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8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed
I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12,15)
He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)
The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present. (Revelation 17:8)
There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Revelation 21:27)
Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin--and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written." (Exodus 32:31-32)
Charge them with crime upon crime. Don't let them come into your righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous. (Psalms 69:27-28)
The reason it is called the Lamb's Book of Life is because the Lamb is both the Creator of all humanity as well as the Redeemer of all humanity. In both roles the Lamb has the full authority to assign identity to every human being, and He has done so from both directions. But as we have tried to make clear, agape love means each one remains free as to whether they will embrace their identity from Christ or whether they will cling to sin and believe lies about themselves and God that twist and distort their perspective so tragically that they exchange the truth of God for The Lie and come to despise the very beauty of God's kindness that alone can lead them to repent and be transformed in order to enjoy the bliss of paradise in God's presence of intense love.
Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; (Romans 2:4-5)
What we are witnessing in this chapter are outlines of what it looks like to despise the riches of God's kindness, goodness and love while wondering after power and in doing so worshiping the beasts and the dragon who represent God as being more like us and Satan than like Jesus.
Clearly this Book is a list of the righteous. Yet how do we define who is righteous? Is this in reference to our condition or our identity? When and/or how do those two converge? These questions need to be understood by those serious about keeping their names in this Book of Life.
At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book. (Daniel 12:1)
Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. Nevertheless, don't rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:19-20)
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him." (John 14:6-7)
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
Yes, I beg you also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the Good News, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4:3)
This Book of Life is a metaphor for something very real and central to the plan of salvation involving the good news about God and about our true identity in relation to Him. It is a metaphor but parallel to one found in Genesis 2 which was both literal and metaphorical simultaneously, the Tree of Life. Both of these represent the spiritual reality that the only safe source of saving truth and life is in the human demonstration of who God is and what His disposition is at its core.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies." (John 11:25)
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." (John 14:6)
'For in him we live, and move, and have our being.' (Acts 17:28)
When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)
That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-3)
The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
What is all this telling us? Every human being was put into Christ through His identifying with their sinful false identity that He put to death on His cross so that each one of us could receive His identity of perfect reflective righteousness of God as our true identity. This means every one of us is in Christ whether we accept and believe in it or not. This is one reason everyone's name starts out in the Book of Life, for that is the same as being in Christ, for He is the origin and sustainer of life.
For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
It is vital to understand that the plan of salvation does not involve any partiality on the part of God. It is never God who decides who is saved or lost as most assume. It is not God who makes the determinations or enforces punishments against those who choose death rather than life. It is not even God who judges us in the sense of passing down sentences like we do in our twisted earthly versions of justice. Jesus said plainly that the Father judges no one, then later added that neither does the Son. God is completely impartial, meaning He desires more than anything that everyone be saved and does everything possible to bring this about. Yet respect for each one's freedom compels Him to release everyone to their own destiny they choose for themselves. What we are studying is how those who are lost remove their own names from the original passenger manifest list of the saved.
It is the father of lies, the original inventor of slander against God who has convinced us to imagine God is the dangerous one we need to be saved from, that God is the one we must convince in order to escape punishment. The gospel of Jesus Christ exposes these lies by revealing the truth about God's disposition towards sinners. All of the change in thinking and attitude needs to happen on our side of the relationship, nothing needs altering in God's heart of passionate love for us.
What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
This issue of whether or not our names are left in the Book of Life raises a most important lurking suspicion in the hearts of many of us. We either secretly or openly react to the seeming injustice of God making arbitrary decisions about whether we will live or die eternally. This is a very valid question that must be faced directly if the gospel is to gain deeper access to our heart. The entire war revolves around contention over God's fairness, justice and trustworthiness. What is the truth?
What we are finding here in Revelation 13 is a sad narrative that many will refuse to accept their true identity, resisting the Spirit of Life that that alone can transform their condition to match their new creation identity already given them in Christ. Their names are already written in the heart of Christ who is the Book of Life personified, yet when they resolutely reject His proposal for intimacy and reconciliation with His great heart of love by mutual consent, there is nothing more God can offer to win their trust and affection, so He is forced to respect their final decision and their names are removed from the list of those accept His love and are transformed to reflect it.
How does a person's name remain or get removed from the book of life? Each person themselves choose whether or not to believe and embrace their true identity as Christ defines it for them. Through trust in what God says about us and reliance on His promises to us, our likeness/character may become so aligned with our true identity that it reflects His identity. And this happens as we allow His Spirit to synchronize our choices with the heart and will of God.
Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)
This is a principle as well as a promise. A principle works no matter what the application, meaning that the same principle is found operative in all who behold in wonder and allow their attention to remain fixated on the intimidating power of the beasts and the dragon. By beholding and admiring, or even reacting in fearful subservience, one inexorably becomes more and more like whatever the imagination dwells on. All those who dwell on the earth dwell on the mixed views of God promoted by the ancient serpent who insisted that God knows both good and evil. By continuing to behold such a version of God one becomes like that just as the serpent promised to Eve. "...for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)
By turning our gaze away from dwelling on things of this earth, on darkness, fear lusts and power, and instead feasting our imagination on the glories of heaven where the truth of God's character is most fully embraced, and especially on the explicit revelation of the Lamb, this beholding principle empowers us to be transformed from darkness, depression and fear to living in the light of freedom where truth and love inspire and unite all who surrender to its saving, healing influence.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Every person who has ever lived or will live have had their name written into the Book of Life, and Christ claims full ownership over all humanity, confirming and sealing that claim with His blood and His death on the cross. His first priority after His resurrection was to reassign His own identity to every human being to match how God has viewed us from before this world was even created. Yet even though each human being was written originally in the Book of Life, it does not override the freedom for anyone to spurn this gift. But doing so results in a warped character nearly opposite the identity assigned to them in Christ.
So who decided in whether or not our name is left in the Book of Life? Christ placed everyone's name there, yet all remain free to determine whether they will leave it there by embracing the truth about themselves from God's perspective, or whether they will reject His definition of their identity to cling to a false, variable version of identity. If they do, in effect they force removal of their name from that Book out of heaven's respect for their determined choice. It then is clear that they have totally spurned God's mercy, rejected His gift of perfect identity in His Son and permanently formed a character impossible to sustain in the presence of God's passionate love for them.
If anyone has an ear, let him hear
Are we listening? Will we commit totally to the principles of life and embrace the disposition of the Lamb, or be inexorably sucked into worship with those blaspheming God and His true identity as revealed by the Lamb. There simply is no other option, and the stakes are eternally high.
