The Seal of God
The Seal of God
In our previous lesson we looked at the universality of God's promise, oath, and seal. Now, with two more of our 14 points, we go into more detail on some aspects of that topic. The main idea of this lesson is that the seal of God is for everyone who is saved —everyone who believes and obeys Jesus Christ.
The number of the sealed is precisely as many as the number of the saved, no more and no fewer, and in both numbers the individuals counted are the same. The number in John's vision was 144 000. This number is symbolic, as is the term "tribes of Israel". We have here represented the heirs of the promise who are "as many as have been baptized into Christ" (Rev 7:1-4, Gal 3:26-29, Rom 9:6-8).
The next vision represents the number as "a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples..." (Rev 7:9-10).
In these visions, the people who were sealed were no fewer, and none other, than all the saved. "The seal of the living God" (or rather what is represented as such) is for all Christians (Rev 7:2, Rev 9:4).
There is another way to make the point that God has sealed every Christian. This is to look closely at the "in hims" of Ephesians chapter one:
The seal of God is found among the "in hims" of Ephesians chapter one. Paul writes to "the faithful in Christ Jesus" and goes on to list what they have "in him". Let's look at this list of "in hims" in Ephesians 1.
Now look at that list carefully. The first seven items on the list are true of everyone in the total number of the saved. We finish our lesson by asking this question as food for thought: If the first seven things on the list are true of every Christian, why should not the eighth item on the list also be true of every Christian? We conclude that the promise, oath, and seal of God is for every one who is faithful in Christ Jesus.
Index to the 14 points