◄ What Does Revelation 13:8 Mean? ►

The gospel of grace is so simple that a little child can understand that God sent His dearly beloved Son, to die in our place - to be the propitiation for our sin, and to take upon Himself the punishment that we alone deserve. Yet the gospel of grace is so unfathomable that it staggers the minds of men and angels - that God should send His only begotten Son to die for the sin of a world, at enmity with Himself - so that all who believe in His finished work at Calvary's Cross would be saved, and become be His adoptive sons, and heirs of His kingdom. From Genesis to Revelation God's unfathomably simple plan is gradually opened-up to our greater understanding and our eternal wonderment.

The crucifixion did not take God by surprise, when His chosen people crucified the Lord of Glory, and the Gentile authorities willingly participated in man's cruel plan. In the council chamber of heaven, God in His great wisdom and eternal omniscience, foreordained from the foundation of the world, that His dearly beloved Son would be the perfect Sacrifice for the sins of humanity. And so we read that the Word, Who was destined to be the Lamb of God, was made flesh... and was slain from the foundation of the world, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have their names written in the Lamb's book of life. However, the sober truth is that whoever does not believe in Him, is already condemned.

The human race fell into sin, when that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, tempted man to transgress. However, the price for sin could only be paid for by the shed blood of the innocent Lamb of God. He was the only acceptable sacrifice for humanity's sin and all who trust in Him for salvation, have their names permanently recorded in the Lamb's book of life.

But the enemy of our soul determined to deceive humanity's rebellious race, into rejecting the true and living God. The book of Revelation tells us that through false signs and lying wonders the seed of the serpent, who will come as the 'anti-christ' and the 'beast', will cause many men to follow after a satanic lie - and they will worship the beast instead of the one and only Creator of heaven and earth.

Indeed, all that dwell upon the earth will wonder after the beast and worship him. He will lure many away from their only hope of salvation, which is through faith in the shed blood of Christ Jesus - the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. The whole world will wonder after the satanically inspired beast, and except for those whose names are recorded in the Lamb's book of life by faith, they will discover themselves to be part of a lost, deceived, unbelieving humanity - and will face eternal separation from the God Who made them.

God in His omniscience knew in advance of man's terrible fall into sin, and determined from the foundation of the world, to save mankind, by grace through faith in the sacrificial death of His dearly beloved Son - Jesus Christ the righteous. Jesus was not literally crucified at the foundation of the world, but God's plans and purposes dictated from that point, Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, as laid out in Scripture, would be the only acceptable sacrifice for sin. This directive is so firmly established that it can never be changed.

Praise God, that the Lamb, Who was slain from the foundation of the world, fulfilled God's redemptive act on Calvary's cross, and our names are already written in the Lamb's book of life. May we accept this simple, biblical truth of God's Word, with trusting, childlike faith. However, those who deny His name will not have their names written in the book of Life - their names will be blotted out of His book because they have not believed in His only begotten Son - and will face eternal separation from their Creator God. 

Let us search out and rejoice in the unfathomable treasures of God's Word, which are hidden within the pages of Scripture. And let us seek to tell a lost world that forgiveness of sin and the salvation of their soul is available to ALL who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Loving Father, thank You for the simplicity of the gospel of grace and for dying for me, to pay the price for my sins. I pray that you will open the eyes of my understanding to the deeper truths contained in Your Word, and that I will come to know You more each day. I pray that the eyes of many, who have been deceived by Satan's lies, will come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.