IS YOUR NAME IN THE BOOK OF LIFE? Bible Study: Revelation 20:1-4,11 – 21:1-2, Psalm 84, Luke 21:29-33 When God made man, he had no intentions that our life would be limited, that we would die or that we would have to suffer eternally in hell fire. God’s intention for man as contained in Genesis 1:26 simply states: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” To be in the image and likeness of God meant that man was supposed to be like God, immortal, powerful, great, in-charge of every other thing that exists. But something went wrong! The inability of man to resist the temptation to sin brought about a change in God’s plan. From the very first sin to the last sin you just committed recently, something keeps changing about the human story. This is because as attractive as sin may be, it ALWAYS comes with its consequences – and the greatest consequence of sin is a reduction of the dignity of man and disqualification from enjoying life as God originally intended. From the story of Adam and Eve at the beginning of the Bible down to the last sentence of the book of Revelations, the whole Bible is a statement of how our love for sin keeps preventing us from living according to God’s plan in perpetual bliss and happiness and how God never gives up on us. The book of Revelations may appear very difficult to understand because it was written in very symbolic language for a specific audience but then the message is very clear – God will judge the world and it is only those whose names are found in the book of life that will eventually merit heaven. For every sin, there is a punishment and for every good deed you do, there is a reward. And there is no better time other than now to start living a sinless life. This is what Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel passage. These are the last day. This is the age Peter was speaking about in the office of reading this morning when he said: “2 Peter 3:3-10 First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” We live in an age that there is so much immorality and sinfulness that many assume that the world will never come to an end and it is surprising that even amongst Christians, there is more of a crave for material wealth than a real desire to serve God so as to merit heaven. The Gospel of prosperity has blinded our eyes from the fact that the world would eventually end one day. Our love for the world is now more than our desire for heaven. Hence, St. Cyprian admonishes us not to allow ourselves be deceived in this manner, re-echoing the words of John he says: Never give your love to the world or to anything in it. A man cannot love the Father and the world at the same time. All that the world offers is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and earthly ambition. The world and all its allurements will pass away, but the man who has done the will of God shall live forever. Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help us to live upright lives that in the midst of the terrible evils pervading our world today, we may not be caught up in sin but remain steadfast in obeying your commandments that our names may never be blotted out of the book of life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Good Morning. Be Happy. Have Faith. Live Positive. It is well with you.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 04:44:41 +0000
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