FROM THE PASTOR
March 11, 2018
I volunteered to write a character reference this week for a former co-worker. Before my retirement this employee worked daily for me for 22 years, he was my right-hand man and I know him as well as any co-worker could and was pleased to write it.
The exercise though did start me considering the most important reference any individual can possess. Scripture titles it ‘The Book of Life’. In fact, look at some of the references found in Scripture…
Old Testament:
Psalm 69:28 (NASB)
28 May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.
New Testament:
Philippians 4:3 (NASB)
3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Revelation 3:5 (NASB)
5 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Revelation 13:8 (NASB)
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 slain.
Revelation 20:15 (NASB)
15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
There are numerous considerations in these verses we could discuss but those considerations are for another day. For our discussion today, what’s really important, and makes the reference found in the Book of Life legitimate, is who the character reference comes from. In the case of my co-worker, it was a reference from someone who could speak with confidence concerning who he was, his work experience and his ethics because there was personal relationship and first-hand knowledge. For the Christian, it’s the same because of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ who has first-hand knowledge of us.
This fact reinforces the messages we have shared the last few weeks. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become a new creature… old things have passed away and new things have come. Therefore, a character change is inevitable. If we are His, God will not leave us alone until there is. The eternal reference is our name sealed into the Book of Life and the proclaimer and defender of that reference is Jesus Christ.
Because of that, we are eternally secure… guaranteed by Christ and the Father.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Pastor Larry
