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John 6:27 For God The Father Sealed Him…
John 6:27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father sealed Him.
We will focus for today on the final phrase in John 6:27 “For God the Father sealed Him”. Anything that happens to Christ is of great importance to those who are in Christ so we need to enquire into what is meant by the sealing of Jesus.
John only uses the word “seal” on one other occasion in his gospel: John 3:31-33 MKJV He who comes from above is above all; he who is from the earth is earthly and speaks from the earth. He who comes from Heaven is above all, (32) and what He has seen and heard, that He testifies, and no one receives His testimony. (33) He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.
There the “seal” could be to do with verifying that the witness of Jesus is true and that God is true. So here “seal” may have to do with ‘authenticating” the testimony of Jesus – firstly, at His baptism “this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” and then through the testimony of John the Baptist, and through the miracles and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. In this case we could also read, “For God the Father has authenticated Him” – indeed God the Father is always authenticating His Son – most notably through the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
Secondly, there is a spiritual sense to the “seal”. The seal says that we belong to God as one of His servants: Revelation 7:2-3 MKJV And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, (3) saying, Do not hurt the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
The seal of the Living God marks those who are spiritually alive – the true servants of God in Christ. Thus Jesus had the “stamp of God” upon His life. He was a marked man, marked out as belonging to the Father and set aside for His work.
This sealing is an inner work of God through the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13-14 MKJV in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 4:30 MKJV And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed until the day of redemption.
The way that God knows those who are truly His, and discerns the true believers from the “fakes” is by checking the “seal” – the imprint of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Those with the Holy Spirit are His, and those who merely imitate the faith without this interior reality are not.
When we get to Heaven we will probably not be given a test on our theology or correct denominational affiliation, rather God will check for faith in Christ and for the presence of His seal – the Holy Spirit.
THE NECESSITY OF THE SPIRIT
Romans 8:9 MKJV But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
Romans 8:14 MKJV For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
1 John 3:24 MKJV And he who keeps His commandment dwells in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit, which He gave to us.
1 John 4:13 MKJV By this we know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
Romans 8:29 (above) tells us that we are not validated as true Christians by: c) By human approval and recognition that is “the praise of men”.
Romans 8:9 tells us that without the Spirit dwelling in us we are “none of His”.
Romans 8:14 tells us that the essential characteristic of the sons of God is that they are led by the Spirit of God.
1 John 3;24 tells us that we know that God dwells in us by the Spirit which He gave us.
1 John 4:13 says that we know we dwell in God – is because He has given us of His Spirit.
Thus, true Christianity is a God-wrought interior work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Church membership rolls may have their uses but they are no register of the saved. The saved are registered by being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Thus, Christ was sealed with the Holy Spirit as a servant of God and this then brought about His authentication as a Servant of God and the consequent miracles that authenticated Him. It was His anointing, not any human diploma or ordination that marked and sealed the ministry of Jesus Christ.
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