Choose to Grow Closer
In the face of eternity, our natural lives of 70 or 80 years is incredibly short. For most of our lives, It seems long to us, only because of our immaturity. The older I get, the shorter life as I know it seems! When I was a teenager, years passed by like decades. Now,it seems like years go by much more quickly.
According to the Bible, my natural life, and the choices I make in it, have consequences in my eternal experience. The choices I make in the 70 or 80 years (or maybe much shorter) I live in the age of "believing without seeing" are promised by God to effect my eternal glory. Salvation is a free gift, yet if I want more experience of God, it is up to me to open the door for God to give me more.
God does not force people into a relationship with Him, nor does He force us into a deeper relationship with Him. He will not open the door of our hearts. He will generally not cause us to experience Him more without an invitation. He has already chosen to give us the full measure of experiencing Him, but because of love, we have to choose Him back! He loves us so much, He really wants us to choose to go after Him.
God knows that the more we choose to open the door of our hearts to Him, the better our lives will be here, and on the other side of eternity. Because He is a good Dad, He has a real interest in intentionally drawing us toward what is good for us. He is reward enough, but to not take any chances on us missing the point of life, He has made clear that rewards are available for those who take seriously this limited time opportunity to love Him well before we see Him. Just like there were awful consequences for Adam and Eve, who rebelled against God when they could see Him, there are amazing rewards for those who choose Him when He is unseen!
There are 109 verses in the New Testament alone that discuss rewards here and in the New Jerusalem, the eternal city that we will live in on earth forever. The rewards are always based on how we respond to Jesus. Look what Jesus said to His disciples:
Matthew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
This amazing promise to the disciples, and then all who love Jesus well, has significant implications: what we do here matters forever, our heavenly experience will be unique, Jesus takes seriously what we offer Him in this life, and God loves to reward those who choose His son with everything they have. The promise that the disciples would reign with Jesus was huge, BUT there is an even greater reward available to you and I:
John 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
A lot of times we skip over what it means when Jesus says "blessed." This is always a promise that more is available. Jesus takes seriously believing without seeing. This is the definition of faith, and God has rewarded faith since the very beginning.
Paul said that when the resurrection happens, and heaven comes to earth, our bodies will have a new kind of glory that reflects Jesus' glory. Our glory will vary greatly, like the glory of the sun and the moon, both heavenly lights, differ greatly:
1 Corinthians 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
The choices we make to love Jesus well will dress us in glory, and change our heavenly existence for ever. The New Jerusalem, which is coming to earth, will be wonderful for every resident, but it won't be the same for every resident. There will, in fact, be positions of first and last. Jesus taught on this fact more than anyone else in the Bible. Jesus wants to declare our names to the Father and to all of heaven as "ones who loved Him well" while He was unseen to us. The Bible describes Him doing this in how we are dressed, our radiant glory like His, actual gifts He gives to us, and our physical position near Him and His throne. These are realities He wanted us to understand. There are over 20 rewards in the first three chapters of Revelation alone, not to mention the numerous rewards listed in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
Jesus is worth a life laid down, just because of who He is and what He has done for us, but He is so generous! He longs to demonstrate His love for those who demonstrated their love for Him when it was hard to do! We love to reward our kids when they do well. We reward them for good choices, good grades, good deeds, helping with things they were already expected to do. God is an even better parent!
Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
According to the Bible, my natural life, and the choices I make in it, have consequences in my eternal experience. The choices I make in the 70 or 80 years (or maybe much shorter) I live in the age of "believing without seeing" are promised by God to effect my eternal glory. Salvation is a free gift, yet if I want more experience of God, it is up to me to open the door for God to give me more.
God does not force people into a relationship with Him, nor does He force us into a deeper relationship with Him. He will not open the door of our hearts. He will generally not cause us to experience Him more without an invitation. He has already chosen to give us the full measure of experiencing Him, but because of love, we have to choose Him back! He loves us so much, He really wants us to choose to go after Him.
God knows that the more we choose to open the door of our hearts to Him, the better our lives will be here, and on the other side of eternity. Because He is a good Dad, He has a real interest in intentionally drawing us toward what is good for us. He is reward enough, but to not take any chances on us missing the point of life, He has made clear that rewards are available for those who take seriously this limited time opportunity to love Him well before we see Him. Just like there were awful consequences for Adam and Eve, who rebelled against God when they could see Him, there are amazing rewards for those who choose Him when He is unseen!
There are 109 verses in the New Testament alone that discuss rewards here and in the New Jerusalem, the eternal city that we will live in on earth forever. The rewards are always based on how we respond to Jesus. Look what Jesus said to His disciples:
Matthew 19:28 So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
This amazing promise to the disciples, and then all who love Jesus well, has significant implications: what we do here matters forever, our heavenly experience will be unique, Jesus takes seriously what we offer Him in this life, and God loves to reward those who choose His son with everything they have. The promise that the disciples would reign with Jesus was huge, BUT there is an even greater reward available to you and I:
John 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
A lot of times we skip over what it means when Jesus says "blessed." This is always a promise that more is available. Jesus takes seriously believing without seeing. This is the definition of faith, and God has rewarded faith since the very beginning.
Paul said that when the resurrection happens, and heaven comes to earth, our bodies will have a new kind of glory that reflects Jesus' glory. Our glory will vary greatly, like the glory of the sun and the moon, both heavenly lights, differ greatly:
1 Corinthians 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
The choices we make to love Jesus well will dress us in glory, and change our heavenly existence for ever. The New Jerusalem, which is coming to earth, will be wonderful for every resident, but it won't be the same for every resident. There will, in fact, be positions of first and last. Jesus taught on this fact more than anyone else in the Bible. Jesus wants to declare our names to the Father and to all of heaven as "ones who loved Him well" while He was unseen to us. The Bible describes Him doing this in how we are dressed, our radiant glory like His, actual gifts He gives to us, and our physical position near Him and His throne. These are realities He wanted us to understand. There are over 20 rewards in the first three chapters of Revelation alone, not to mention the numerous rewards listed in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
Jesus is worth a life laid down, just because of who He is and what He has done for us, but He is so generous! He longs to demonstrate His love for those who demonstrated their love for Him when it was hard to do! We love to reward our kids when they do well. We reward them for good choices, good grades, good deeds, helping with things they were already expected to do. God is an even better parent!
Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
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