The Mark

A lot of people talk and speculate about the Mark of the Beast or Antichrist from Revelation 13.

Revelation 13:16-17 (NLT)

He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead.

17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

The Mark of the Beast is a mark of ownership. This mark represents eternal death and separation from God. The Mark of the Beast means you belong to Satan, and you will receive the reward of Satan, eternal death in the lake of fire called hell.

But I want to focus on another mark of ownership. This mark represents eternal life, not eternal death. This mark means you belong to God. You are possessed by God. What is this mark? This mark was given by God in the Old Testament to the Jewish people. It was called the mark of circumcision. It was a physical mark that was placed on the flesh of men. A mark of ownership, a mark that proves that they were under the covenant promises of God.

This God marking began with Abraham. This mark was a requirement. Without the mark, you would be cut off from God’s people, cut off from the family of Abraham and the covenant promises of God to Abraham.

Genesis 17:9-14 (NLT)

Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility.

10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised.

11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you.

12 From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased.

13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant.

14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”

This mark of circumcision sealed the everlasting covenant relationship between God and Abraham’s children. It was the mark of ownership, to be owned and possessed by God.

But what about today? What happened after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus? What is the mark for the church? What is it that shows that we belong to God today? What is the mark of the covenant today? Is there a mark for the church? Is it circumcision?

The Bible tells us that those who place their faith in Jesus will be grafted into the family of Father Abraham, becoming the children of God. Does that make us Jewish? Does that mean that we must all be circumcised? The Apostle Paul answers that question.

Romans 2:28-29 (NLT)

28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.

29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

And what is this change of heart? What is this spiritual circumcision of the heart that brings us into the family of Abraham as the children of God. It’s called faith! Specifically, faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Faith is when your heart truly belongs to God. God’s desire for mankind has always been the same. God wants our heart, all of it (Deuteronomy 6:4).

When we place our faith in Jesus, our whole heart belongs to God…we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Mark of God’s ownership in our lives. The Holy Spirit proves that we belong to God. The Holy Spirit is the seal and mark of God’s ownership in our lives.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NLT)

It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us,

22 and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.

Those who have the Mark of God’s Holy Spirit do not need to fear the Mark of the Beast. The Mark of the Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee, God’s eternal covenant promise that we belong to Him and to Him alone. Purchased and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Maranatha, Hosanna, Hallelujah and Amen,

Terry Cooper