The Christian life is hard. Between battling our sinful desires, disciplining ourselves for godliness, standing firm against the schemes of the devil, patiently enduring trials and persecution, and sacrificially loving people around us, God calls Christians to a lifestyle that is challenging and unnatural for us (in fact, it is super-natural).
And you might ask the question from time-to-time, “Is all this effort worth it? What’s my motivation?”
God gives a variety of answers to that question. We are motivated by looking back at Christ’s death on the cross, seeing that He lovingly purchased us so that we might live for Him (2 Corinthians 5:14–15). We are motivated by looking at the present promises of God to be with us (Hebrews 13:5) and to give us mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). But there is a third motivation that God also gives us.
In Matthew 6:19, Jesus exhorts us to avoid pursuing earthly security and comfort in wealth,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19
We might expect Jesus to follow a command like this with something like, “Instead of pursuing earthly wealth, consider that you already have all that you need in Me!” (past motivation), or “I know the temptations you face, and I will give you the strength to overcome them!” (present motivation). But listen to what Jesus actually says,
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:20–21
Jesus directs our gaze beyond the present to the future, allowing the promise of eternal rewards in heaven to motivate our faithfulness in the Christian lifestyle today. We are to store up these treasures in heaven through our faithfulness.
You may be a little squeamish about the idea of God rewarding us for Christian faithfulness. “Is God just bribing us to do good works? Isn’t it selfish to obey God in order to get future blessings?”
But look again at the final point Jesus makes in verse 21: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” God designed the human heart to set its affections and desires on what it believes is most valuable, or most worthy of being pursued. Jesus does not condemn our desire to pursue treasure for our own joy and delight. Instead, Jesus redirects our desire for rewards.
Jesus gives a clear contrast. Earthly treasures (such as possessions, pleasures, the praise of man, and power) are fragile and temporary. People, circumstances, and our own choices can easily destroy our earthly treasures. Heavenly treasures (which aren’t described in this passage, but include God’s praise, heavenly possessions, and eternal joy) last forever, and no one can ever take them from us.
The problem is not that the human heart chases after treasure; the problem is that the human heart treasures the wrong things! To help us meditate on the reality and beauty of heavenly treasures, I want to explain 3 biblical principles about the existence and nature of eternal rewards.
3 Biblical Principles on Eternal Rewards
Principle 1: Heavenly Rewards Are Promised by God Throughout the Bible to Motivate His People to Faithfulness and Perseverance.
All throughout Scripture, God motivates His children with promises of seeing their faithfulness and rewarding them for it. Here are some examples:
- God promised blessings to the nation of Israel if they obeyed (Deuteronomy 11:13–15).
- David believed that pursuing God’s presence in heaven would bring him fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).
- Nehemiah asked God to remember his faithfulness and tireless labor and reward him (Nehemiah 13:13; 31).
- Paul taught that every Christian will receive from God rewards based on what he has done with his life (2 Corinthians 5:9–10).
The point is this: God draws your heart to pursue Him by promising blessings and rewards for your service to Him. He sees every sacrifice you make to love someone else, every instance where you crucify a selfish desire, every word you speak to build someone else up (and every cutting word that you hold back), every moment you pray and meditate on His Word and His character, and every time you humble yourself to ask forgiveness. God’s omnipresence and omniscience means that He sees it all, and He will remember your labor for His name (Hebrews 6:10).
Praise God for His boundless grace: grace that gives us new hearts, saves us from our sin, empowers us for obedience, and then rewards us for the very obedience that He empowered us to do. That’s the kind of gracious God we serve.
Principle 2: Heavenly Rewards Primarily Involve Our Glorification and the Fullness of Joy of Being with God Forever.
Oftentimes in the Scriptures, the reward God promises is simply the fullness and wholeness that will come from the full accomplishment of our salvation, when the Lord will return to make all things right and we will dwell with Him forever with new bodies. We have been saved positionally through justification, but we still await our glorification, which will bring us fullness of joy because we will be with God (Psalm 16:11).
Faith family, we’ve been studying the book of Hebrews in our Sunday morning sermon series, and we’ve been exhorted to not give up in the face of opposition, but to hold fast our faith in Jesus until the end. In the Hall of Faith, the author of Hebrews explained how the promise of heaven motivated Old Testament saints to persevere, “…they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:16).
One of our motivations to persevere is to look ahead at the coming day when our salvation will be fully accomplished and God’s kingdom will be established forever. Brother or sister, hold fast to your faith, because your full salvation is drawing near, and you will be rewarded with the presence of God Himself in His kingdom.
Principle 3: Heavenly Rewards Also Involve Additional Rewards for Faithfulness
While the primary reward that should motivate our faithfulness is the full accomplishment of our salvation (which all believers will receive equally), God also promises to reward us additionally for ways we’ve obeyed in our specific lives and circumstances. Let me give you some examples (emphasis added):
- God will graciously reward you for ways you served brothers and sisters in Christ.
- Jesus taught, “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:41–42)
- God will graciously reward you for suffering for His name.
- “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11–12)
- God will graciously reward genuine acts of devotion and faith done to please Him.
- Jesus condemned praying, fasting, or giving to please men. But when fasting, praying, or giving is done with pure motives to please the Father, “your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18).
- God will graciously reward all labor done to build His church faithfully.
- Paul called the people he ministered to his “glory” or “crown” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20), and he explained that those who build Christ’s church would be rewarded based on the quality of their work (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
What will these rewards look like? How is it possible for all Christians to have perfect, complete joy, and yet some Christians have more rewards than others? The Bible doesn’t answer these questions with full clarity, but we can make some educated guesses.
First, Scripture seems to indicate that a portion of these heavenly rewards will relate to positions of authority in Christ’s kingdom. When Peter asked about future rewards for following Christ, Jesus responded, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28). Paul taught that in the new kingdom, the saints will judge the earth, including even the angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)! It seems that part of the heavenly treasures we lay up involve positions of authority, ruling underneath King Jesus in His kingdom.
Second, in another way of thinking about variations in eternal rewards, Jonathan Edwards also used the helpful analogy of “vessels” or bowls. All of God’s people will be filled to the brim with joy and complete happiness, but based on our faithfulness in pursuing, knowing, and serving the Lord, it’s possible that people will have different capacities for joy in the Lord. Our bowls will be different sizes, but they will all be filled to the brim. I would really encourage you to listen to John Piper read an edifying excerpt of one of Edwards’s sermons at https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/levels-of-happiness-in-heaven, to stimulate your thoughts about what rewards in heaven might be like.
So What?
If you’re still here, you’ve read a large amount of content for a blog. Even if you don’t remember everything you’ve read, here’s what you should walk away with: Jesus sees every way you choose to serve Him in His strength, and He will graciously reward you with heavenly treasures that far exceed any blessing we can experience in this life. Every sacrifice you make for King Jesus is going to be worth it! Don’t settle for treasures that are temporary, fallible, and fragile! Set your sights on the greater treasures of heaven, and pursue them in Jesus’s strength!
When you experience opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil in your Christian life, certainly be motivated by looking at the past work Jesus did to redeem your soul. Cling to God’s present promises of grace and strength for today. But also meditate deeply on the future heavenly treasures God promises to His children, and fix your heart on the reward of being with your Savior in His kingdom forever. On that day, God will lavishly reward His people with heavenly treasures, and we will throw them back at His feet to the praise of His glorious grace.
Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash
