12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
In this age of encryption and worldwide satellite tracking of package delivery, this verse seems way ahead of its time. Here John is given a glimpse of what awaits those who overcome the trials of this life. We become residents of God’s residence. And to prove that we are residents we are given three identification markings. We get three new names written on us, just in case there is ever a doubt about our belonging there. All three have to be present and all three must be correct. We get an encrypted ownership tag. The three names show whose we are, where we live and who bought our entrance. We belong to God Himself. His is the first name written on our hearts. This gets cross-matched with the place where we live. We are God’s and we get the privilege of living in His city. The third name written on us shows how WE were able to gain access to heaven. Jesus will write His new name on us. We don’t know what this new name is until we arrive in heaven. That way we can’t get it tattooed on us prior to our arrival! Since none of us deserves heaven, having Jesus’ new name on us shows that we know we shouldn’t be there, but that Jesus made it possible for us to be there. Did you notice that this encryption system follows the pattern of the Old Testament which states that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter will be established? It is as though our face imprint is matched to our finger print and retinal scan. Without all three matching, we don’t get entrance. Notice also that they are written on us. There is no possibility of us loosing or misplacing them. Heaven will be our permanent residence. We will continue to enjoy the benefits of God’s presence throughout eternity.
The Arnold Journey 