Scripture teaches that after Jesus returns individual believers will receive individual rewards based on their life on this present earth. “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God . . . each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10 12, ESV) (see also Heb. 4:13). “Each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Cor. 3:8, ESV). After we run the race in this life God will reward his beloveds with gifts for all their service and for all the progress they made in Christformation. This is the victory of God’s good justice. Everything matters.
Rewards for believers are most plainly promised in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (ESV). Can you picture that in your mind? What will it be like? What will Jesus say about your life? What will you be proud of? What will you wish you had done differently?
Accordingly, we are to aim at pleasing God. Paul urges the Roman believers “to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1, NIV). He instructs Timothy to “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed” (2 Tim. 2:15, NIV).
Do we live each day in the awareness that the One who redeemed us and loves us is going to ask us to give an account of our lives and reward us accordingly? This is foreboding for the complacent but joyful for the faithful. God is good and desires good; rewards are part of his arrangement to accomplish the good he desires.
Hopefully, we will meditate on these passages until they possess our hearts. It is important to take time to rearrange our hearts so that our hope is truly set on this approaching grace. Rewards are the Father’s gifts to his children for loving him with their lives.
Next week: the reward of developing God’s creation.
