What Ever Happened to the Permanent Record?
What Ever Happened to the Permanent Record? by Rev. L. John Gable
May 12, 2019
I mentioned earlier that my mother, just turned 95, is here this morning, so I thought I might be safe, in the company of numbers, to confess to the time, the one and only time I might add, that I was sent to the principal’s office when I was in elementary school. I am the youngest of four and I assure you being sent to principal’s office was not part of the Gable legacy, so this was a pretty big deal. The exact nature of my infraction is a little fuzzy; I think it had something to do with my kicking Kurt Warner repeatedly in the shins during music class; but the experience of being sent to Mr. Rose’s office is indelibly etched in my memory. I am quite sure he was a very nice man, but in the eyes of a second grader, he was very intimidating. Add to that, as I recall, there was some mention of the fact that behavior such as mine might be added to my “permanent record” and the thought of that was even more terrifying than facing the ire of Mr. Rose, the disappointment of my parents or the teasing of my sisters.
The “permanent record”; is there any such thing as “permanent record” any longer? I rather doubt it and certainly the thought of it would not be intimidating at all to any student today who would have the wherewithal to have their record expunged under the Freedom of Information Act. So, whatever happened to the permanent record, much less the threat of it?
As we continue our study of the Apostles’ Creed, having navigated our way through the important affirmations of our faith, we come to some rather obscure references, not having to do with the life and ministry of Jesus, as much as what we believe about Him as the Risen Savior and Lord. Having affirmed that prior to the resurrection He “descended in to hell” and following the resurrection “He ascended to heaven where He sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty”, now we read “from thence He shall come to judge the quick (the living) and the dead.” That is a loaded statement as it leads us to confess that just as Jesus reigns as Lord, so we will also one day stand before Him as Judge, which seems to suggest that there is such a thing as a “permanent record.”
“From thence He shall come”. Just as there was a first coming, so there will be a second. In His first coming Jesus came in humility; in His second He will come with power and glory. The purpose of His first coming was to redeem and to save; the purpose of His second coming is to usher in the Kingdom of God in its fullness and to “judge the quick and the dead.” It is this latter truth that we will look at today.
There are numerous “judgment” texts in the Bible, although we often like to speed read over them, or think they do not apply to us. While each paints a slightly different picture of what that final judgment may look like, taken together they give us the assurance that there really will be one, so we would do well to be prepared for it. The text we read this morning from Revelation 20 is a portion of John’s vision of the last judgment. It is the throne scene in the Kingdom of Heaven where we are given a glimpse of the heavenly courtroom; at the center of which is a great white throne and seated on the throne is the One who will judge us, and take note, it is not any one of us who will be doing the judging, thank God, but it is God Himself, and Jesus, the Lamb who has been slain, is seated with Him as the supreme witness. Surrounding the throne are all those who are to be judged, and everyone is present: the great and small, the living and the dead, saints and sinners alike. All of humanity stands before God for judgment. This is surely an awesome and awe-inspiring sight.
According to John’s vision, the basis of the judgment is contained in two sets of books in the heavenly courtroom – the “permanent record”, if you will. The first to be opened is the book of deeds and the second is the Book of Life, also called the Lamb’s Book. The book of deeds is the record of what we have done, or left undone, the acts of kindness freely offered or restrained, the cups of cold water freely given or withheld. This is a clear reminder to us that what we do ultimately matters and matters ultimately, for on this basis we will be judged. Recall Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25, which we have carved in the chancel rail, “As you did it to the least of these you did it unto Me.” The second book is the Book of Life and here are recorded all of the names of those whom the Lamb of God has claimed as His own; those who have confessed their brokenness and sin, and acknowledged their need for a Savior. And here we see the great separation. Scripture records that those whose names are found in the Book of Life are welcomed in to God’s presence in His eternal Kingdom, and those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will suffer a “second death”, a spiritual death, the first death being physical, and so will be thrown into what John describes as “the lake of fire”. Again, the vision of this is both great and terrible, glorious and utterly terrifying.
Why, we may wonder, are their two sets of books, a double ledger, one recording our deeds; the other our relationship with Jesus Christ? Doesn’t Scripture tell us, very plainly, that we are saved not by our good works, but by God’s grace alone? Why then, two books? Why can’t God, the Great Judge, just look to see whether our names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book and be done with it?
In his book, The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren writes, “One day you will stand before God, and He will do an audit of your life, a final exam before you enter your eternity. The Bible says, “Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God…Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God.” Fortunately, God want us to pass this test, so He has given us the questions in advance. From the Bible we can surmise that God will ask us two crucial questions:
First, what did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?
Second, what did you do with what I gave you?”
The first sounds like a faith question (What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?); the second sounds like a works question (What did you do with all that I gave you?), which brings us back to the age old debate, on what is our salvation based, faith or works? It sounds like a paradox, but in reality these two questions point to the two essential responses of the Christian faith- faith AND works. It is not one or the other. It is not either/or, but both/and.
This is what Scripture consistently tells us. We are most assuredly saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, there is no other way. Grace is God’s free gift to us and it is offered to all. However, the evidence that we have received and appropriated God’s gift must be shown in the living of our lives. So we will be asked, do our lives reflect something of the grace God has freely given us? Do our works bear testimony to the values of our faith? And the answer we give to either one of these questions proves the validity of the answer we give to the other.
The paradox of the last judgment really comes down to the tension that seems to exist between the love of God and the holiness of God, both of which are essential to His character. If God is all loving and merciful some would argue then there really would be no need for a final judgment at all. He’d just wink at our sin and say, “It doesn’t really matter. Ya’ll come on in.” Which certainly would be wonderful, but it would completely obliterate the other aspect of the character of God which is His holiness. Since God is holy and righteous, He can’t just minimize our sin or say that it doesn’t matter, because it does, nothing sinful can exist in His presence. So suddenly, God’s mercy and God’s holiness seem to stand in contrast to one another, yet both are attributes of God which must be both maintained and satisfied. How does God do this? He does it by taking our sin seriously and addressing it thoroughly, once and for all, in Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. The One who judges us is also the One who made us, Who loves us, Who came to save us.
The story is told of the man who was arrested and charged with embezzlement. The day of his hearing came and he entered the courtroom in sheer terror because he knew he was guilty and deserving of punishment. However, a wave of relief came over him when he looked up to see that his very closest friend was the presiding judge. Given their friendship he knew he would get off easy, so imagine his shock when the judge, his friend, handed down the stiffest penalty possible, both repayment of the debt and prison time. The man was horrified by this seeming betrayal, until the judge, his friend, stood up from behind the bench, took off his robe, and offered both to pay the penalty and serve the time himself.
This is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. He has become “the Judge judged in our place” (Karl Barth) and in so doing He has maintained both His holiness, requiring that our sin be acknowledged and the penalty of it paid, and His mercy, offering to pay it, once and for all, Himself, on the cross of Calvary. God’s justice and mercy are not divorced from one another, nor are they in conflict with one another; rather in the final judgement they will be both satisfied and harmonized.
While it is true that our ultimate destiny is determined by God, each of us, even now, is determining that destiny for ourselves. We are making decisions, even now, in the way we live our lives and in the decisions we make for or against our need for a Savior, that have eternal consequence. We are making decisions now which reflect our desires and are preparing us either to live eternally in the presence of God in His Kingdom or in eternal separation from Him. God’s ultimate decision as to our eternal destinies will be in harmony with what each of us has willed and determined for ourselves in this life. So, what we do and decide now ultimately matters and matters ultimately.
Friends, I will admit that this is a lot for us to take in this morning. So very simply, what do we need to take away from this today?
First, one day there will be a judgment and each and every one of us will be required to stand before God to give answer for the living of our lives, of that we are assured. As the creed affirms, one day, He “will come again to judge the quick and the dead.” Beyond that, we might do well to abide by the wisdom of the early church fathers who spoke very little of the specifics of the last judgment except to stress its certainty. There is a permanent record.
Second, we will be judged by God and God alone, the One who knows us intimately, yet Who loves us still, completely and unconditionally; in this we can be assured that His judgment will be fair. Our God is passionately committed to us and Scripture is plain to tell us that God desires each and every one of us to be saved.
Finally, we will be judged on the basis of what we know and trust. It is not going to be a pop-quiz and there won’t be any trick questions. In essence, we will be asked, “What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?” and “What did you do with all that I gave you?” and we have been given a lifetime in which to prepare our answers.
And on that day, we who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who have accepted in faith what He has done for us in the sacrifice of His cross and have committed ourselves to following in His way, may in the words of the author of the book of Hebrews, “approach the throne of grace with boldness and confidence (4:16).” Yet, even in that confidence, let us also pray that when the book of deeds is opened there will be sufficient evidence to show that we have lived our lives in a manner consistent with what we say we believe.
I close with this image that I cling to. I envision that on that day I will stand before the throne of God, as will each of us, and the book of deeds will be opened and God will review all that I have done, and there, despite my best efforts and intentions, I will be found wanting and so deserving of His punishment. But then Jesus, my Savior, will come from behind me and wrap His arms around me, such that God will see me not in my sin, but instead will see me clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And on my behalf Jesus will say, “This one belongs to me.” And the Great Judge will say, “Enter in and welcome home to My eternal Kingdom” (Rev. 3:5). May it be so, and may it be so for each of us. Amen.