Signed, Sealed, & Delivered

Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked (Esther 8:7-8).

G Campbell Morgan writes, “In Esther 3:10 the king took the ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman. It is evident that he had resumed it from his chief officer’s finger before sending him to execution. It was now entrusted to Mordecai, because it gave validity to the documents that proclaimed liberty to the Jews. Notice those words: “The writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the kings seal, no man may reverse,” and apply them to that sealing with the Holy Ghost, of which we read so often in the New Testament.

On the molten wax the ring, with its royal device, or perhaps the cutting of the royal profile, was pressed, giving sanction, validity, and irreversibleness; so on the tender heart of the believer in Christ, the Holy Spirit impresses the likeness of Jesus. The seal does not leave an impression of itself, but of the sovereign; and the Holy Spirit reveals not Himself, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and aims only to leave the mark and superscription of Christ on the character. The word character is used in Hebrews 1:3 (see note). How wonderful, that as the image or character of the Father was impressed on Christ, so the Savior’s image and character are impressed on us! “Him hath God the Father sealed,” says the evangelist. “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, by whom ye were sealed,” says the Apostle.

This sealing us with the likeness of Jesus is God’s attestation. It is his witness that we are born from above, and are become his sons and daughters. It is God’s sign manual of his intention and decree that we should inherit an irreversible portion; and when God has once passed and sealed it, neither man nor devil can reverse it.

This is such an amazing reminder that for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and are children of God.  For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (Romans 8:14-17).