More about your Name
Let's explore your name a bit further. Looking at the key verse in
the right column:
And if anyone's NAME was not found WRITTEN in the BOOK OF LIFE,
We usually are given a NAME at birth by our parents. That name is
associated with our physical appearance and/or our parentage. But,
spiritually, we are named at conception. Our birth name may well be
a duplicate of someone else's name. But the names in BOOK OF LIFE
must be unique for the judgment
at the Great White Throne to be correctly meted out. Only in
recent years has science shown the uniqueness of DNA (actually DNA,
genotype
and phenotype1). Thus, I suspect, we
are known to God by our genetic structures. There are some
interesting implications to this concept.
If life begins at conception (or very shortly thereafter), then a
life taken anytime prior to the "natural" physical death of the
being is considered murder. Murderers are listed in Revelation 21:8 as
those who will take part in the LAKE OF FIRE. The spiritual part of
each NAME then also begins at conception (Luke
1:26-31-35-38 and Genesis
2:4-7-14). It will be interesting when we, believers who are
alive physically, are united with these spiritual entities who are
in heaven either through abortion, miscarriage, or some other death
prior to the 'age of accountability', whether we will even recognize
them as such. It makes one ponder what the real spiritual part of
oneself truly is.
If the spiritual entity has reached the 'age of accountability',
then it is by their individual choice to NOT believe on Jesus Christ
that will force Jesus to remove their NAME (Revelation 3:5) from
the BOOK OF LIFE. Knowing that the LAKE OF FIRE is not a fun place
to be (for an eternity no less), a person MUST consider
choosing to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior as the
better alternative.
he was THROWN into the LAKE OF FIRE.
This judgment's destination is not an option. All options these
unbelievers had are long gone. The use of 'THROWN' indicates this is
a permanent removal from earth and permanent residence in the LAKE
OF FIRE. You may have heard people flippantly remark, "But I'll have
lots of friends there" as though that will be a comfort. The LAKE OF
FIRE holds no friends; it holds individuals whose NAMES are NOT in
the BOOK OF LIFE along with the devil (verse 10), the
antiChrist (Revelation
19:20), the False Prophet (Revelation 19:20),
all evil (demons, DEATH, and HADES in Revelation 20:14).
1 Lewontin, Richard, "The
Genotype/Phenotype Distinction", The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (Spring 2004 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)