Mount Doom! The choice!

 

I love the books by JRR Tolkien centered around the hobbits. In the last of that series, Frodo has a simple last decision to make. Does he destroy the ring and the evil that goes with it or does he keep the ring for himself. He chooses to destroy the ring in the fires of Mount Doom. But that is not the end. As Frodo and Sam leave Mount Doom completely spent from the battle, they are rescued. We next see them peacefully reunited with their fellowship. Life in middle earth returns to normal and peace is restored forever. 

The ending of the Lord of the Rings parallels the end of the book of Revelation. Evil is defeated by a simple hobbit. Sam and Frodo have traveled through many trials to get to the point where the ring is destroyed in the lake of fire! Thus is the similar last scene in the book of Revelation. Revelation 20 is the climax of the story of this final book of the Bible. After living through many trials, prosecution, and tribulation. with only one angel, God defeats Satan and his massive army. They are thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented forever. 

"Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. " (Revelation 20:10-15)

This is the main point of this book. This is the message of Jesus sent to John to be shared with you and me. God will defeat evil and we will be judged. We have a choice to make. Do we choose God or choose man? We have not done enough to save ourselves. For those that have repented of their sins and choose Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they will be saved from eternal torment in the lake of fire. Our lives will be found in the Book of Life. Does our life show proof of our faith in Jesus? Is there evidence of our faith?

In Genesis man fell from grace because he chose his own path instead of God's. In the end man must choose who he will follow. There is no middle ground. There is no third choice. We either choose God or we choose man. If we choose man our names will NOT be written in the book of life our deeds will not show devotion to Jesus. If we choose Jesus, we will live. It is that simple. 

If we choose God, we can read of our final destination by continuing to read Revelations chapter 21 and 22. If we choose man, we might was well stop reading right here because we will not experience the peaceful eternity mentioned in the following pages. If we choose God, like Frodo, we will be reunited with our Christian brothers and sisters. We will live and reign with Christ forever. We have not experienced that kind of joy and peace. It will be amazing!