn to mark on the foreheads of all the righteous, those who had been faithful to Him. The Hebrew word for mark is “taw,” which is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, made like a “+.” To the Greek Christian this sign would suggest the first letter of the name of Christ (Chi) or his cross. The man with the writer’s inkhorn is none other than Jesus Christ, who is the Angel of the Lord in His preincarnate form. He is superior to the others and clothed in white linen, which indicates high rank (Daniel 10:5; 12:6) Linen characterized the High Priest (Leviticus 16:4) and was an emblem of purity. What is noteworthy of this is that salvation belongs to him and he has the authority to seal all the righteous servants of God who opposed the idolatry and abominations that that were taking place in the city. Here we have Jesus Christ sealing the righteous and penitent ones and giving grace to the true believers. God always takes care of His children.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Holy Bible, Copyright ©1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
©2011 Kenute P. Curry. All rights reserved.
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