Stamped on forehead

Matthew 3:17: [17] And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

“Get a hold of that will you, because Paul, when he says ‘you’re accepted in the beloved,’ takes us back to this special moment of the Father’s public pronouncement of His Son being the one in whom He is well pleased.

“Quoting Isaiah 42, Matthew 12:18 says: [18] Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

“In chapter 17, when they go up on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus ‘was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
[3] And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
[4] Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
[5] While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

“When Paul says ‘we are accepted in the beloved,’ that’s just simply saying that the Father, when He looks at us, sees us in Christ, but He sees us in the beloved one in whom He’s well-pleased," explains Richard Jordan.

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“When you’re out trying to seek the approval of men, you know what that is? That’s really idolatry. You’re giving men, people, whether it’s you or someone else, the position that only God ought to have in your life.

“The antidote is this complete forgiveness and acceptance in Christ and you just simply resting in that perfect identity that God gives you in the beloved and in the love of God to you in Christ Jesus.

“Romans 8:35-39 is a passage, if you’ve never memorized, you ought to be getting this passage into your everyday frame of reference:

[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“What does tribulation do if you’re walking in the wisdom of God’s Word, living in God’s grace? It works patience!

"If you’re thinking about it the way God thinks about it, instead of saying, ‘Here’s trouble coming into my life—God’s after me, God’s trying to get me, God’s going to nail me!’ you think, ‘Wait a minute, I’m accepted in the beloved. God has equipped me, whether it’s personal problems, economic problems, or peril, or sword, or nakedness . . . I can stay with the Word, stay with who I am and that will work some experience.’ 

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“Exodus 28: [36] And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
[37] And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.
[38] And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

“What’s the first thing you notice when you notice people? You’re supposed to say their eyes. So He’s going to take this plate, this little crown or nameplate, and put it right across this high priest’s forehead and it’s going to say, ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD.’

“Have you ever noticed you’ve got this blank space (your forehead) that would be a good place to write things? So God writes across Aaron. Every time they looked at Aaron (he’s going to go into the holy of holies, into the presence of God) he’s got ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD.’ That’s why it’s called the holy crown.

“Just as Aaron would go in and it’d be the holy crown upon his head, the first thing they would see (even with all the beautiful garments he had on), that stood above all the rest, was his forehead. When you and I stand before God we have on our forehead, ‘ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED.’

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“One of the greatest illustrations of this in Scripture is a young boy by the name of Mephibosheth, one of the sons of Saul. When news came to the palace that Saul had been killed and his son Jonathan died in battle, people in the palace panicked. They were afraid David was going to come to seize the throne and would kill all the sons and grandsons of Saul and wipe them all out.

“So a nurse took Mephibosheth (he was 5 years old and was the son of Jonathan, the one who David loved as his own soul—they were soulmates) and ran and when she did, fleeing with the 5-year-old, the boy fell and he became lame in both his feet.

“The little boy was crippled and they ran to a place called Lo-debar and hid there. The name Lo-debar means ‘place no pasture.’ You remember, ‘My Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, he leadeth me beside the still waters.’ Well, this was the place of none of that. No provision from God.

“They’re down there in exile. David is king now and he said, ‘Kindness for Jonathan’s sake.’ You see, that little boy became lame because of some bad news based on a lie.

"They thought, ‘David will come and kill him!’ But David had made a covenant with Jonathan to do good. He would have come and blessed Israel and taken care of them.

"Mephibosheth said, ‘You’re doing all this for a dead dog like me?!’ and David said, ‘No, son, you’re not a dead dog. You’re going to be one of my boys. I’m going to sit you at my table and you’re going to be just like one of my sons.’

“What did we read in Ephesians 1 about adoption? You take somebody who’s not your natural child and put them at the table and treat them like they are—give them the same status. David adopted Mephibosheth.

“In the story, Saul is like Adam. He was king and lost his kingdom out of unbelief and rebellion. Jonathan is like the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the opposite. He was the perfect one.

“David is a picture of God the Father and Mephibosheth is a picture of the sinner. Crippled, lame in both feet, can’t walk and got that way because he got a bad message based on a lie.

“He thought God was out to get him; God was out to destroy him. It turned out David had just the exact opposite in mind. He said, ‘I’m not after your life. I’m looking for you to show you kindness, to take care of you, to restore you to all the things that your granddad lost.’ ”