"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Revelation 20:12-15
This is part of some pretty dramatic chapters about the end of the world/millenium, and this is the judgement day part where death and hell are done away with, along with the other bad characters--satan, the beast, and the false prophet--and the world is prepared to become something better.
I think what I like most about these verses isn't the triumph of life over death, though that is huge and amazing, but the whole book of life idea. Thinking about it, I mean Christ doesn't even have to do the ceremony here... it could be just be a gate, and you either reach the escalator or drop through a trap door on the way. He could also just swipe left for Hell or right for Heaven, or nothing at all, and we just find ourselves in our new digs... good or bad.
To me, the significance of the book is that God is showing us that he isn't judging any of us arbitrarily, but by specific standards which he has given us and which we know. We all have a chance to make it into the book of life... in fact, we are writing those words with our lives. Today, let's make the choices that will get us into the book, judging ourselves first and making changes accordingly so that the later judgement can be filled with mercy.
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