Is it Just a Chip or The Mark of the Beast

 Have you noticed? Our culture--and especially our children’s generation, has been inundated with lightning fast changes in technology. I mean, just look at what’s happened in the last twenty years.

Personal computers, small enough to fit in your lap, cell phones that take pictures, blackberries, the Bluetooth, the MP-3 player, the DVD, debit cards—you name it, and it puts the world at our fingertips in the blink of an eye. We love it—we love the convenience, the ease, and the speed.

Unlike my generation, who has had to read instruction books or take classes to understand the new electronic jargon, for my children’s generation it’s just another facet of daily life. We’ve now come to expect bigger, better things electronically. And we’ve become comfortable using them.

So why not a simple ID chip under the skin? It’s a no-brainer, right? A personal identification chip would prevent identity theft, which is a huge problem in our culture today. People who don’t want to work can steal junk mail from our mailboxes and sign up for credit cards in our names without thinking twice about it. So why not an ID chip under the skin?

Because the Bible says that mark will forever separate us from God. What may seem like a logical thing to do will, in the end, cost us everything. The ID chip, unlike other electronic gadgetry, isn’t just a cashless way to buy things. It isn’t just a way to identify the dead without DNA tests. Rather, it’s a literal, spiritual mark that will seal our choice, our destiny—forever.

Unlike things electronic, the Bible has been around for thousands of years, the top selling book of all times. And the Bible, the Word of God, has something important to say about the identity chip.

Revelation 14:6-11 says: “And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water. And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wind of the passion of her immorality. And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If any one worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he also will drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

Revelation 18:19-20 says: “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war upon Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.”

This might not make much sense to an entire culture that has lost touch with the God of the Bible. But let me say this—just because some say God is dead or doesn’t exist at all—doesn’t make it so.

God is real and alive whether you believe it or not. The Book of Genesis says He created the sun, moon and stars. He created every human being, and knows the numbers of hairs on our heads, and He cares about us. He bottles our tears and sympathizes when we suffer. The Bible says He sees when a bird falls from its nest. He is still alive and active in the world today.

 In fact, if you read the Bible, you will find in Psalm 139 that He knew you before you were born; He designed you exactly the way you are, for a specific purpose, to glorify God.

Perhaps this concept is foreign to you. I mean, Darwin said we originated from apes, right? Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood have made abortion commonplace, making humans no more than dime-a-dozen disposable entities. People kill each other in the streets for high-priced athletic shoes. Life isn’t “worth a plug nickel anymore,” is it?

Well, the truth is very different from what many of us may believe. Here’s a short but vital crash course on what God says is truth. God says each of us is priceless, and He purchased our salvation with the blood of His Son, Jesus.

scripture says Jesus is coming soon. I Thessalonians 5:2-3: “The day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.” There will be no warning before Jesus comes, so let me help you prepare yourself. Here’s the reality.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He created Adam and Eve to be His companions, and He loved them. Let me say that again. He loved them. The God who had created everything, the earth, the sea and the sky, actually loved and cherished His creation--human beings--you and me.

He created the Garden of Eden and filled it with incredible things, and gave Adam the job of naming the animals. He walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evenings—their intimate companion and confidante. He also told them they could eat anything they wanted in the garden, except for the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The choices were endless, but as you may have heard, that was not enough, and they ate of the forbidden tree.

Afterward, they knew instantly that they had disobeyed God’s command, but not only that—now they knew that they were naked and vulnerable, and they were afraid.

But God, who had (incredibly) given them the choice to obey or disobey, made another way, killing animals and covering His beloved children with the animal skins.

But nothing was ever the same. The Garden of Eden also held the Tree of Life, and if a man ate of it, he would live forever. Because God knew that in man’s fallen state, living forever wasn’t a good thing, He sent Adam and Eve from the Garden and stationed an angel with a flaming sword to prevent anyone ever returning.

 And life went on. But now sin had entered the world, and everyone who was born after Adam, was tainted by his choice. We were sinners from birth, according to God’s Word. Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.”

But God loved us and wanted fellowship with us. Do you grasp what this means? We aren’t just disposable entities. We are everlastingsouls that once alive, will never die. And God loves us. Because He hasn’t stopped wanting fellowship with us, He once again stepped in and made a way of escape.

The advent of sin produced a need for a sacrifice to restore mankind to relationship with God. In Adam’s time, God killed animals and shed the blood. Later, His chosen people, the Israelites had to sacrifice animals and spread the blood over the altar to cover their sins.

Then Jesus came and took the place of those sacrificial animals, giving His life as the Lamb of God, the one final and perfect sacrifice for all mankind—that’s you and me, folks.

Just because the word “sin” has been erased from our collective consciousness doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.In fact,God says there is an absolute standard of right and wrong, and those who don’t believe will not escape its consequences. John 3:16-19 says this: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.”

In fact, the Bible says Jesus is coming soon, but this time, instead of coming as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, He will come as a Judge, who will separate those who are His, from those who have rejected His sacrificial gift of salvation.

“Salvation?” Have you heard that word before? It’s not a term commonly heard today either, but I hope you hear it now, because without it, you and I are hopelessly lost, destined to be eternally separated from God.

What about heaven? According to Oprah et al, everyone will go there no matter what they’ve done in their lifetimes. But that’s not what the Bible says. Heaven isn’t just some pie-in-the-sky place where everyone goes when they die. Heaven is a place God prepared for those who love and serve Him. Those who refuse His sacrificial gift of Jesus’ blood covering for sins will not go there, but will be judged to have gone their own way, and be blocked from the door of heaven, consigned to the only other place prepared for those whose bodies have died, but whose souls will never die.

They will go to hell. If you’ve ever seen a horror movie with pictures of the “undead,” it’s not just science fiction. Hell is filled with these dreadful creatures, fallen angels, now called demons, who hate humans because they are made in the image of God. Hell is a place of eternal torment that human beings choose of their own accord by default when they reject the gift of salvation.

I know if this is new to you, you may feel inclined to doubt the awful reality of it all. But I warn you. Just because you don’t face a problem doesn’t mean it will go away. This one won’t go away. In fact, the truth will haunt you forever in hell, once you realize you threw away the only chance you had to choose to serve the Creator, God, who loved you and bought you back from the clutches of sin and hell.

To sum it all up--the identity chip isn’t just some electronic means of purchasing goods and services, but rather it will bring eternal judgment to those who choose it. And the thing is, it will be tough not to let yourself be marked, because it will limit your ability to buy and sell or to pay your bills.

Only those who love Jesus Christ and are sold out in love for God will be able to withstand the pressure to conform. Living without God will make impossible to make it on our own without the identity chip.

That’s the crash course. Now it’s time for the test--a single but all-important question: Now that you know the truth, what will you do with it? Here’s what you must do.

Study the Bible, the inspired Word of God, to find out if what I’ve said is true. Search the src
iptures and ask God to reveal Himself to you. He promises to reveal Himself to those who seek Him. Then get to know this incredible God who loves you and has an amazing plan for your life. I promise you will never be the same again.

The whole thing begins and ends with God. Either with--or without Him. Which of these desrc
iptions fits your eternity? I challenge you to seek the truth of God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength before it’s too late, because once you die or Jesus comes, it will forever be too late…