RESPECTING OUR FREEDOM
If anyone declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven. But if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven. Matt. 10:32, 33, T.E.V.
Her eyes were wide and her voice was tense. "I wonder," she said, "what will be my destiny when my name comes up in the heavenly judgment? Will God declare me saved or lost?"
This young woman shared a widely held dread of the judgment, based on the assumption that the issues center on what God thinks about us. In her mind, she imagined scenes of God leafing through the books of record, as though to refresh His memory about her life's patterns. Perhaps He even keeps score in a small notebook. At some point, she feared, God will tally the score and make a decision about her. Her eternal destiny will be based on which way He votes: life, or death.
But Jesus' words suggest a distinctly different approach. He sets the focus, not around God's decision about us, but around our decision about God in Jesus Christ. Because heaven is rooted in reality, it can only acknowledge what we have in fact decided here on earth. Jesus simply states that He will be delighted to claim anyone who has claimed Him. Before the Father and all the interested angels (see Luke 12:8, 9), Jesus will announce that mutual friendship is there! On the other hand, because He does not force our free choices, when someone disowns Him before the world He will sadly have to report that no relationship exists between Himself and that person.
True, books of record are kept in the heavenly courts; but their purpose is not to enable God to make up His mind about His people, for "the Lord knows those who are his" (2 Tim. 2:19, T.E.V.). These records are kept to verify that God has nothing to hide. He is willing to open before the whole universe the life records of anyone, lost or saved. He does not need to erase the record of failures among those who are saved. Books of record prove that when God announces that certain people are ready for eternal life, it can be backed up by evidence.
Rather than us standing before God in puzzled anxiety, God is looking toward us with eager anticipation saying, "Won't you choose me?"
If anyone declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven. But if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven. Matt. 10:32, 33, T.E.V.
Her eyes were wide and her voice was tense. "I wonder," she said, "what will be my destiny when my name comes up in the heavenly judgment? Will God declare me saved or lost?"
This young woman shared a widely held dread of the judgment, based on the assumption that the issues center on what God thinks about us. In her mind, she imagined scenes of God leafing through the books of record, as though to refresh His memory about her life's patterns. Perhaps He even keeps score in a small notebook. At some point, she feared, God will tally the score and make a decision about her. Her eternal destiny will be based on which way He votes: life, or death.
But Jesus' words suggest a distinctly different approach. He sets the focus, not around God's decision about us, but around our decision about God in Jesus Christ. Because heaven is rooted in reality, it can only acknowledge what we have in fact decided here on earth. Jesus simply states that He will be delighted to claim anyone who has claimed Him. Before the Father and all the interested angels (see Luke 12:8, 9), Jesus will announce that mutual friendship is there! On the other hand, because He does not force our free choices, when someone disowns Him before the world He will sadly have to report that no relationship exists between Himself and that person.
True, books of record are kept in the heavenly courts; but their purpose is not to enable God to make up His mind about His people, for "the Lord knows those who are his" (2 Tim. 2:19, T.E.V.). These records are kept to verify that God has nothing to hide. He is willing to open before the whole universe the life records of anyone, lost or saved. He does not need to erase the record of failures among those who are saved. Books of record prove that when God announces that certain people are ready for eternal life, it can be backed up by evidence.
Rather than us standing before God in puzzled anxiety, God is looking toward us with eager anticipation saying, "Won't you choose me?"
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