INSET ARTICLE: Great Is Your Reward in Heaven WHAT DID Jesus mean when He told His disciples, Be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven? (Matt. 5:12.) And why- -only a few verses before -- did Christ say, Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth? (Verse 5.) Do some of the saved -- the persecuted (verses 11-12) -- go to heaven to collect their reward, while others -- the meek -- inherit the earth? Or did Jesus Christ contradict Himself in His very next breath? The Apostle Peter was inspired to write, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you (I Pet. 1:3-4). Notice it! The reward of the saved -- the inheritance of true Christian -- is reserved in heaven. That is where it is kept at this present time. But do Christians go to heaven to receive their reward? Jesus Christ explained it in the Book of Revelation: And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be (Rev. 22:12). When Christ returns from heaven the second time He will bring the reward of the saved with Him! Though now temporarily reserved in heaven, Jesus will bring the reward of the saints (true Christians) to this earth! Daniel wrote, And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him (Dan. 7:27). Jesus did not say Christians will inherit their reward IN heaven. Rather, the reward -- authority, an office of power in the Kingdom of God -- is being temporarily reserved in heaven because that is where Jesus is. But it will be brought to the earth, where Jesus will reward His saints, in the Kingdom of God, with positions of rulership and authority over the nations.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 01:49:29 +0000