Community & Discipleship

Learning to Pray - Part 2 (Jn. 17:6~19)

2019.06.16P. Stephen Cha

God is all everything, and every life will be judged by its books. Only a name written in the Lamb's book of life turns everlasting death into everlasting life with God.

Life is not an exam; eternity is at stake

Korea loves exams: university, jobs, promotions, even a Bible proficiency exam before seminary. Many people treat life, and even spiritual life, as a series of exams to pass. We can study and memorize just to clear the next hurdle. But what is at stake is eternity, either eternal life with God or eternal death without him. Jesus commands in Mark 16:15-16 that we proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned.

God is all everything

A throne signifies absolute power, yet today absolute monarchies survive in only eleven places, and we tend to hear absolute power as corruption. The Bible shows God as sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere, eternal, unchanging, loving, merciful, righteous and just. God does not merely have power; he is power. Psalm 139:1-12 shows this absoluteness expressed intimately: he knows our thoughts and goes before and behind us. His righteousness, justice and even wrath guarantee his love, because without holiness sin would keep us from the relationship he desired from the beginning.

We will be judged by our books

Revelation 20:12-13 says everyone, great and small, believer and unbeliever, will be judged by what they have done. God is not an angry headmaster with a stick. Psalm 139:13-18 shows that he knew us before we were born and that his thoughts toward us are precious and beyond counting. Sin in his presence is like Icarus flying too close to the sun, because sin contradicts all that God is. Like books in accounting, our lives are recorded and brought to account, not because God is a stickler for rules but because he loves us and wants us with him. Romans 5:12 says sin and death came through Adam, and that is why we have books to answer for.

The book of life changes everything

In Revelation 20:14-15 death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire, and so is anyone whose name is not in the book of life. David struggles with sin at the end of Psalm 139. He asks God to search him and lead him along the path of everlasting life. Jesus prayed in Luke 22:42-44 with sweat like drops of blood, dreading the total separation from God he would bear for the sins of the world. Revelation 13:8 gives the full title: the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. When you give your life to him, he writes your name there. That one name changes everlasting death into everlasting life with God.

Worship the whole God and act with urgency

First, worship God for all of who he is. Love his grace, and do not gloss over his holiness, justice, righteousness and wrath. Second, be urgent. Your parents, spouse, children, relatives, co-workers and neighbors may not have their names in the book of life, and we should not be okay with that. Begin with daily prayer, and when you pray for any need, first pray for the unsaved people in that person's life. Ask others to pray with you, serve and love people, and go into the world with the gospel. Anyone unsure that their name is in the book of life can give their life to Jesus today.

Apply to Life

  • Let us worship God for all of who he is, including his holiness, justice, righteousness and wrath, and not only his grace.
  • Let us stop treating faith as an exam to pass and take seriously that eternity is at stake.
  • Let us pray every day for the family, co-workers and neighbors who do not yet know Jesus, and ask fellow believers to pray with us.
  • Let us serve and love those around us and join in taking the gospel into the world by going, praying and giving.
  • Let us give our lives to Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, so that we can be sure our names are in the book of life.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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