Seth Carter

Do you enjoy being surprised? I suppose it depends on the type of surprise. 

Have you put the wrong detergent in the dishwasher and suddenly found your kitchen floor covered in soap suds? Not fun. Have you received a larger tax refund than you expected? That’s great! I once stood in line at an area ski lodge, waiting to buy lift tickets for myself and my family. While the attendant calculated my total, I caught the eye of an acquaintance who worked there. He spoke with the woman as she rang up my charge and when she gave me the total, she said, “Someone gave you their Buddy Pass, so your total is …”

I was thrilled! What a great surprise! Maybe you had been in line somewhere and experienced an unexpected bonus when someone “paid it forward” or you stumbled into a sale that you didn’t know about.

The fact that we will die one day is not a surprise. “Nothing is certain except death and taxes,” goes the old saying. In the Bible, in the book of Hebrews, it is written, “It is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment.” What happens after we die also should not be a surprise. Revelation chapter 20 describes a time when all the dead will stand in judgment before the one who sits on the throne with all authority. The verdict will come down to one thing: “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” What would you do to get your name in that book? This is not one of those times that you want to be surprised. It seems kind of important doesn’t it?

Fortunately, we can make prior arrangements! Unlike my experience at the ski lodge, we won’t face that judgment thinking that we have what we need to enter, as if we have enough points or enough good works or if we made the right choice in our religious preferences. We might stand there wondering why our name isn’t in the book! However, the similarity is that your ticket has already been paid in full! Just like I was able to ride the slopes that day on my friend’s ticket, because of his name, we can see our name written in the book of life by someone else’s position, only that of Jesus Christ.

You see, earlier in the book of Revelation there is a description of the one taking the throne and being given all authority and praise. He is described as “a Lamb standing, as if slain,” and the creatures of heaven worship him singing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing … for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

This lamb is Jesus. He was slain and his blood — his life — is the perfect and only sacrifice that is good enough to restore humanity’s relationship with God. He freely shares the redemption of that sacrifice with anyone willing to accept it in humility, through confession and repentance. It doesn’t get much better than that! Only a little bit better. Meaning that you can know — right now — if you can enter into this restoration. No surprises. Know for certain your name is written in that Book of Life. The apostle John wrote this in a letter:

“The testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you know may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:11-13

It might come as a surprise to you in this moment that God would love you enough to exchange his life for yours, and take your full payment for sin in order to present you before God “holy and blameless and without reproach,” (Colossians 1:22). But one day, when you stand before God in all his glory and authority on the throne, you will want to know that your name is written in his book. Don’t wait for the surprise, repent and turn to Jesus today.

(Seth Carter is director of Campus Ventures in Powell.)