revelation – goodchristianfiction

We inherit salvation by grace, but how we bear fruit is another reward altogether.

In a final day so secret that no being save ONE knows its exact date, a great scroll will unfurl, and all souls gathered will join in a celebration like no other, for their journey as mutual heirs to the most mighty kingdom of all will be complete. On that day, what every soul yearns for, to be re-united with its eternal Creator, will wonderfully come to pass. From those who committed a lifetime of fruitful living, like Paul, to the criminal who died on the cross beside Christ believing only moments before he died, every person who confessed the deity of the Son of God and accepted the gift of Grace will realize their kinship as heirs to the kingdom of heaven on that day.

This Grace provides us with an inheritance like no other. Paul writes to the Ephesians:

So that in ages to come He (God) might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (2:7-10).

In the final lesson of “Amazing Place,” pastor Rick Atchley’s series on what heaven will be like, he makes a distinction between our inheritance as heirs to the kingdom of God, which is equal to all Christians, and the kind of judgment (actually a rewards system) that will be taking place in heaven. Of course, we believers who have accepted Christ want to fulfill the promise of good works God put us on this earth to complete for Him, but Atchley’s comparison of inheritance versus judgment in heaven also gives us a very “human” incentive to do our best while we are here on earth.

First, let’s make it clear that those who have asked for the redemption bought for us with the very blood of Christ, are no longer under the yoke of judgment that cloaks a fallen world:

“He who believes in Him is not judged,” John writes; “he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3: 18). Jesus tells us, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). Paul assures us, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

True, the book of Revelations is full of examples of the kind of ultimate defeat that will happen when God once and for all finishes the destruction of evil that was begun when Jesus died and rose again. However, the judgment that takes place for Christians at this time will be more like a reward system tallying how well we did at bearing the fruit of the Spirit. My Ryrie Study Bible explains in the footnote to the famous verse of John 3:16 that the “eternal life” promised is “a new quality of life, not an everlasting ‘this-life.'”

Part of that new quality of life is casting off the sinful nature and becoming a “new creation,” as Paul puts it. Christ admonishes us to “store up treasures in heaven” where nothing can rust or corrode what we have collected. We all inherit equal amounts of Grace, but we do not all tally equal amounts of heavenly treasure.

As one of my life group members pointed out, this way of looking at inheritance versus judgment/reward puts a different spin on some of the more perplexing parables in the Bible. When you read about the workers of the vineyard who come to work only in the last hour and yet get paid the same amount as the workers who have put in a full day, doesn’t the human nature in you think, how exactly is that fair? Well, if you consider the wages of the story the inheritance of salvation, the parable makes a different kind of sense. Surely, when it comes time to hand out the rewards for the work of that day, those who bore the most fruit will receive more of a reward than those who came in the final hour. In the same way, some who worked unfruitfully for the entire day may actually receive fewer rewards than some who made the most of the less time in the vineyard they had to sow seeds.

So, if we really will see a reward system in heaven according to how well we have used God’s gifts to store up treasures in heaven and not on earth, doesn’t it give us something to look forward to about the Day of Judgment? Instead of picturing myself cringing at every stupid and willful thing I have done in this life being shown to me on some huge type of movie-screen while everyone watches, I can look forward to seeing, hopefully, that I have managed to do some good things for God!

As a perfectionist who is pathetically seeking “A’s” in a reality that has been outside the classroom for almost two decades, the concept of getting a “well done” from the only Judge who really matters frankly gives me goose bumps. I used to imagine Christ’s second coming as a moment of awe and love so wonderful, followed by a period of having to be shown all my mistakes during life so I can “start clean” in heaven. There probably isn’t any theological reason for me to have been imagining the second coming that way. It’s just the impression I had of the way things might go, even with the grace of God that is my salvation through Christ.

Now, instead of dreading Judgment Day, I actually have something to look forward to. I also have even more reasons to strive to use my God-given talents to love, love, love while I am on this planet.

As heirs in Christ, we may get in by the skin of our belief, but let’s not spend eternity wishing we had done just a little bit more for Him while we were still here on earth. Let’s build up as much treasure in heaven as we possibly can by doing as God commanded: loving Him first and foremost and loving all others as we ourselves wish to be loved (Matthew 22: 36-40).

The Last Will and Testament of our LORD Jesus Christ is the most generous will of all time. And, if you want to become one of His heirs, all you have to do is ask Him.

Ayiesha Woods’ song, Big Enough, asks us why we ever doubt the help that an uncreated God who created everything out of nothing can offer us:

You turned water into wine – how extraordinary
Gave sight to the blind – and still I carry
My own load when you told me
To take your yoke ’cause yours is easy

And I don’t wanna box you in
You’ve been doing big things since the world began
Sometimes I just don’t wanna believe
That you’re big enough – but you’re big enough yeah!

(http://www.lyricsmania.com/big_enough_lyrics_ayiesha_woods.html)

Jesus proclaims the definitive surety of our safety in the hands of an almighty God:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Matthew 6:26

Still, we humans find it difficult not to worry when we are waiting for test results in a doctor’s office or watching serious weather bear down on us. We even often get so caught up in worrying about our personal issues that we often forget to look outward, failing to help others because we are so busy trying to take care of our own problems that we suffer from a tunnel vision that keeps us from even seeing anybody else.

Besides keeping us from truly loving others because we are too busy worrying about ourselves, failing to trust that God is “big enough” also keeps us further away from Him.

In his series, “Amazing Place,” preacher Rick Atchley points out that besides worry, another thing that keeps us from fully trusting God is having too small a vision of what His promise of eternity really means. If your idea of heaven is small, then what you manage to learn in this life in your preparation for the next one inevitably suffers.

But instead, if you embrace the infinite power and possibilities that our Creator God IS, then how you live moves towards the goal of His perfectness:

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen (Jude 1:24-25)

So, what does having a big enough God look like? How about putting the needs of other people before your own, even people you do not know? Or what about having the courage or gumption to help out at a local food bank, even though doing that is out of your comfort zone? Maybe it looks like waking up in the morning feeling anxious and immediately saying a prayer that gives that anxiousness to God, that asks for the insight during the day to see the lessons He wants you to learn, that thanks Him for times in the past when He has proven that He will see you through tough situations.

God doesn’t lie. People make mistakes. People get zealous and condemn before learning all the facts. People fail to keep their promises. But God doesn’t lie.

And God has promised through His Son to save us from ourselves, to forgive us for every sin we profess as long as we are willing to accept Christ as our Savior. But that forgiveness is the promise of more than just escaping eternal damnation. It is the reality of an eternal existence that is so awesome, that even the apostle whom Christ most loved found it difficult to describe the vision he was given of it:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

God is big enough.