Lamb’s Book of Life
We read of a time in the 10th chapter of Luke when the Lord sent out seventy disciples beside the twelve apostles to teach and preach in the cities of Judea. When they returned, they were rejoicing because the devils were subject unto them through the Lord’s name. Among the things the Lord told them after their return was, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” Among the lessons this teaches us are:
A. There are those whose names are written in heaven.
B. To have one’s name written in heaven is a cause of great rejoicing.
Next, we may ask ourselves when were those names written in heaven? The answer to this question is found in Rev. 13:8 and Rev. 17:8 as follows:
A. Rev. 13:8 ‑ “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
B. Rev. 17:8 ‑ “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not;…and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world…” Thus, we may conclude that there are those whose names were not written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world, which in turn, infers there are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world. Since the Lord (Lamb of God) in covenant stood slain from the foundation of the world, then those who were chosen in Christ (Eph. 1:4) had their names in covenant written in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world.
Furthermore, we now consider some of the blessings that are specifically tied to the Lamb’s book of life:
A. Luke 10:20 teaches us it is a cause to rejoice.
B. Since the Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), then having ones name written in the Lamb’s book of life is tantamount to having ones sins taken away.
C. According to Rev. 20:15 having one’s name written in the Lamb’s book of life exempts one from being cast into the lake of fire (“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”).
D. According to Rev. 21:27 having one’s name written in the Lamb’s book of life enables one to enter into the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God.
E. We read in Heb. 9:15‑17, “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the
testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” The Lamb’s book of life is the Lord’s testament. The Lord is both the testator and the mediator. Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life are the heirs. When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross as the “Lamb of God” then the testament came of force and those whose names were written therein became the legal heirs of the testator (Jesus Christ). Just as a person on earth may leave a “last will and testament” once that person dies his testament comes of force. It should be remembered names cannot be written into a testament AFTER it comes in force. In addition, once the testament is in force names cannot be stricken from the testament.
All whose names are there at the time the testament comes in force are the legal heirs and that inheritance becomes sure to them.
Certainly, the above are powerful blessings to having one’s name written in the Lamb’s book of life. How can you or I be assured that our names are written therein? Paul wrote in Phil. 4:3, “And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of life.” Now was Paul given an opportunity to look into the Lamb’s book of life and see that those he mentioned were written in the book? Of course not! Paul knew their names were written therein because of the evidence. He could see by the evidences of their labors that they were children of God and therefore had their names written in heaven. When God grants us to see the evidence in our own labors that we are children of God then we can have the same assurance and confidence that our names are written in heaven.
Finally, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life are the same ones whom God foreknew in the covenant of redemption because the ones he foreknew are the ones that are ultimately the heirs of glory. Next, we will consider God’s elect in light of the bible teaching of the “seed of Abraham.”