| Chapter 7: Life, One Two-sided Page
We have a difficult
time thinking of this life as being "brief." We value the days
of our lives greatly and pray for peace, abundance and blessings. But
consider this. Eternity is time without measure. It has no end. If you
could envision this life as a "single page" of paper and then
envision billions and billions of pages, without an ending number, then
you might sense how little can be written on the single page called "life."
Yet the scriptures tell us that what we "write," the "record"
that we create, on this single page, determines our eternal circumstance.
If so, the countless numbers of pages in eternity are yet to be experienced.
If you are reading this, your life is not over and the record you are
developing is still "in progress."
If you now possess eternal life, your name is in the Book of Life. If,
in the end, it turns out that you have sentenced your soul to banishment
from the presence of God, your name is in "other books." Understand,
that if your record is now being recorded in "other books,"
it is a record that can be expunged, wiped away, forgotten and cleansed
by the Grace of God as a result of the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah,
the One that God promised would come. The record in the "other books"
is not indelibly written. That record can be made invisible.
Consider this very important concept. The page of "this life"
is a two-sided page. On one side is the part that precedes your
moment of salvation, that moment in which you confess your sins, repent
and turn to your Savior whose atoning sacrifice provides for your redemption. You are not held accountable for the side of the page that precedes
salvation. Your sins are forgiven. Listen to this very important truth.
Psalms 103:8-12
8 The LORD is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always
strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt
with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens
are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear
Him;
12 As far as the east
is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (NKJ)
The reverse side of the single page,
the eternal salvation side, is only available to those whose sins have
been forgiven and removed. Again, the record on side one, the record
established before salvation, which can be expunged and forgotten, will
never be remembered against you again. Please grasp this fact. When
you repent and are forgiven, your sins have been washed by the blood
of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I will give you many references
that explain that sentence, in detail, but here we are focusing on the
fact that it would be more than useful to understand the following point.
Prior to your acceptance of the plan of salvation, provided by God,
when He sent His only begotten Son to provide for the remission of your
sins, prior to that moment, you are creating a record on one
side of the single page of life.
When you repent and are reborn, when you have that stony heart of flesh
replaced by the Spirit of God, in you, you begin to create a record
on the flip side of page one. You are assured of your place in eternity.
You will not experience the wrath of God, Satan will have no more power
over you, due to the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit
in you, and you will be "born again." You will have crossed
over and you will never be a slave to the flesh again. You will have
chosen eternal life.
As to what you do with the flip side of the single page of life, that
is, everything you do after you choose to respond to God's love,
the record does remain. Every thought, every thing that you do with
the remainder of your life is recorded. You will be establishing a "permanent
record." Listen.
Isaiah 30:8
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll,
that it may be for time to come, forever and ever: (NKJ)
What you write is recorded for a time
to come, forever and ever. Every thought you have is known to God and
His thoughts toward you exceed number. Listen.
Psalms 139:1-18
1 O LORD, You have
searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting
down and my rising up; you understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my
path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not
a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me
behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is
too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from
Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into
heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings
of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your
hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely
the darkness shall fall on me," even the night shall be light about
me;
12 Indeed, the darkness
shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness
and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my
inward parts; you covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and
that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not
hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in
the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my
substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also
are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count
them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake,
I am still with You. (NKJ)
Job, when he was being tested by Satan,
did not know that his words would be permanently recorded and read by
men for centuries. Here he states a prayer that God fulfilled. Your
words and mine are inscribed as well.
Job 19:23-27
23 "Oh, that my words
were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24 That they were engraved
on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever!
25 For I know that
my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin
is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God,
27 Whom I shall see
for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart
yearns within me! (NKJ)
We know that the Lord, the Messiah
has been given the power to separate the saints from the sinners, the
sheep from goats. Did you know that once you are among the Lord's
flock that God Himself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep?
Ezekiel 34:11-31
11 'For thus says the
Lord GOD: "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
12 "As a shepherd seeks
out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I
seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were
scattered on a cloudy and dark day.
13 "And I will bring
them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will
bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel,
in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 "I will feed them
in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel.
There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on
the mountains of Israel.
15 "I will feed My
flock, and I will make them lie down," says the Lord GOD.
16 "I will seek what
was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and
strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong,
and feed them in judgment."
17 'And as for you,
O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I shall judge between
sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.
18 "Is it too little
for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down
with your feet the residue of your pasture-- and to have drunk of the
clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet?
19 "And as for My flock,
they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what
you have fouled with your feet."
20 'Therefore thus
says the Lord GOD to them: "Behold, I Myself will judge between the
fat and the lean sheep.
21 "Because you have
pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns,
and scattered them abroad,
22 "therefore I will
save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge
between sheep and sheep.
23 "I will establish
one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them-- My servant David. He
shall feed them and be their shepherd.
24 "And I, the LORD,
will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the
LORD, have spoken.
25 "I will make a covenant
of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and
they will dwell safely in the
wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26 "I will make them
and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers
to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.
27 "Then the trees
of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her
increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that
I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered
them from the hand of those who enslaved them.
28 "And they shall
no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour
them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.
29 "I will raise up
for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with
hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore.
30 "Thus they shall
know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house
of Israel, are My people," says the Lord GOD.' "
31 "You are My flock,
the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God," says the Lord
GOD.' " (NKJ)
The point you may want to consider
is that judgment between the sheep, the fat and the lean, will occur.
It appears that there are different levels of rewards, even within the
Kingdom. As you live life, after your salvation is assured, you are
creating a record. That record is important and will determine your
status in the Kingdom and in eternity, as ordained by God.
The primary challenge, and the choice
is yours, is to become one of the sheep, one of the followers of the
Lamb of God, the Messiah. That done, your sins are forgiven and you
are starting a new life with a new heart. Thereafter, every thought
and action count, forever. We Christians, who misbehave, by God's
standards, are doing so at our own peril.
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