I can remember running nearly 20 full marathons. Each had its own challenges and joys. And each had wonderful rewards waiting for me at the end. Sherry would be there, and I knew she would take me home to a big dinner, a hot bath, and maybe even a foot rub! That hope gave me the endurance to finish each race strong. What does the Bible say about future rewards for the good, loving deeds that we do in this life? A great deal!
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Gaining Future Rewards
I can remember running nearly 20 full marathons. Each had its own challenges and joys. And each had wonderful rewards waiting for me at the end. Sherry would be there, and I knew she would take me home to a big dinner, a hot bath, and maybe even a foot rub! That hope gave me the endurance to finish each race strong. What does the Bible say about future rewards for the good, loving deeds that we do in this life? A great deal!
Most Christians agree that there are eternal rewards for the good deeds we do in this life. Jesus and his disciples clearly taught this. But some people think that believers can LOSE rewards because of their subsequent evil deeds. This is contrary to scripture, and has hurt the lives and ministries of Christians for centuries. Let’s go to God’s Word and see what it says about this.
I clearly remember 58 years ago today. It was a Thursday night and I was upstairs in my parents’ bedroom. Everyone else watched another TV show downstairs, and I was up watching my favorite “Ironside” with Raymond Burr, which started at 7 p.m. It was interrupted by a news bulletin. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot in Memphis, Tennessee.
Today a friend asked me a good question. “Gene, do you believe that humans that do not have Jesus as Lord will suffer eternally in flames?” That is a common belief among some Christians.
I cannot but in wonder stand
Sherry and I read the Bible before we go to bed. One night this week we read Mark, chapter 5. The gospel of Mark shows Jesus as a servant. He gives his all to save each individual he meets. The price of a soul is beyond earthly value.
Last night Sherry and I gave away a jigsaw puzzle we had enjoyed to our kids. A few hours later, a friend said she had a jigsaw puzzle she wanted to give us. That’s an example of a great principle in life. We are designed to give and to receive. To hold on and to let go.
Living on earth for many decades can bring insight when a person is meek to the Creator. The greatest man who ever lived was only here for three decades, and yet he knew the Creator as a loving Father and made this eternal Spirit known to others. To understand the things of God, let’s consider four questions that every human will face during our brief existence in this world. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Why must I die? Where will I go after death?
One reason there is division and misunderstanding in the church is that some Bible readers do not understand scope. God calls Himself the Holy Spirit, and He spoke by His spirit that He gave to the prophets so they could write the scriptures (II Peter 1:20,21). This included the Apostle Paul (II Peter 3:15,16). If, over thousands of years, our Father gave His Word to people to make up the Bible, then it all must agree within itself. And it does.
The Gospel of Matthew shows Jesus as the Messiah, the great King. It begins with John the Baptist preparing the way for him, his baptism with holy spirit, his temptation in the wilderness, and then shows him declaring his kingdom in 4:12—7:29. Much of this declaration is in what is called the “Sermon on the Mount.”