Book of Life:

Revelation 17:8

8     “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

     

            This verse says that our names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. We’re not going to debate predestination; that is, God decided who would get saved and who wouldn’t with us not having a free will to choose or refuse. We will just say that God knew from before the foundation of the world who it was that would accept His Son as Savior. So He wrote down the names from the beginning. He wasn’t waiting for us to get good enough and then write down our names. You can’t. That’s why it took the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus, to save us. He was confident that we would accept Jesus as our Savior; so He wrote down our names.     

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I knew that I wanted you from the beginning. I wanted you so much that I wrote your name in My book of life. It was because I knew you would love Me and want to be with Me forever.”           

            5. My name was written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world. Therefore, I am confident that one day I will be with Him.

Eternal Life:

            He promised:

John 3:15-16

15     so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

     16     “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

     

1 John 2:25

25     This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

     

            God made a promise to us … eternal life. What does it mean when someone promises us something? It means that we can count on them to not take it back – to do all that they can to make it happen. Since it is God that made us the promise, we can be assured that it will happen. When we believe in His Son Jesus, we will not perish. Isn’t that great? He didn’t say that we had to get good enough. We don’t have to do a bunch of good works. What we have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if we believe in Him, we should be doing good works … but not to obtain eternal life. We should have a holy lifestyle … but not to obtain eternal life. How do we know He will give us eternal life? Since God is not a man that He should lie (in fact He cannot lie), we can trust Him to keep His word.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            “I have promised this to you, My child. There is nothing that I would desire more than to have you with Me forever. In My love for you, I sent My Son that He might die for you so that you might live forever.”

            4. I have eternal life, which God promised me long ago.

Gifts and calling:

Romans 11:29

29     for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

     

            God is not going to change His mind and say, “Oops, look what they did. I shouldn’t have called him/her. I guess I better take it back.”  Salvation’s not based on our merits … on what we’ve done for Him, or how good we have behaved. It’s all based on His choice by His grace through the blood of Jesus on the cross. The same goes for the gifts He gives us. We don’t have to hold our breath hoping He won’t reconsider His calling of us or His giving gifts to us.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            “When I called you, it wasn’t for just a lifetime. It was forever. I will never change My mind about you. I want you to be with Me and to know Me from now on throughout eternity.”

            3. God has called me, and He will never change His mind. He has given me gifts, and He will never take them back.

Chapter 1

Salvation

            The first area we want to look at in conjunction with our destiny is that of salvation. Were we destined to be saved or was it some “luck of the draw”? What was necessary for us to become saved? Can we be certain it won’t be taken away from us? Is it just while we’re here on earth, or is it forever? What was our part, and what part was destined to happen no matter what?

We are Called/Chosen:

            Brought near:

Ephesians 2:13

13     But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

     

            Before we accept Christ as our Savior, we are all far off from God. Whether we are “good” as far as others were concerned or “bad”, it doesn’t matter. We all need Jesus. After I asked Jesus to come in and take control of my life, I called a friend in another state to tell her that I had become a Christian. She said, “I thought you already were.” Even though to her I was near to God, in reality, I was as far away as someone that you would consider to be the worst sinner in the world.

            We all need God in our lives regardless of our past. Even though Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees, he still considered himself the chief of all sinners. All his life, he did his best to obey the Law. It wasn’t good enough. He still needed the personal relationship with Christ.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            “My children, I have chosen you from before the beginning of time. I knew you before the world began. I saw what would be in your heart; how that you would have a desire to know Me. I drew you unto Me and brought you into My family.”

            2. I am no longer far off from God, because I have been brought near to Him through the blood of Jesus.