The Grade Book

“I further saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book too was opened, that of life, and the dead were judged according to their conduct from the entries in the books.” Revelation 20:12

Every schoolteacher has one. Every student knows about it. It contains record of the entire semester’s conduct for each student. Some students can’t wait to see what scores are hidden it its pages. Other students wish the book did not exist at all. But, no matter the student’s desire or belief system, the grade book exists. There will be an evaluation come the end of the semester.

There will also be an evaluation at the end of time. Everyone, “great and small” will stand before God’s throne. This verse describes the book of life being opened and then the dead being judged “according to their conduct from the entries in the books.”

A quick doctrinal note: We are saved, always and only by grace, through faith in Jesus’ forgiveness on the cross. But the Scriptures also speak clearly about rewards and our lives coming under scrutiny by God. If I were writing a commentary, I would examine this verse more diligently, reconciling the grace by which we are saved and the rewards by which we are judged. For now, though, I simply am thinking about the idea that ALL will face God, one way or another.

What we do in this life matters. It matters here, for certain. But, if that is not enough to make us sit up and take notice, it matters to God. There will be no difference when the grades are posted at the end of the semester. Rich and poor are measured by the same standard. Great and small face the same questions, and are required the same answers.

Though a student may try to appeal his grade, there is no such appeal in heaven. “I did turn in that paper, Mr. Phillips. I swear I did. I remember.” Mr. Phillips can either accept the student’s plea, give the student the chance to rewrite the paper, or disbelieve the student, giving him the zero.

But no such appeal can be brought to God. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows our dogs and He knows our homework. He knows who ate what! God will open His grade book and there will be no excuses, no claims of misplaced papers, and no request to retake the final exam.

But here is the amazing thing. God desires that we all pass. Most teachers hope that every student passes as well. In fact, the ones most likely to fail are the ones the teacher would rather not have in their classroom again. God wants every name in His book to shine as each every person was Valedictorian.

God is on our side in this business of judgment. God is the One who paid our tuition to be in Kingdom University in the first place. He is the One who gave us the Holy Spirit to tutor us through each and every test along the way. He makes every single test open Book, directing us to the text He Himself has provided.

The best teachers I had were the ones who inspired me to do my best. It really didn’t matter their testing method. It didn’t matter if they weighted homework more than exams, if they used pass/fail instead of letter grades, or if they let me grade myself. If I knew the teacher was directly invested in my success, I wanted to do as well in that class as possible.

God is invested in our success. He created us; we each carry His image in us as the pinnacle of His creation. When we marred His masterpiece by sinning, taking our own ways instead of His, He took the penalty upon Himself. We should have flunked. Instead, He replaced our failing grade with straight As when Jesus died upon the cross. The forgiveness we received was the same as putting us at the top of the class.

It is hard to understand, then, how we take His love for granted. It is a sad commentary that offering Him a nod on Sunday, hoping our children grow up to refrain from swearing and drinking, and memorizing a handful of selected Scriptures is our idea of an acceptable response to such outstanding love!

What will be my response when the book is opened? Before the throne, when all eternity is gathered up into a single moment, will my lackluster enthusiasm really stand out as A+ work? Why do I settle? Why do I merely want to “pass”? Why is most of my Christian life spent doing just enough to make sure I don’t flunk out of heaven?

There is a book, and I am being graded. That really shouldn’t scare us. Even though we might fear what the teacher’s grade book on the desk reveals, we all know it is a pretty fair evaluation of where we stand in the course. How much more with God’s Book of Life? He does not want us to fear, but He does want us to know we will be evaluated.

To change the metaphor for a moment, I want to finish the race, and I want to win. I do want to be Valedictorian. And, in the Kingdom of God, that is actually possible for each of us. We are all given the same Spirit, baptized into the same Body of Christ, have the same Heavenly Father who urges us on. Why would we ever give half our effort to the God Who has given everything to us?