The Seal of God
The Seal of God
So far, we have seen three things: God made a promise, confirmed it with an oath, and guaranteed it with his seal. There are eleven more important points to consider. In this lesson we look at two of those. They concern the universal nature of the oath and seal. Like the promise, the oath and seal are offered to all mankind.
The promise and the oath which confirmed it were made to Abraham and his seed (descendant) who is Jesus Christ (Gen 22:15-18, Psa 110:4, Gal 3:16,26-29). All who want to be heirs of the promise are, however, able to anchor their hope in that oath as sworn to them also (Heb 6:13-20).
The great commission was to take the gospel "into all the world" (Mrk 16:15-16). Paul records that this was accomplished (Col 1:5-6). Now surely "the word of the oath" continues to be part of that gospel to the whole world (Heb 7:28).
Since God's oath has been sworn to all the world, we would expect that his seal would be given to all who believe. Since the oath is ongoing, so is the seal. Hence our next point...
We have already seen that all who have faith in Christ and are baptized into Christ are heirs of the promise made to Abraham (Gal 3:26-29, Acts 2:37-39). And we have already seen that the heirs of God have God’s oath as a guarantee of their inheritance. Why would they not also have God’s seal as their guarantee? So we are not surprised to read that God has, without exception, given the Holy Spirit "to those who obey him" (Acts 5:32).
Question: But Why is God’s seal still needed? God has already done so much to fulfill his promise and oath! "God demonstrates his own love toward us in that whilst we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8, hn 3:16 1Jn 4:19). Doesn't the cross of Christ, together with his resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven, completely fulfill and confirm God’s promise?
Answer: We certainly praise God for the wonders he accomplished through Christ's first coming. Nevertheless, we still await those aspects of God’s promise which pertain to Christ's second coming. We have yet to finally enter into eternal life. We look not only back to Calvary and Pentecost; we also look forward to our Saviour's return. God’s oath and God’s seal confirm us in that hope.
Index to the 14 points