You blink your eyes and your there! That's how fast your move from here to eternity will be like. One moment your here, the next eternity ... What do you know about your eternity? What did Jesus tell you about your future?
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works
(Jesus, in Matthew 16:27),
Jesus said He would come again! When he comes, He will bring rewards and He will ...
. . . reward each according to his works (Matthew 16:27)
Do you remember the opening illustration in chapter one of the toddler looking through the keyhole at the night sky? There is so much to see and understand. Now, step back once again from the keyhole and let Jesus open the door so you can see your future.
Did you know that your future is being decided by one little dot called today? Think of your life as a dot on a page much like a period at the end of a sentence. Draw a line from the dot that extends to the right. Now place an arrow on the end of the line. The dot is your life now, but the line with the arrow is your future, which extends forever (pgs. 28-29)
. . . Jesus revealed that most of our life happens after our physical death (pg. 20).
There are six main events that will happen in your future.
1. LIFE - You are created in the image of God for a life of purpose.
This life is now! You did not exist forever in the past, but you will exist forever in the future. You live as a Body, Soul and Spirit.
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit
(John 3:6)
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24)
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 5:23)
2. DEATH - You die physically, but not spiritually.
Through physical birth we enter this life (the Dot) and through physical death we make our instant exit (Blink). However, since we were created with a Body, Soul and Spirit, the soul after death is with God in Heaven, or apart from God in hell
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43)
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8)
3. DESTINATION - You reach your destination after death,
Remember the Dot? It represents your life now. Have you believed in Jesus? Jesus taught that there were two possible locations in the afterlife: heaven or hell; and both last forever. Your forever future is decided based on your decision to trust in Jesus, during the Dot.
In my father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you
(John 14:2)
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? (Matthew 23:33)
4. RESURRECTION - You receive a resurrected body.
You will experience a bodily resurrection and exist forever in the future because eternity is forever. You will be immortal and death can never touch you again. Each person who has ever lived, will experience a bodily resurrection and live in the presence of God forever, or away from God in hell!
Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out -- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned (John 5:28-29)
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality (I Corinthians 15:22,51-52)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there,the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body
(Philippians 3:20-21)
5. REPAYMENT - You receive your reward or your retribution
Do you remember the two keys that determine everything about your eternity? Belief and behavior? Your eternal destination (Heaven or Hell) is based on your belief. However, your behavior while on earth (the 'Dot') will determine how you spend eternity. Jesus will review every believer's life at the Bema, or the Judgment Seat of Christ and give you your rewards based on your behavior (Matthew 25:31-34).
When you placed your faith in Jesus Christ you made your entrance into Heaven; your destination was decided when you believed. Therefore, the Bema is a time when Jesus looks at your behavior and rewards you for your works of faith. Those people who have not believed in Jesus Christ will also have their works evaluated. Every person who has not believed in Jesus Christ will be judged at The Great White Throne Judgment (Matthew 25:41, 46; Revelation 20:11-15) and cast into the Lake of Fire.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6)
It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27)
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world (Matthew 25:31-34)
Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew 25:41, 46)
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. . . . and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15)
6. ETERNITY - You will live forever in the presence or absence of
beliefs and actions on earth.
Jesus revealed that eternity would be a real life in a real place, forever.
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew 25:46)
If you make certain choices now, your future can be filled with great rewards. Your life now is impacting everything that will happen to you after you die. Dr. Wilkinson calls this the Law of the Unbreakable Link: "Your choices on earth have direct consequences on your life in eternity." (pgs. 24-25)
The Law of the Unbreakable Link like the Law of Gravity, is always present. Do you remember the two keys that determine everything about your eternity: 1) Belief and 2) Behavior? Your eternal destination (Heaven or Hell) is the consequence of what you believed on earth. Your eternal compensation (Rewards) is the consequence of how you behaved on earth.
Earlier, I made reference to Dr. Wilkinson's illustration about the dot and the line. The 'Dot' represents your life here on earth. The 'Line' represents your life forever in eternity. Jesus taught us that what happens inside the dot determines everything that happens on the line.
Have you been living for the line or for the dot? (pgs. 28-29)
Next, Chapter 3: What the Bible Says About Rewards
No comments:
Post a Comment