May 22 I Wednesday

1 Chronicles 16-18

John 7:28-53

“The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”   —John 1:29

In the Book of Revelation, John gives us a metaphorical picture of what judgment day will look like. The Judge will be seated on a great white throne with the dead standing before Him. Books recording our time on earth will surround Him, and all will be judged according to what they have done as recorded in the books. John reveals another book at the judgment: “Nothing impure will ever enter [heaven], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).

The Lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ. On the grounds that our sin demands death, Christ stood in our place as an acceptable sacrifice before God for all humanity. His sacrifice satisfied God’s wrath, and in the Lamb’s book of life are written the names of those who are beneficiaries of His shed blood. The names are not penciled in tentatively but are written permanently in blood. The only ground by which our name is written in that book is when we come to Christ in repentance of our sin and believe in Him; then, we are forgiven, cleansed and reconciled to God through Christ’s finished work.

Only those whose names are found in the book of life are welcomed into the eternal presence of God. Names that are not found will be cast out of God’s presence. There is no in-between. It is ultimately our relationship with God that will determine our position before the great white throne.

God’s judgment is universal; we will all appear, whether we believe it or not, like it or not, or want it or not. In this life, we are given the opportunity and time to prepare for that judgment. The author of Hebrews tells us, “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...” (Hebrews 9:27). On judgment day, the wrongs will finally be made right. We can choose to deny the need for forgiveness and reconciliation with God, but Paul tells us the consequence of this choice: “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). The glorious alternative is we can choose to embrace Jesus Christ fully as our Saviour, Lord and King, knowing in confidence that our name will be found in the Lamb’s book of life. The decision we make now matters for all eternity, so thank God that when we trust in Christ, we have the assurance that our names will be found forever in the Lamb’s book of life.

Prayer: Lamb of God, thank You for taking away my sin and reconciling my relationship with God. Give me the courage to share this message with others so that their names may also be found in the Lamb’s book of life.