John, in his visions of the apocalypse, recorded a macabre scene scene of ultimate judgement. Read it thoughtfully, and join me in pondering the message for humanity:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

These books underscore that God is sovereign over all peoples and all times. Personal histories are in the books, good and bad, hidden and public. But the book of life remains ultimate. Here loyalties are recorded. Did we ultimately turn to Jesus and acknowledge him as Lord? Or did we cling to ourselves?

Over the centuries theologians have argued about how hard it will be to pass the test of the books. Some push a strict view, others more generous. Personally, I lean toward the generous as I consider the mercy and grace of God. But even with full knowledge, some choose for themselves the downward path.

The Good Book makes it quite clear—If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Jesus is not called Savior for nothing. Here is what he saves us from, an eternity of godless, hopeless, aloneness.

Those whose names are written in the book of life step from this grim library into a new heaven and a new earth, glorious and unexplored. Acknowledge Jesus as Lord, ask God to inscribe your name on a page, and pass into the marvelous world beyond.

Revelation 20 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Henry Be