In the year 2023 in Singapore, there were 33,541 babies born. In the midst of welcoming their child into the world, parents would also have to remember to register their child’s birth with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority via the LifeSG app within 42 days of the child’s birth. Birth registration is important as it unlocks doors of opportunity: without registering the birth, the parents cannot apply for the government’s “Baby Bonus Scheme”, nor will the child be able to access education and healthcare services. Without registering the birth, there is no birth certificate number, and it would be as if the child did not exist, from a bureaucratic standpoint. If there is no registry of births, the government would find it difficult to properly provide services to its citizens, for it would be challenging to keep track of them.
Did you know that God has a “Registry of Births” too? King David wrote in Psalm 139 that even while he was yet unborn in his mother’s womb, God was forming him, and that all of David’s days were being recorded in God’s book (Psalm 139:13-16). God knows and sees every single child, and none of them are overlooked. God even knows how many hairs we have on our heads (Luke 12:7). Do you ever feel insignificant? Ignored? Irrelevant? God loves you and He cares for you – so much so that He wrote your name in His “Registry of Births”.
God also has a “Registry of New Births”. Our “new birth” takes place when we are “born again” by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever (1 Peter 1:23). When we hear God’s word and believe in it (Romans 10:17), and when we obey its instructions to repent of our sins (Luke 13:3, 5), and when we confess (acknowledge) the authority and deity of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10), and when we are baptized (immersed) in water for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16) – then we are a “new creation” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). At the point of our baptism, God adds us to the church (Acts 2:47) and into His “Registry of New Births” – His “book of life” (cf. Philippians 4:3).
Brethren, our names cannot be removed from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s Registry of Births, but our names can be removed from God’s “Registry of New Births” – His “book of life”. The Christian who gives up on the Christian race will have his name blotted out of the book of life (Revelation 3:5). The Christian who returns to the ways of the world to escape persecution and trials will have his name blotted out of the book of life (Revelation 13:8). The Christian who mishandles God’s word by adding to, or subtracting from it, will have his name blotted out of the book of life (Revelation 22:18-19).
Brethren, it is a terrifying thought that we will all, small and great, stand before God in judgment one day, to be judged according to our works (2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:12). Let us strive to do His will each and every day, so that we can have the confidence that we are in His “Registry of New Births” – the “book of life”.
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