August 24: CHRIST’S IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:1

On the heels of being shown the scenes of deception upon the earth in chapter 13, John the Revelator is shown a heavenly scene, a flash forward into the future of a special group who were still living all the way up to the Savior’s second appearance. This group is mentioned earlier in chapter 7. Let’s peer into the heavenly identification system of those who not only carried the message of God’s final warning to the world, but lived through the final dark days that Jesus described when He said: “the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).

John describes these followers of Jesus who go through a terrible time of trouble and fierce persecution. In today’s opening verse, they are seen standing with Jesus on Mount Zion in heaven. Notice that they have the Father’s name written on their foreheads. This is more than a biometric system of facial recognition or a RFID chip implanted behind the eyebrow. In the Bible, to have a certain name is a reference to character. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver or gold (Proverbs 22:1). These Christ followers are described as having God’s character, which is found in His law: “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:33; see also Hebrews 8:10; 10:16)

Earlier in Revelation, we read of God’s seal. An angel, having the seal of the living God . . . is saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (7:2,3). In direct contrast with the mark that is mentioned in 13:16, the seal is found in the heart of God’s law, in the fourth commandment (the Sabbath commandment) which contains the three elements of a seal. The purpose of a seal is to identify the Authority behind the law. And what are the three elements of a seal? Name, Title, and Territory. Now is a good time to revisit the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). When you get to the commandment that begins with the word “Remember…” (vv.8-11) see if you can find the three elements of the seal of the living God. Submission to the authority of God is the first step to the character transformation so desperately needed by all of us in the wake of sixty centuries of worldly corruption. Your character transformation—God writing His law on your heart—is called sanctification, and happens if you are willing to receive Christ’s imparted righteousness.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26-27