I’m going to begin by asking you a simple question : Where does God live?
“The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One”
Isaiah 57:15 NTL
The bible says He inhibits eternity, and that is His residence. He himself is from everlasting to everlasting!
We need to live every day of our life preparing for that day.
The way you live on this earth today depends on the vision you have of eternity.
Jesus always taught his disciples to live a life here thinking about eternity!
“Store your treasures in heaven.”
Matthew 6:20
Jesus said : save , store your treasures in heaven !
Everything you store and save for yourself will stay here on earth and will not make it to heaven. But everything you do for people and for Gods kingdom you are doing for Jesus.
“Then the king will answer, ‘The truth is, anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.’”
Matthew 25:40 ERV
Jesus said: anything you did , you invested for any of my people you did for me!
Everything you invest , every time you invest in people , all the money you invest in people , all the tithes and offerings you invest in the kingdom of God , every item of food , clothes you give to those in need , every visit, everything will be returned to you on eternity.
When the eternal spiritual perspective is the central focus of our thinking, it affects our daily earthly walk.
The bible says : There will be rewards for those who were faithful.
Many will have regret : it depends on how you spend your time and your life in this earth. When we as believers lose the eternal perspective we start pursuing things that we should not pursue, making decisions that we should not make , and walking in a way we should not walk and one day many will regret it ! If we don’t have the eternal perspective we are going to live as the world lives. The world lives for today and many Christians are living in the same way.
“Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.” II John 1:8
Look to yourself , watch out , be diligent , look to yourself that you may not lose the reward we have worked for.
You can lose what you have laboured for !
This is why Jesus said :
“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24:13
The one who endures to the end will be saved !
Christianity is not a sprint run, it’s an endurance run , it’s not how you start the race that counts but how you finish it.
John said : that we should not lose what we worked for . Which means it’s possible to lose it!
How many of you know that God is a rewarder ?
How does God appear to Abraham ?
“Abram, don’t be afraid. I will defend you and give you a great reward.”
Genesis 15:1
He introduced himself as a greater rewarder
“And in keeping his teachings there is great reward.”
Psalms 19:11
See what John said : do not lose those things that we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward !
John doesn’t say reward , but full reward!
If there is a full reward, there is also a partial reward and no reward.
He said : Live in a such way that you may receive a full reward.
Listen : God wants you to receive a full reward!
“I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize (reward) that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven.”
Philippians 3:14
You need to have a radical shift in your expectation about eternity because your expectation of the reward will keep you running hard towards the finishing line.
There is a race for you and you need to finish the race because a prize awaits you !
When we have this eternal perspective we live differently, you make decisions differently, you endure things that you would not endure if you had a 80 years perspective
“Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
1 Corinthians 9:24
What is the prize ? The full reward!
Run in a such way or live in a such way that you get the prize , the full reward, not the partial reward.
Those who live in light of eternity , they don’t stop running, because they want to receive the full reward. Those who have this eternal perspective are doing more for the kingdom of God and they are taking good care of their spiritual life.
8“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.”
2 Corinthians 5:8-9
Here Paul is only talking to believers : Our goal is to please Him in this body or away from this body.
Fabiana and I have 2 children and we love them . They cannot do anything to make Fabiana and I love them more than we already do. ❤️❤️❤️
They also can’t do anything to make us love them less than we already love them.
But they are in charge of how pleased we are with them.
You cannot do anything to make God love you any more than He already loves you .
You cannot do anything to make God love you less than He loves you.
But you are in charge of how pleased He is with you !
That’s what Paul said : We make it our goal is to please Him! Why ? Let’s see the next verse , because :
“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”
2 Corinthians 5:10
Here “we” is referring to Christians only. Because every one of us will receive what we deserve : good or evil. In this Judgement “The Judgement seat of Christ” we will not be examined for our sins.
This judgement here is to give account of how we lived our lives as Christians.
The bible is very clear that He will examine our works , our words , as well our thoughts, motives and intentions.
“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose your private motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”
1 Corinthians 4:5
In this world when we say judgement we think about the world condemnation.
But this word judgement is the Greek word “krinō ( κρίσις) that is a decision resulting from an investigation. Jesus is going to examine our lives as Christians , our works , our words , our thoughts, our motives , our intentions.
As a results of that examination He is gong to make decisions over our lives , because judgement means decision.
As result of those decisions we are either going to receive rewards or we are going to suffer losses.
These rewards — be the full or partial one — or these losses will be eternal!
1- What we do with the Cross determines where we’re going to spend eternity.
2- The way we live as believers determines how we are going to spend eternity.
We need to live with a purpose !
Let’s suppose that today we encounter God and God says to you : The way you live the next week , the next seven day will determine how you are going to spend the next million years on this earth .
How would you live the next 7 days ? Would you leave it to chance ? Or would you live with purpose ?
What we do now will determine how we’re going to spend eternity !
If you read the bible you are going to see that God calls us in the Bible as builders and constructors
“10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.
13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.”
1 Corinthians 3:10, 13-14
Jesus Christ is the foundation and every one of us is building something. Some Christians are using great material: gold , silver, jewels but some people are using poor materials: wood , hay or straw
But in the judgement day fire will reveal what we built !
Verse 14 – If the work survives that builder will receive a reward! I hope you receive a full reward!
Examples:
some people come to church because they want to please God
Some people come because it’s Sunday and if they don’t come , people will call them out.
Some people are faithful in their tithes and offerings
Some people don’t give their tithes , they just put some small money inside the envelopes or some coins.
Some people say one thing in front of you and something else behind your back
But in the judgement day fire will reveal what we built !
This is why Paul said
“Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24
You need to live a life to get the prize ,to receive the reward!
I’m living for reward !
“The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me”. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
Each person here that was born again and is serving Jesus has a calling , a purpose , a race to run and you have to finish your race.
Every single person has a calling on our life and it’s a calling that God wrote in our book.
14 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalms 139:14, 16
You have a book about your life that was written by God before you came to be .
When you read the bible you are going to find all over it that God has a plan and a purpose for your life.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.””
Jeremiah 1:5
God said to Jeremiah: I formed you and before you were born I set you apart and I appointed you as a prophet !
God has a plan and purpose for your life because every single person has a calling for their life and this is a calling that He wrote in your Book !
The bible says at the judgement day the Books will be opened!
God will say : I wrote about your life ! Let’s compare !
Did you walk on what was written in that book or did you go your own way ?
You will be judged in the light of what you were called to do
Every one of us has been put on this earth not only to be a child of God but to do something.
Please , don’t misunderstand me , I’m not saying that God called everybody to be pastors or missionaries !
Maybe God called you to be a businessman and you can invest in the kingdom of God and save many people !
You need to pray and know your calling and to do what God called you to do , because you are going to be judged in light of what you were called to do .
Because of that you need to pay the price , if you seek God diligently you are going to fulfil your calling.
If you are not taking God seriously and you want to take Him seriously from now on , please make this decision today !
On the Judgement seat you will stand alone — your pastor , your parents won’t be there !
Take this seriously today and this is the wisest decision you have made.