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The Scriptures teach that every word we speak and every choice we make are infallibly recorded in "heavenly scrolls," and one day these scrolls will be opened as a testimony about what we did with our lives: "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; His throne was ablaze with fire and its wheels were all aflame. A river of fire was streaming forth and proceeding from his presence; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened...." (Dan. 7:9-10). This vision is repeated in the New Testament writings as well: "And I saw the dead, both the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book (סֵפֶר אַחֵר) was opened, which is called the Book of Life (סֵפֶר הַחַיִּים). And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done" (Rev. 20:12). The Greek word for truth is "aletheia" (ἀλήθεια), a word that means revelation and disclosure. Truth is inevitable and invincible; all that is covered up will be revealed; all that is hidden will be made known (Luke 12:2).
כִּי אֶת־כָּל־מַעֲשֶׂה הָאֱלהִים
יָבִא בְמִשְׁפָּט עַל כָּל־נֶעְלָם
אִם־טוֹב וְאִם־רָע
kee · et-kohl-ma·a·seh · ha·e·loh·heem
yah·vee · ve·meesh·pat · al · kohl-ne·e-lahm
eem-tohv · ve-eem-rah
"For God shall bring every work
into the judgment concerning every hidden thing,
whether it be good or whether it be evil."
(Eccl. 12:14)
- "For we must all appear before the judgment throne of Messiah (כִסֵּא־דִין הַמָּשִׁיחַ), so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others" (2 Cor. 5:10-11).
- "Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw -- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved yet so as through fire" (2 Cor. 3:12-15).
- "If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile" (1 Pet. 1:17).
In the prophetic vision of the great day of judgment to come (i.e., Dan. 7:9-10; Rev. 20:12), notice again that there was "another book" opened during the judgment called the "Book of Life" (סֵפֶר הַחַיִּים), and later we learn that only those whose names were found written in this book would be granted access to the "heavenly Jerusalem" (Rev. 21:27). But what is this book and how can our names be inscribed in it so that we can partake of the future glory?
The Lamb's Book of Life (סֵפֶר הַחַיִּים אֲשֶׁר לַשֶּׂה) refers to "the record" (i.e., the words and deeds) of Yeshua our Messiah, the true Lamb of God, and therefore the book represents the final attestation - or "sworn testimony" - of the worthiness of God's own righteousness and salvation. In the great plan of God's salvation for the world, Yeshua was "born to die" as our atoning sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:7-5). "God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him (ἐν αὐτῷ) we would become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21). But note that we must be "in him," that is, fully identified with Yeshua so that his sacrificial death becomes counted as our own... Our identification in him means that our sin is "imputed" to his suffering and death upon the cross, just as his righteousness is "imputed" to us through the vindication of his resurrection. This is the essence of the "korban principle" of "life-for-life" - the innocent sacrificed for the guilty - that was the foundation of the sacrificial system of the Temple. By faith, the substitutionary death of Yeshua is "for you."
For more on this, see "The Book of Life: Finding your name in the pages of redemption."
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