Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

"The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why."
                                                                                                                                          Mark Twain
                (Not to be presumptuous, but I would add the day we are born again.)


     Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time and season for all things...A time to be born and a time to die.
Each time and season brings with it specific milestones and joys that are unique to it. Certain seasons also bring an enormous sense of anticipation and excitement, such as a wedding or the birth of a child. Exhilaration that is palpable can be felt during the times that offer an opportunity for a new beginning.

     I love new beginnings! Both Brent and I have given decades of our lives to the field of Obstetrics.
Brent is an OB/GYN and I am a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. The best part of my career was the ten years I worked in Labor and Delivery. Bustling with excitement and new life, it was easily the most rewarding thing I have ever done professionally. Everyday, I was privileged to witness miracle after miracle emerge into the world. There was no sound more beautiful than when air first rushed into a newborns' lungs and they responded with a resounding cry! It still brings tears to my eyes.

     For most soon to be parents, much preparation is necessary. Every detail is deliberated and the thrill of a new family member is discussed, as necessary steps prepare the way for the littlest addition. The nursery is furnished, baby clothes are laundered, and a name is typically chosen beforehand. Additionally, there are Lamaze classes, delivery preferences, nursing choices, and anesthesia options that are decided.

     Finally, the big day arrives! Parents burst through the Labor and Delivery doors wide-eyed and nervous. Both Mom and Dad have minds and hearts brimming with thousands of questions! New Dads are particularly amusing as they try to compensate for their anxiety. ( Incidentally, it is typically the big, burly Dads that end up on the floor after they pass out!) The Mom is generally oblivious to her surroundings, as the contractions and pain serve to adequately distract.

     Every moment that ticks on the clock leads to the moment where emotions crescendo and the baby is delivered. The infant is warmed and swaddled and the memories of previous pain begins to fade... Every neck is strained to make eye contact with the tiny individual who has graced the room with his presence. It is as if the natural meets the divine in that there is a knowing that God has just blessed yet another family.

     As the new parents bond with their sweet baby, there are administrative documents that must be completed. The birth is first recorded in the Labor and Delivery registry book. After that, Birth Certificate applications are filled out, as well as the forms for a Social Security number. These records are the official documents needed for citizenship, education, passports, and every other important life event. These papers will  be utilized for all that is to come in the life of this child.

     A similar thing occurs when we are born again. God prepares and plans for our big day. His plan was conceived before He even created the world ( 1 Peter 1:20). The apostle, Paul, tells us that God's "eternal purpose" for us is His plan of salvation ( Ephesians 3:11). As soon as we accept Jesus into our hearts, our name is written in the Lamb's book of life ( Philippians 4:3).

     "There is a salvatian in no one else [except Jesus] for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the only way! He is the perfect Lamb that made the perfect sacrifice to atone for every one of our sins ( past, present, and future). Donald Grey Barnhouse describes it this way, "Christ took our hell so that we might take His heaven."

     Once our name is registered in the Lamb's book of life, God continues to reassure us regarding our salvation. Paul asks the question, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ( Romans 8:35; 38-39).

     Jesus not only removes our sins as far as the East is from the West, He also became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him ( 2 Corinthians 5:21). The divine exchange occured when He removed all that is unholy from us and replaced it with all that is holy. We can then become clothed in robes of righteousness that Jesus provides for us.

     John Newton describes our salvation like this, "I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior. " Our righteousness (without Christ) would always be insufficient for salvation. There could never be enough time or enough good works to compare with what Jesus did for you and I.

     Jonathan Edwards states it like this, "If there be ground for you to trust in your own righteousness, then all that Christ did to purchase salvation, and all that God did to prepare the way for it, is in vain."  The book of John tells us there are two requirements for our entrance to heaven. "Unless a man is born of water [ our natural birth] and of the Spirit [our spiritual birth] he shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." (John 3:5).

     God does not want us to be insecure regarding our salvation. The Bible tells us that if we "confess with our mouth 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."  He pours out His grace, mercy, and peace on us so that we can be confident in Him. He also seals us and gives us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as the security deposit and guarantee of the fulfillment of His promise to us. ( 2 Corinthians 1:22).

     When we die, we are delivered from the power of sin among men. If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. ( Romans 6:7-8). Our citizenship is transferred to the Kingdom of Heaven, where, ultimately, we will reside. What a comfort to know that there will be no more sorrow, pain, death, or suffering in our permanent residence.

     In the interim, we are admonished, "be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the Name of our Lord Jesus." (Ephesians 5:15-20).

     Each one of our purposes and destinies are as individual as a snowflake or our fingerprints. We are not all designed to do the exact same thing in God's Kingdom. So, how do we know what God is calling us to do? Our example will always be Jesus. When Jesus walked this earth, He said that He only did what He saw His Father in heaven doing. Likewise, as we follow Christ in our daily lives, we emulate Him in what He is doing in this earth. In doing this, others will see God's reflection in our lives (John 10:37-38).

     As I am growing older (and hopefully, more mature), I now see that while our natural birth is important, it pales in comparison to our spiritual birth. Where we spend eternity is much more significant than the few decades we exist on this planet. It is so significant, in fact, that the Bible tells us all of heaven stops what they are doing so the angels can sing and rejoice. This happens every time one sinner repents. ( Luke 15:10). I sure would love to see that heavenly party!

     Gratitude for our salvation compels us to share Christ with others who do not know Him. Truthfully, that is why we are here. If God only wanted our salvation, He would bring us home the minute it occurred. At this point in our lives, Brent and I find it more exciting to see someone accept Jesus than it is to watch a newborns' birth. There is eternal hope in new spiritual life, which is an incomperable thrill.

     Witnessing another person enter into God's Kingdom is a sacred privelege. It is as if, for a moment, we are allowed to join the angels as they rejoice. I am so grateful for every provision God gives to secure each persons salvation. I can almost visualize God's heavenly pen inscribe a name into the Lamb's book of life, as we are signed, sealed, and delivered!


" I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its' temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its' lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its' light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there), its' gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. " ( Revelation 20: 22-27).