WHOSE NAME IS ON YOUR FOREHEAD? God has promised that we can have the assurance of living eternally. I want that assurance. How about you? How can we obtain it?

Sin, Evil, Death, Dying, and What Happens After We Die

This series has addressed the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we have addressed the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we looked at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.

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From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

Let Us Pray

Holy Father, we long to be in your divine presence. Change our hearts, by your loving grace and transforming power, Convert us in our innermost soul and grant us the assurance of eternal life. In Jesus the Name Amen

How can we be sure that we will be numbered with those who will live in the new heaven and new earth? Revelation 22:3–5 tells us that God will write His name on their forehead. In other words, He will write His name in the minds of His people.

Revelation 22:3-5

3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:3-5)

This promise indicates that God will put His law and love into the hearts of His people and give them new life. How can we be sure that we will be a part of this group?

After Lucifer rebelled against God, God could have destroyed him. And even after Adam and Eve sinned, He could have eliminated them. But in expressing unconditional love for humanity, he devised a plan to save all who would accept his gift of love. God loved us so much he loves us so much he gave His only Son as the payoff to save us.

Yes, God loved us so much that He developed a plan to save every human being who accepts His saving gift of love.

This plan was not an afterthought. It was made before He created our world. This we see in the following scriptures:

Ephesians 1:3-4

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (Ephesians 1:3-4)

II Timothy 1:9

9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, (II Timothy 1:9)

Titus 1:2

2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, (Titus 1:2)

Revelation 13:8

8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, (the beast satan) whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)

God first reveal this plan to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, immediately after they sinned.

Later, God shined more light on this plan when He had Moses according to Exodus 25 to build Him a sanctuary or tabernacle where His people could worship Him.

God used the Hebrew sanctuary model of offering animal sacrifices, and other gifts to reveal his plan to save humanity. His actual plan of salvation was manifested in Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection as expressed in Romans 5.

Central to God’s plan to save us is His promise of everlasting life. This promise of eternal life is not based on anything that we have done.

It is based on the merits of Jesus, and what He did when he died on the cross and came back to life again. Therefore, anyone who accepts Jesus’ life by faith obtains the gift of eternal life.

The point is, that salvation has always been by faith in the merits of Jesus. Before the cross and after the cross, it has always been by faith and never by works or our good behavior.  At the same time, we must understand that our good behavior is very important because it shows that we extend our hand to accept by faith the gift that God has given us.

For instance, Paul, writing about Abraham, who lived long before Jesus came to this earth, indicates that Abraham is an example that we are saved by our faith. Paul says in Romans 4:2-3

2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3).

Thus, we can have the assurance of eternal life if we accept Jesus. When we surrender ourselves to Him, we can claim His promises, including those of a new life now in Him. And if we rely completely on His merits and not on anything we have done we are assured of eternal life.

It is said that Abraham believed in God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness; Like Abraham, this also applies to us.

This is what it means to have His name written on our foreheads or in our minds. If we have it written there now and don’t turn away from Him, then it will be written there in the new heavens and the new earth, as well.

So, by faith and our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our savior, His death is accounted to us as righteousness. And we are assured of eternal life. Have you accepted Him as your savior? If not, do it today. Extend your hand and accept by faith the gift that God has given you.  Allow His name to be written on your forehead, your mind, today so that you may be numbered with those who stand before God eternally with His name written on your forehead.

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Our next quarter series will be on Managing for the Master Until He Comes. Please Join us for this exciting new series on learning from a biblical perspective how to effectively manage the many gifts and talents that God has given us.

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