HAVING HIS NAME ON OUR FOREHEADS
They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. Rev. 22:4, R.S.V.
The hope of the Christian is the second coming of Christ. It will be a time of rejoicing, for all the sorrows of this life will come to an end. We will never again be sick, or die, or be separated from our loved ones. We won't get weary, or confused, or have our houses repossessed. And our souls will no longer be in jeopardy--that is, we won't have to worry anymore about whether or not we will be saved.
Friends, if we think the matter of being saved is risky business, we have a problem that the Second Coming is not going to solve. If, in our thinking, being sin-free is in the same category as being sick-free and mortgage-free, our understanding of the sin problem needs updating. Being sin-free is not ensured by the fact that there is nothing around left to tempt us; it is the condition of the heart that no longer retains any doubts as to God's character.
Our text today describes the redeemed: "They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." What does "his name shall be on their foreheads" mean? May I suggest that God shall be the center of our thoughts? And this begins now, this side of the kingdom. Our focus will shift from thoughts of "getting saved" to God Himself. And since God is life, we cannot help but live when we accept the Life-giver. Our present mortality is no indication that eternal life has not begun for us. That vital connection that makes us immune from the second death (the first death is only a sleep) has already been established.
The second coming of Christ is an event that makes visible the already factual union of God and His people. In heaven we will no longer be sick because we will have been removed from this ecologically imbalanced planet. We will be mortgage-free because mortgages will have ceased to exist. But we will be sin-free because the great controversy over the truth of who God is will have already ended in our hearts.
It will be wonderful to see God face-to-face. But we may "see" Him even now through His Written Word. We may now be totally sure of who He is, and our lives are thus forever secure in Him.
They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. Rev. 22:4, R.S.V.
The hope of the Christian is the second coming of Christ. It will be a time of rejoicing, for all the sorrows of this life will come to an end. We will never again be sick, or die, or be separated from our loved ones. We won't get weary, or confused, or have our houses repossessed. And our souls will no longer be in jeopardy--that is, we won't have to worry anymore about whether or not we will be saved.
Friends, if we think the matter of being saved is risky business, we have a problem that the Second Coming is not going to solve. If, in our thinking, being sin-free is in the same category as being sick-free and mortgage-free, our understanding of the sin problem needs updating. Being sin-free is not ensured by the fact that there is nothing around left to tempt us; it is the condition of the heart that no longer retains any doubts as to God's character.
Our text today describes the redeemed: "They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." What does "his name shall be on their foreheads" mean? May I suggest that God shall be the center of our thoughts? And this begins now, this side of the kingdom. Our focus will shift from thoughts of "getting saved" to God Himself. And since God is life, we cannot help but live when we accept the Life-giver. Our present mortality is no indication that eternal life has not begun for us. That vital connection that makes us immune from the second death (the first death is only a sleep) has already been established.
The second coming of Christ is an event that makes visible the already factual union of God and His people. In heaven we will no longer be sick because we will have been removed from this ecologically imbalanced planet. We will be mortgage-free because mortgages will have ceased to exist. But we will be sin-free because the great controversy over the truth of who God is will have already ended in our hearts.
It will be wonderful to see God face-to-face. But we may "see" Him even now through His Written Word. We may now be totally sure of who He is, and our lives are thus forever secure in Him.
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