In the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa are 6 massive books bound in rich, red Levant morocco. These books commemorate the Canadians who died in the service of their country during the first and second World Wars, the Korean War, the Boer War and the Nile Expedition. Presently, 114,710 names, each inscribed by hand, fill the pages of these huge tomes. Every name in every book is exposed to view for at least one day each year. It was Prime Minister MacKenzie King who announced the plans for these books on Remembrance Day, 1928, calling the first book, “The most sacred memorial in the keeping of our nation.” Each of the 1st two books has a “Page without Names” dedicated to those whose names are unknown but who are “numbered and honored in the brotherhood of the faithful and brave.”
In the Throne room of the heaven of heavens there is a book which must dwarf even these large memorial volumes. Called, “The Lamb’s Book of Life,” it is the record of all who are numbered among the redeemed and reborn. Having your name in this book is of paramount importance because it insures
Entrance into Heaven:
Rev 21:27 says, “There shall in no wise enter into it (the heavenly city) any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
This does not reflect a capricious or arbitrary decision on God’s part but reminds us that salvation is absolutely essential for admittance to heaven. The book is called “The Lamb’s Book” because it is only the blood of Christ, God’s Lamb, that atones for sin and cleanses the sinner. It is called “The Lamb’s Book of Life” because all who are cleansed by the precious blood of Christ are born again and have received eternal life as a gift from God.
The tremendous significance of that book of life is also seen in Revelation chapter 20, where it is linked with
Exemption From Judgment:
“I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works… And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death… And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
At the close of His earthly life, the Lord Jesus was given an unjust trial, falsely accused and wrongly sentenced to death for blasphemy and insurrection. He will never subject others to such unrighteous treatment. Heaven’s justice will be impartial and just. The proof will be seen in the opened books. Each person’s attitude toward the Bible, or what he knew of God’s truth, will be revealed, for the Lord Jesus said, “He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” A person’s actions will be brought to light when the record books are opened, for God will “judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” But it is the absence of the name from the book of life that proves the person never trusted Christ. No wonder the Lord Jesus told His disciples to rejoice that their names were “written *in heaven.”
Unlike the books in Ottawa, there are no blank pages for those whose names are unknown. Each one who has trusted the Savior is known to God and has been recorded in the Lamb’s Book of life.
Is yours there?
