The Heavenly Manifest by Lawrence Darmani

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November 30, 2015

Luke 10:17-24

Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Luke 10:20

At the Kenya Airways check-in counter, I presented my passport for verification. When the agents searched for my name on their manifest—the document that lists names of passengers—my name was missing. The problem? Overbooking and lack of confirmation. My hope of reaching home that day was shattered.

The episode reminded me of another kind of manifest—the Book of Life. In Luke 10, Jesus sent His disciples on an evangelistic mission. On their return, they happily reported their success. But Jesus told them: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (v. 20). The focus of our joy is not merely that we are successful but that our names are inscribed in God’s book.

But how can we be sure of that? God’s Word tells us, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).

In Revelation 21, John makes a breathtaking description of the Holy City that awaits those who trust Christ. Then he writes, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (v. 27).

The Book of Life is God’s heavenly manifest. Is your name written in it?

Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of Your Son, who promised to prepare a place for us. Thank You too, that You are preparing us for that place.

God opens the gates of heaven to those who open their hearts to Him.

Insight.
Two important concepts appear in today’s passage: Jesus is the one who gives us the authority to carry on His work on earth, and God is the one who writes our names “in heaven” (v. 20). Notice that in both cases it is not our doing but God’s. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace; our part is to accept this gift. J.R. Hudberg

Bible in a year.
Ezekiel 37–39; 2 Peter 2