Heavenly Rewards

"So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow worker; you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God which was given me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If anyman's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If anyman's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." I Corinthians 3:7-15

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." II Corinthians 5:10

"And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying 'Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.'" Revelation 4:9-11

The Bible is abundantly clear that though we cannot earn our way to heaven by any good works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5), we will indeed receive heavenly rewards by God's grace based on how we lived this life. The grace of God in giving us spiritual gifts with which to serve Him makes the rewards possible. As R.C. Sproul states, "But the blessing Christ promised, the blessing of great reward, is a reward of grace. The blessing is promised even though it is not earned. Augustine said it this way: Our rewards in heaven are a result of God's crowning His own gifts." ("Suffering and Merit?", Tabletalk Magazine, Feb. 1989, p. 5)

The question arose in Bible study Thursday night as how the varying number of rewards (or crowns) given to each Christian to cast before the throne of God might impact our heavenly worship. I shared this with Ashlea, and she reminded me of this analogy: Two people both go to a classical music concert - let's say Vivaldi. One of those persons has studied the composer's music, understands the orchestration of instruments that create the beautiful sounds, and is even is able to play those pieces himself. The other person is not familiar with Vivaldi's music, knows little about musical instruments, and really isn't musically inclined. Both find great satisfaction and pleasure in the beauty of the music, but the first person has a greater appreciation for the concert. He is able to experience the music at a deeper level than the second person. So shall our worship in heaven be as we offer back to God our rewards of grace.