By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #221 ~
In the future, your heavenly Father will show His great love for you by giving you incredible and unbelievable blessings! His plan is to generously reward you for your life of service to Him, a life of godly thoughts, words, and actions. And receiving rewards has nothing to do with your age, abilities, income, race, or what church you attend, but is a result of faithfully living for the Lord. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.” Colossians 3:23-24
You will be rewarded in many specific ways, but your reward is essentially the Lord! That is, it’s not really what, but Who – Jesus who loves you so much, seen in that He died for you and saved you from sin and death, and is now and forever your Lord, Savior, and Friend. Your life as a Christian is the Lord, for He is everything you would ever need or want. “The Lord is my portion.” Psalm 119:57
Your reward is the Lord, and knowing Him, being loved by Him, and having this eternal relationship with Him. John 17:3 says it simply, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” The definition of eternal life is knowing God and Jesus, having a relationship with Them that lasts forever and ever. When you believe in Christ, you are born again, and you begin this eternal relationship with Him and His Father. This is real living, this is the abundant life, and is seen with Enoch who walked with God (Gen. 5:24), David who beheld the Lord’s beauty (Psalm 27:4), and Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet. Luke 10:39
The disciples had forsaken many things to follow Jesus, and so Peter asks Him what they will get for being faithful to Him. Jesus answers, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms for My sake and the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:28-30). Do you see what it says? God will richly bless you in this life if you are faithful to Him, and then Jesus sums up the age to come by saying that you will have eternal life. And this is the main point, that your reward is the Lord! As a Christian, you now have a relationship with the Lord, and this will get better and better, and then in heaven, you will have a perfect relationship with Him. Think about rewards this way, that it’s not what you will receive but Who, for you will be seeing and spending time with Jesus Christ Himself. “Yet in my flesh I will see God, I myself will see Him with my own eyes… how my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:25-27
Paul was teaching about Christ’s coming and the rapture of the church, that all believers would “meet the Lord in the air.” And what does he say after that? “And so we shall always be with the Lord.” You can’t miss what’s being said, that it’s all about our relationship with the Lord, for “we shall always be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:15-18
Jesus was talking to His disciples and could tell they were sad, that something was bothering them, and so what did He say? Jesus spoke about faith, He told them to believe in Him, to trust Him. He also spoke about hope, for He said, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). Again, what’s most important about your future is that you will always be with the Lord. “Nevertheless, I am continually with You… Whom have I in heaven but You?” Psalm 73:23-26
When Jesus comes back, He will take you to heaven, to His heavenly home. But heaven is much more than a place, for its focus is Jesus, the most famous and important Person in all the universe. Let’s say you visit a friend at his or her house, but the visit is not about the place – it’s not about the nice home, the beautiful yard, the comfortable couch, or the good food. It’s about the person and spending time with that person – it’s talking, sharing, loving, crying, and laughing. And so too, your future is principally and primarily the Lord, and being with Him, knowing His love, learning from Him, and having close fellowship with Him.
A famous Bible verse conveys the same point. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). Your future is summed up as being forever in the house of the Lord, which means being with the Lord, and having a most excellent relationship with Him. My favorite heaven verse says the same thing: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant” (Heb. 12:22-24). When you go to heaven, you are going to a place, to a city, to the heavenly Jerusalem. But these verses don’t focus on the place, but on the angels, the church, the Old Testament saints, and most importantly, Jesus Christ and God the Father. Your reward is being in the very presence of God and literally being with Jesus and seeing Their awesome glory, and also being with all the angels and believers.
Rev. 21:3 communicates this as well. “I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.’” Our reward is not just that we will be with God, but that He will be with us. God greatly desires to be with you and me, and all the believers, so much so, that after the millennial kingdom age, the new heaven and new earth will actually be joined together (Rev. 21:10). The holy city, the new Jerusalem, will be our eternal home, and there we will live with Jesus, and experience eternal life, eternal love, joy, peace, goodness, and eternal pleasures. And having a brand-new glorified body will enable us to fully experience all that God has planned for us. 1 Cor. 15:42-44
Never forget that the Lord is your reward, that it’s having a relationship with God and Jesus Christ, knowing and loving and enjoying Them, and Them knowing and loving and enjoying you! Yes, you will receive all these other rewards, these amazing and innumerable treasures, an inheritance beyond belief, and you will be living in that most wonderful house of the Lord – “The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone” (Rev. 21:19), but most of all, you will be with the Lord Himself. Psalm 16:11 says it perfectly, “In your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Jesus loves you much more than you can ever imagine! When He prays to His Father, He expresses His deep love for you by sharing His desire to be with you, and to reveal more of His infinite glory to you – “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me.” John 17:24
P.S. We love the idea of prizes, presents and gifts, but God really wants you to be looking forward to the rewards you will have in heaven, especially being with Jesus, His Son. Here is an article that I just wrote that lists out over a 100 different verses about these rewards and the incredible future that God has planned out for you – “Your Lord, Your Hope, Your Reward.”