Those Enrolled in the Book of Life
(Rev 21:18-27)
The movie, Quo Vadis(1957) deals with the martyrdom of the early Christians persecuted by Nero. It featured Deborah Kerr as Lygia an enslaved princess, who rejects the proposal of Marcus, a Roman commander, despite her affection for him, because he is a non-Christian. In the midst of trials and temptations, Lygia not only keeps her faith and her fellow Christians but also leads Marcus to the Lord. The dwellers of the Holy City, New Jerusalem are those enrolled in the book of life. Who are they?
1. They are those who have a shining city-wall testimony. They show unity in variety. The foundations of the city walls are made of various precious stones. The city is 12,000 stadia, that is 2,400km. Yet the city walls are 144 cubits. One cubit is as long as a forearm. How can we explain this? The inner temple is made of faith. It cannot be built by human hands. A mustard seed contains a big mountain. Therefore, no matter how small we are, like the city walls, we need to lead people to the Lord and at the same time refuse the world. The foundations of the city walls are described as splendid precious stones in contrast with the fake glory of Babylon. Yet they dont exist in any form. Holiness, like values, exists in no form. The twelve tribes and twelve apostles in the city refer to a heavenly community whose values are totally different from the world. Wherever and whoever we are, we can shine in Gods light as Gods witnesses through our trials. The twelve gates are made of pearls linked to one another by the street of pure gold. The gates and the street refer to the times of Christians suffering and patience as splendid as pure gold. Whoever enters the city is guided through the golden street made by God. One of our church members was able to stop watching porno after repenting of it and confessing it in his community. Thus in our holy city, we are guided and protected by our fellow Christians testimony in spite of ourselves.
2. They are those who know that they are the temple. God and the Lamb are the temple. Therefore, being united with God, we become part of the temple. At the moment the world puts a spotlight on AI, equipped with human emotion and scholars like Richard Dawkins and Yuval Harari, who insist that Jesus is not God, and that man can cultivate the tree of life. However no one can enter eternal life by his research on it. Those who enter it are one group of people and the researchers are another. We cant get any star no matter how hard we research. What matters is our belief in God. The Word is the source of wisdom. Theres no true light without God. God is the luminous body, shedding his light on his people. In the light, we are united with God, the temple and become part of it. The fruit of becoming the temple is love. Love matters because it enables us to help one another. Without love, the heavenly driving force, we cant carry out our ministry of salvation. Faith and hope are consumed after their achievement. Only love survives in Gods kingdom. We need to love and endure one another on earth in order to bring them to the Lord, which is impossible to carry out with worldly values. By becoming part of the temple, we can love others at their eye level. One member of our youth department was diagnosed with cancer before attending our Uljin outreach. Yet he decided to join the outreach for his important ministry. He was in charge of the kitchen ministry. What an application of knowing that I am the temple!
3. They are those who bring their splendor. The nations and the kings of the earth in the passage stand for the universality and excellence of the new Jerusalem. Faith calls for generality and prominence. We need both of them. By being aware of his sinful nature, man reflects Gods light for the nations to walk by. Our treasured testimonies will change the nations. Gods light shining on us refers to the awareness of our sins. It makes us do what is right in the eyes of God (honesty) and shine. Its not about revealing others fault but about sharing ours with them at their faith level. The opposite of honesty is falsity. Its an inability to discern facts from presumption, spreading rumors, being irresponsible for what he said, passing the buck, making promises that he cant keep, bragging, and glossing over failings. Being shameful is to hating or being hated, which also starts from a lie. It can be harder to do right before God and not to tell a lie in our daily life than to be a martyr for the sake of a great ministry. The most prominent mark of those who receive God is not tell a lie. Actually, honesty is beyond our power. We cant be honest without repentance. Nor can we be honest without being bound to our community. The heavenly kingdom is not for the sinless but for the forgiven by God. There we are treated as sinless people. Heres a testimony from our community. 'Since my teens, I used to wander from church to church, internet cafe to cafe with spiritual hunger. I became addicted to a homosexual relationship till I came to Wooridle Church, where I opened up my sins thanks to its spiritual training program. My father also comes to church and was baptized. Now I pray that God will deliver my mother also. Now Im ready to take any disgrace and mockery if could bring back many young people who left their church by revealing the written charge against me!' What a book-of-life testimony! Being enrolled in the book of life is totally up to Gods grace. Gods beloved people need to show the love of God to others constantly. This is how to do right in the eyes of God and bring others to Him through our treasured city-wall applications. May God bless our life to be filled with his light, dispelling the darkness out of our life until we are enrolled in the book of Life!
Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lambs book of life. (Rev 21:27)
