Signed, Sealed, And Delivered

But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.   John 16:7

The Bible tells us that through his death, Christ made us the beneficiaries of a marvelous inheritance. He has opened the way for sinful people to be reconciled to God and enter everlasting life. The will of God has been signed by the Father and sealed by the blood of Christ, but it still must be delivered.

It’s one thing for a gift to be offered; it’s another thing for that gift to be received. All that Jesus Christ has done will be useless and of no value to us until we receive what he offers. So, how can the will of God, signed by the Father and sealed in the blood of Christ, be delivered to us? By the Advocate, or the Holy Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit brings what Jesus has accomplished on the cross and applies it personally to us. He takes what Christ has made possible for all people and applies it to your particular case. If the Son of God had not come, you could not be saved. If the Spirit of God had not come, you would not be saved.

Imagine a Greek shipping magnate, Stavros, who’s fabulously wealthy and over the years has amassed billions of dollars. One day Stavros dies and his lawyer opens the will. It’s a lengthy document, running hundreds of pages, but the lawyer already knows the contents—he was there when it was written.

The beneficiaries of Stavros’s will are all over the world. They have to be found, and according to the terms of the will, every one of them has to be brought to Stavros’s home in order to receive what has been promised to them. The lawyer will have his work cut out for him for years to come.

Without the Spirit of God, salvation would remain a theoretical possibility, but it would never become a reality for any of us—no one would arrive in heaven. Without the Spirit, all that Jesus has done would be like a will that was never read, a gift that was never received, or an inheritance that was never made known.

For further reading, see John 16