Not long ago, the idea of dying and resurrecting as yourself, but in a new and improved body, seemed a lot more magical or mysterious than it does today. Rev. 20:12 reads, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” According to Scripture, every life is recorded on books, or scrolls as the ancients would have known them. These records will be opened up at the final judgement. The idea that one’s life could be recorded in this way has been a special kind of mystery for most of time. But today, people see that process happening simply and quickly whenever they upgrade their phones.
Cloud storage makes it easy. Get a new phone with better features and longer battery life, log in, wait a few minutes, and there it is. Everything that was on the old phone gets brought over to the new model because every part of the old model was recorded and stored away in the cloud.
It will be like that for people too. The life, or soul, of each person is wirelessly recorded and stored waiting for its resurrection body. This new body will be different and improved, but the person will be the same. This is a beautiful promise and look ahead for believers whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Pastor John Riley