Chapter 8
The Steward’s Eternal Destiny
It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day. MATTHEW HENRY
He who provides for this life but takes not care for eternity is wise for a moment but a fool forever. JOHN TILLOTSON
An ancient story goes like this: A slave travels with his master to Baghdad. Early one morning, while milling through the marketplace, the slave sees Death in human form. Death gives him a threatening look. The slave recoils in terror, convinced that Death intends to take him that day.
The slave runs to his master and says, “Help me. I have seen Death, and his threatening look tells me he intends to take my life this very day. I must escape him. Please, master, let me leave now and flee on camel so that by tonight I can reach Samara, where Death cannot find me.”
His master agrees, and the terrified servant rides like the wind for the fifteen-hour journey to Samara.
A few hours later, the master sees Death among the throngs in Baghdad. He boldly approaches Death and asks him, “Why did you give my servant a threatening look?”
“That was not a threatening look,” Death replies. “That was a look of surprise. You see, I was amazed to see your servant today in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samara.”
While the story’s imagery is problematic (it’s our righteous Master, not Death, who has the power to call us home at his appointed time), the moral is on target. The time of our death is unknown. The way of our death is unpredictable. But the fact of our death is inescapable. The statistics are unwavering: 100 percent of those who are born die. We may spend our lives running from death and denying death, but that won’t stop death from coming at its appointed time. “No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death” (Ecclesiastes 8:8).
Talking about death won’t bring it a moment sooner. But it will give us opportunity to prepare for what lies ahead. If life’s greatest certainty is death, wouldn’t it be foolish not to prepare for what lies beyond this life? Any life that leaves us unprepared for death is a wasted life.
What does this have to do with our attitude toward money and possessions? It has everything to do with it. Without a doubt, the single greatest contributor to our inability to see money and possessions in their true light is our persistent failure to see our present lives through the lens of eternity.
A startling thing has happened among Western Christians. Many of us habitually think and act as if there were no eternity—or as if what we do in this present life has no eternal consequences.
How many sermons about heaven or hell have most of us heard lately? How many modern gospel booklets even mention the words heaven or hell? The trend is to focus on our present circumstances instead of our eternal future. Yet Scripture states that eternal realities should influence the character of our present life, right down to every word we speak and every action we take (James 2:12; 2 Peter 3:11-12).
In those rare times when we do seriously consider the afterlife, it seems strange or dreamlike, so otherworldly as to be unreal. So we come back to “reality”—our present lives and possessions that we can see, hear, touch, feel, and taste. Things are real. Now is real. So we return to the pressing business of the day, that which is immediately relevant, those all-important matters of the present. These might include what’s happening in Hollywood, on Wall Street, in Washington or London, or the NFL or NBA; or what new self-help technique can make us beautiful or happy; or how we can decorate our house, or what kind of car we want to buy; or where we can get a low-interest loan. We live as if these shadowlands were the real world, the ultimate reality. But Scripture tells us they are not.
Our devotion to the newspaper and neglect of the Bible is the ultimate testimony to our interest in the short-range over the long-range. We fail to ask how expensive clothes, cruises, face-lifts, breast implants, and liposuctions will serve eternal purposes. Such questions are fit for theologians and pious old ladies, perhaps, but not for us—which would be true enough if only theologians and old ladies died, met their Maker, and spent eternity somewhere!
Being oblivious to eternity leaves us experts in the trivial and novices in the significant. We can name that tune, name that starting lineup, name that actor’s movie debut, and detail the differences between computers or four-wheel drives. None of this is wrong, of course, but it’s certainly revealing when we consider that most Christians, let alone the general public, do not even have an accurate picture of what the Bible says will happen to us after we die. We major in the momentary and minor in the momentous.
What does God have to say about our lives here? He says this life is so brief that we are like grass that grows up in the morning and wilts in the afternoon (Isaiah 40:6-8). Our life here is but “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
When my friend Leona Bryant discovered she had only a short time to live, she told me of radical changes in her perspective. “The most striking thing that’s happened,” she said, “is that I find myself totally uninterested in all the conversations about material things. Things used to matter to me, but now I find my thoughts are never on possessions, but always on Christ and people. I consider it a privilege that I can live each day, knowing I will die soon. What a difference it makes!”
David likewise sought to gain God’s perspective in light of the brevity of life:
Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere hand- breadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:4-7)
Because this life is so brief, we might easily conclude it’s inconsequential. Our lives may seem like pebbles dropped in a pond. They create ripples for a moment, tiny wrinkles that smooth out, then are gone forever. Abandoned tombstones with names no one remembers are a stark reminder of our eventual anonymity in this world. What do you know about your great-grandfather? What will your great-grandchildren know about you?
Our brief stay here may seem unimportant, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible tells us that although others may not remember us or care what our lives here have been, God will remember perfectly and cares very much—so much that the door of eternity swings on the hinges of our present lives.
The Bible tells us that this life lays the foundation upon which eternal life is built. Eternity will hold for us what we have invested there during our life on earth.
Scripture makes clear that the one central business of this life is to prepare for the next!
The Long Tomorrow: What Lies Ahead?
As no piece of a puzzle can be understood apart from the greater context of the full puzzle, so our present lives—including what we should do with all our money and possessions—cannot be understood apart from the greater context of eternity. In the rest of the chapter, I’ll try to paint the backdrop of what A. W. Tozer called “the long tomorrow,” against which the question of money—and all questions of life—must be properly viewed.
Many have been taught a few things about the Tribulation and the Antichrist and have certain beliefs that fit their particular cosmic eschatology. But we tend to be very vague about our personal eschatologies, the eternal futures awaiting each of us. The only certainty seems to be that if we know Christ as Savior we’ll be in heaven. We might say, “Just knowing I’ll be in heaven is good enough for me.” Apparently, however, it isn’t good enough for God. His Word tells us specifically about other aspects of our personal futures. And many readers will find them quite different than what they’ve supposed.
We spoke already of the next item on our eternal agenda—death. “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). The old saying, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes,” is only half true, since there are tax evaders, but no death evaders. Those alive at the return of Christ may not technically die, but the result will be the same—their earthly lives will abruptly end, and they will move immediately to the afterlife.
Hebrews 9:27 continues our written-in-stone itinerary—man is destined to die “and after that to face judgment.” This judgment is for all men, not some. Whether we go to Christ in death or he comes to us in his return, we face judgment. This doctrine is as old as the Church itself. The statement, “Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead,” found its way into the Apostles’ Creed (A.D. 250), the Nicene Creed (A.D. 325), and the Athanasian Creed (A.D. 400).
There seems to be built into every person, society, and religion, a basic belief that good deserves reward and evil deserves punishment, and both will ultimately get what they deserve. God has written his moral law on human hearts (Romans 2:12-16). This includes an inborn sense that one day we will be judged in the light of that law.
Scripture confirms this inbred human expectation of judgment. It says that God will judge everyone (Acts 17:31), and he will judge fairly (Genesis 18:25). Specifically, he will judge us according to our deeds: “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:10).
“Does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” (Proverbs 24:12).
“They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done” (2 Peter 2:13).
All men should live each day with this awesome awareness: “But they will have to give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead” (1 Peter 4:5).
God will judge us with total knowledge: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13).
Because his knowledge is total, his judgment is comprehensive and detailed: “Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36).
His judgment extends to what is hidden to others: “God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). He even knows the motives of men’s hearts and judges us in that light (1 Corinthians 4:5).
We are all sinners and the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23; 6:23). But an all-holy God, out of love for us, judged Jesus for our sins (Isaiah 53:9-10). Only by embracing Christ’s atonement for our sins can we escape the everlasting punishment due us (Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God’s justice was satisfied, but only at the cost of his own blood. To purchase our redemption, Jesus experienced an eternity of hell in a few hours on the cross.
Our Lord said, “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:6). Without cost to us, but at unimaginable cost to him—a cost that will be visible for eternity, as we behold his nail-scarred hands and feet (John 20:24-29). Bonhoeffer was right: grace is free, but it is not cheap.
The Unbeliever’s Judgment in Hell
Hell is a place of punishment designed for Satan and the fallen angels (Matthew 25:41-46; Revelation 20:10). However, it will also be inhabited by those who do not accept God’s gift of redemption in Christ (Revelation 20:12-15).
Hell is an actual place, clearly and graphically spoken of by Jesus (Matthew 10:28; 13:40-42; Mark 9:43-44). Hell is as literal as heaven (Psalm 11:4-6), and despite recent claims to the contrary (even among some evangelicals), as eternal as heaven (Matthew 25:46). Hell is a horrible place of suffering and everlasting destruction (Matthew 13:41-42; 2 Thessalonians 1:9). In hell, people are fully conscious and retain all of their capacities and desires with no hope for any fulfillment for all eternity (Luke 16:22-31).
Hell is indescribably dreadful. If we trust the Bible, we must realize that hell is undeniably real. Hell is something most of us do not want to believe in, but who are we to tell God he’s wrong? He so wants us not to go to hell that he paid the ultimate price so we wouldn’t have to. Nevertheless, apart from trusting Christ for salvation, any person’s eternal future will be spent in hell.
Because God is fair, hell won’t be the same for everyone. The severity of punishment will vary with the degree of truth known and the nature and number of sins committed. This concept is foreign to most Christians, but is clearly taught in Scripture (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 20:45-47; Romans 2:3-5). This is no consolation, however, since the “best” of hell will still be hell—eternal exclusion from the presence of God and the soothing light of his grace.
The Believer’s Experience in Heaven
I’ve written novels that develop themes of eternal perspective and portray conversations and events in heaven.54 People often ask me why I portray heaven as such a real and tangible place. First, because every time Scripture speaks of heaven it portrays it as a real place inhabited by real people, not by ghosts or pale, neutered Milquetoasts floating in the clouds. Second, because we desperately need an antidote to all the vague, dull, and notoriously unbiblical concepts about heaven that cause us not to long for it but to dread it.
In my nonfiction book In Light of Eternity: Perspectives on Heaven, I quote believers who admit they have feared heaven, then suggest why this may be:
Because of pervasive distortions of what heaven is like, it’s common for Christians to not look forward to heaven—or even to dread it. I think there’s only one explanation for how these appalling viewpoints have gripped so many of God’s children: Satan. Demonic deception.
Jesus said of the devil, “When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Some of Satan’s favorite lies are about heaven. Revelation 13:6 tells us the satanic beast “opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.” Our enemy slanders three things: God’s person, God’s people, and God’s place—heaven.
After being forcibly evicted from heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14), the devil is bitter not only toward God, but toward us and the place that’s no longer his. (It must be maddening for him to realize we’re now entitled to the home he was kicked out of.) What better way for demons to attack than to whisper lies about the very place God tells us to set our hearts and minds on (Colossians 3:1-2)?55
Jesus commands us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Yet because we’ve bought into misconceptions of heaven, failing to look at what Scripture tells us, we cling to earth as our home.56 Naturally, then, we tend to lay up our treasures here rather than there. Because we cannot devote our lives to laying up treasures in a heaven we’re not looking forward to, it’s critical that we take time here to address the question of what heaven is like.
As he was about to leave this world, Jesus said to his disciples, “There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. . . . When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:2-3, NLT).
We were made for a person and a place. Jesus is the person. Heaven is the place. And Jesus is the one building that place for us.
Before our children were born, my wife, Nanci, and I prepared a place for them. The quality of the place we prepared for our daughters was limited only by our skills, resources, and imaginations.
A good carpenter envisions what he wants to build. He plans and designs. Then he does his work, carefully and skillfully fashioning it to exact specifications. He takes pride in the work he’s done and loves to show it off. And Jesus isn’t just any carpenter—we already know he’s the Creator of the world and he built everything we see. Heaven is his greatest building project.
For Christians, heaven is our home. Paul said, “As long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. . . . We . . . would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Paul said we’d prefer to be in heaven, our true home. Home is the place of acceptance, security, rest, refuge, deep personal relationships, and great memories.
God’s people, aliens and strangers on earth, spend their lives “looking forward to a country they can call their own” and “looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland” (Hebrews 11:14, 16, NLT). The capital of this heavenly country will be a “city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God” (Hebrews 11:10, NLT). This city will have all the freshness, vitality, and openness of the country with all the vibrancy, interdependence, and relationships of a city. A city without crime, litter, smog, sirens, seaminess, or slums.
Heaven will have an endless supply of fresh water and delicious food. No famine or drought. Christ promised we would eat and drink with him—along with Abraham and others (Matthew 8:11). We’ll meet and converse with other inhabitants of heaven. Not only Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but Moses, David, Ruth, Esther, Mary, and Peter. I look forward to conversations with C. S. Lewis, A. W. Tozer, Jonathan Edwards, and Amy Carmichael.
We’ll converse with angels. Because angels are “ministering spirits” who serve us (Hebrews 1:14), we’ll get to know those who protected us during our years on earth.
We’ll enjoy and share with others the treasures we laid up for ourselves in heaven while we lived on earth (Matthew 6:19-21). We’ll open our dwelling places to entertain people (Luke 16:9).
God gave Adam and Eve creativity in their unfallen state that was twisted but remained when they fell. He will surely not give us less creativity in heaven but more, unmarred by sin, unlimited by mortality. We will compose, write, paint, carve, build, plant, and grow.
There will be no temple, no church buildings. Christ will be the focus of all. Worship will be unaffected, without pretense or distraction. We’ll be lost in our worship, overcome by God’s magnificence and the privilege of being his children.
In Revelation 5 we’re told of a choir of angels numbering ten thousand times ten thousand—that’s 100 million! And then we’re told that the whole rest of creation adds its voices to these 100 million. The 100 million are merely an ensemble on the stage. Can you imagine the power of the song?
Will we learn in heaven? Definitely. We’re told that in the coming ages God will continuously reveal to us the “incomparable riches of his grace” (Ephesians 2:7). When we die, we’ll know a lot more than we do now, but we’ll keep learning about God and his creation and each other throughout eternity.
Will we remember our lives and relationships on earth? Of course. (We’ll be smarter in heaven, not dumber!) Remembrance is important to God, which is why the heavenly city has memorials of people and events of earth (Revelation 21:12-14). It’s also why God keeps in heaven “a scroll of remembrance,” written in God’s presence, “concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name” (Malachi 3:16). The pain of the past will be gone. But memories of being together in the trenches, walking with Christ, and experiencing intimate times with family and friends will remain.
Will we know our loved ones in heaven? Certainly. We’ll know even those we didn’t know on earth, just as Peter, James, and John recognized Moses and Elijah when they joined Jesus (Luke 9:28-33), though they could not have known what they looked like. After entering heaven, the martyrs look down on earth and clearly remember their lives, fully aware of what’s happening there (Revelation 6:9-11). Heaven isn’t characterized by ignorance of events on earth but by perspective on them.
Heaven will offer much-needed rest to the weary (Revelation 14:13). What feels better than putting your head on the pillow after a hard day’s work or kicking back to read a good book with a cold drink by your side?
But rest renews us, revitalizes us to become active again. Heaven will offer refreshing activity, productive and unthwarted—like Adam and Eve’s work in Eden before sin brought the curse on the ground.
In heaven, we’re told, “his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:3). This means we’ll be active, because to “serve” means to work, to expend effort, to do something. Service involves responsibilities, duties, effort, planning, and creativity to do work well.
We’ll lead and exercise authority in heaven, making important decisions. We’ll reign with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 3:21), not temporarily but “for ever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). “Reigning” implies specific delegated responsibilities for those under our leadership (Luke 19:17-19). We’ll rule over the world and even over angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).
When God brings heaven down to the new earth, he “will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4). What an intimate picture—God’s hands will touch the face of each individual child, removing every tear. The same verse says, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” As the Irish poet Thomas Moore put it, “Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.”
No hospitals. No cemeteries. No sin. No evil. No fear. No abuse, rape, murder, drugs, drunkenness, bombs, guns, or terrorism.
Heaven will be deeply appreciated by the disabled, who will be liberated from ravaged bodies and minds, and by the sick and elderly who will be free from their pains and restrictions. They will walk and run and see and hear, some for the first time. Hymn writer Fanny Crosby said, “Don’t pity me for my blindness, for the first face I ever see will be the face of my Lord Jesus.”
God is the Creator of diversity. People of every tribe and nation and tongue will worship the Lamb together (Revelation 7:9-10).
Heaven will be the home of relentless joy. The greatest joy will be marrying our bridegroom, Jesus Christ. If we love Christ, we long to be with him. The next greatest joy will be reuniting with our departed loved ones. I don’t like to be away from my family, but what keeps me going is the anticipation of reunion. The longer the separation, the sweeter the reunion. I haven’t seen my mom for twenty years, my childhood friend Jerry for nine years, my dad for five. Some will be reunited with parents they’ve not seen for fifty years and with children lost long ago. For Christians, death is never the end of a relationship but only an interruption to be followed by glorious reunion.
Heaven is the Christian’s certain hope, a hope that can and should sustain us through life’s darkest hours. But this doesn’t happen automatically. We must choose to think about heaven and center our lives around it: “Set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand. . . . Let heaven fill your thoughts” (Colossians 3:1-2, NLT).
The Believer’s Judgment in Heaven
Heaven will be a wonderful place. But Scripture plainly tells us there is a judgment of believers that will determine for all eternity our positions or roles in heaven.
The Bible teaches two eternal judgments, one for unbelievers and one for believers (John 5:28-29). All true believers will pass the judgment of faith in Christ. All unbelievers will fail the judgment of their faith in Christ at the great white throne, since their names are not written in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15).
But faith is not the only thing judged. Scripture repeatedly states that all men, not just unbelievers, will be judged for their works (Proverbs 24:12; Ecclesiastes 12:14). The unbeliever’s judgment of works comes at the great white throne (Revelation 20:11-12). The believer will not be condemned at the great white throne, but nonetheless he or she still faces a judgment of works, at what is called the “judgment seat of Christ.”
The Lord’s evaluation of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 makes clear that he is watching us, evaluating us. He is “keeping score.” As an instructor gives grades to his students, Christ gives grades to his churches. To Christians, Jesus says, “I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds” (Revelation 2:23).
Scripture teaches with unmistakable clarity that all believers in Christ will give an account of their lives to their Lord (Romans 14:10-12). We will be judged by him according to our works, both good and bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). The result of this will be the gain or loss of eternal rewards (1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Romans 14:10-12).
God’s Word treats this judgment with great sobriety. It does not portray it as a meaningless formality or going through the motions before we get on to the real business of heavenly bliss. Rather, Scripture presents it as a monumental event in which things of eternal significance are brought to light and things of eternal consequence are put into effect.
If any man builds on this foundation [the foundation of Christ] using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Our works are what we have done with our resources—time, energy, talents, money, possessions. The fire of God’s holiness will reveal the quality of these works, the eternal significance of what we’ve done with our God-given assets and opportunities. The fate of the works will be determined by their nature. If they are made of the right stuff (gold, silver, costly stones), they’ll withstand and be purified by the fire. But no matter how nice our works of wood, hay, and straw may look in the display case of this world, they will not withstand the incendiary gaze of God’s Son in the next.
“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
“Whether good or bad” in the above verse may be the most disturbing phrase in the New Testament. It’s so disturbing, in fact, that I’ve found any honest attempts to deal with it are met with tremendous resistance. Equally disturbing is the direct statement to Christians that not only will they receive reward from Christ for their good works, but “anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism” (Colossians 3:25). Since Christ has paid the price for our sins, if we have confessed and received forgiveness of our sins, what can this mean?
Our sins are totally forgiven when we come to Christ, and we stand justified in him. Nevertheless, Scripture speaks about a coming judgment of our works, not our sins. When we commit sins or neglect doing righteous acts we should have done, we are not doing what we could to lay up precious stones on the foundation of Christ. Therefore, these sins contribute to our “suffering loss.” Through this loss of reward, the believer is considered to be receiving his “due” for his works “whether good or bad.” So what we do as believers, both good and bad, will have eternal effects.
In light of this, the writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). Sin entangles our feet, puts us out of the competition, and results in losing the race and the prize.
God is for us, not against us (Romans 8:31). He has assured us we won’t face the Great White Throne Judgment. He wants to commend us at the judgment seat of Christ. He doesn’t want the works of our lifetime to go up in smoke. He wants us to have eternal rewards—and he has given us every resource in Christ to live the godly life that will result in those eternal rewards (2 Peter 1:3).
For those who have served Christ faithfully, the judgment seat will be a time of commendation and celebration. He will reward us for acts of love that no one else even noticed.
Does God Really Care about Our Works?
The five-hundred-year-old play Everyman is a picture of all people. As Everyman faces Death, he looks among his friends for a companion. Only one friend would accompany him on the journey through death to final judgment. His name? Good Deeds.
Some balk at such a picture. Yet it’s explicitly biblical: “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them’” (Revelation 14:13).
In Revelation 19:7-8, we’re told “the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)”
Note that the parenthetical statement in the preceding verse is not mine, but God’s! This passage offers several surprises. We might have expected to be told that Christ makes the bride ready, rather than she herself. We could also have expected that the fine linen would stand for the righteousness of Christ, or perhaps the righteous faith of the saints. But what we are told is that it stands for the righteous acts or works of the saints. If we will indeed be clothed according to our works for Christ, this verse suggests that some Christians will be scantily clad!
We’ve been deceived into thinking that works is a dirty word. Not true. God condemns works done to earn salvation and works done to impress others. But our Lord enthusiastically commends works done for the right reasons. Immediately after saying our salvation is “not by works,” Paul adds: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
God has a lifetime of good works for each of us to do. Many of these works he intends to do with our money and possessions. He will reward us according to whether or not we do them. Scripture ties God’s reward-giving to his character: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (Hebrews 6:10). The verses that follow in Hebrews 6 tell us that if we are to inherit God’s promised blessings we must not become lazy but diligent in our God-given works.
James repeatedly states that good works are essential to the Christian life (James 2:17-18, 22, 24, 26). “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13).
God gives us eternal rewards for doing good works (Ephesians 6:8; Romans 2:6, 10), persevering under persecution (Luke 6:22-23), showing compassion to the needy (Luke 14:13-14), and treating our enemies kindly (Luke 6:35). He also grants us rewards for generous giving: “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21).
We know Christ will say to some (but not all) believers, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21). Not “Well said,” or “Well believed,” but “Well done.” What separates the sheep from the goats is what they did and didn’t do with their God-entrusted resources of time, money, and possessions.
Peter says, “If you do these things, [then] you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10-11). What a powerful encouragement this is to saints who sacrifice in this life to prepare for the next! In heaven a great welcoming committee awaits them and a hearty “Well done!” But this isn’t automatic—the conditional “if, then” makes it clear that if we don’t do what Peter prescribed, then we won’t receive this rich welcome when we enter heaven.
Where we spend eternity, whether heaven or hell, depends on our faith. Our further condition in either place will be determined by our works. John Bunyan said, “Consider, to provoke you to good works, that you shall have from God, when you come to glory, a reward for everything you do for him on earth.”
A Second Chance?
My God-given resources, including money and possessions, have immense potential. They are the levers, positioned on the fulcrum of this life, by which I can move the mountains of eternity.
Evangelicals reject the doctrine of a second chance for unbelievers. We recognize that there’s no opportunity to come to Christ after death. But it’s equally true that after death there’s no second chance for believers. There’s no more opportunity for us to walk by faith and serve our Lord in this fallen world.
We can’t do life here over again. There’s no retaking the course once we’ve failed it. There’s no improving a D to an A. No rescheduling the final exams. Death is the deadline. There’s no extension.
A basketball game is over at the final buzzer. Shots taken late don’t count. When the trumpet heralds Christ’s return, our eternal future begins and our present opportunity ends. If we have failed by then to use our money, possessions, time, and energy for eternity, then we have failed—period.
“But we’ll be in heaven and that’s all that matters.” On the contrary, Paul spoke of the loss of reward as a great and terrible loss. The fact that we’re still saved is a clarification, not a consolation—“if it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:15). Receiving reward from Christ is unspeakable gain with eternal implications. Forfeiting reward is a terrible loss with equally eternal implications. How dare we say that being in heaven is all that matters to us, when so much else matters to God?
What we do in this life is of eternal importance. You and I will never have another chance to move the hand of God through prayer to heal a hurting soul, share Christ with one who can be saved from hell, care for the sick, give a cup of water to the thirsty, comfort the dying, invest money to help the helpless, rescue the unborn, further God’s kingdom, open our homes, and share our clothes and food with the poor and needy.
What you do with your resources in this life is your autobiography. The book you’ve written with the pen of faith and the ink of works will go into eternity unedited, to be seen and read as is by the angels, the redeemed, and God himself. When we view today in light of the long tomorrow, the little choices become tremendously important. Whether I read my Bible today, pray, go to church, share my faith, and give my money—graciously empowered not by my flesh but by his Spirit—is of eternal consequence, not only for other souls, but mine.
At death we put the signature to our life’s portrait. The paint dries. The portrait’s done. Those who’ve dabbled in photography understand the “fixer.” In developing a photograph, the negatives are immersed in different solutions. The developing solution parallels this life. As long as the photograph is in the developer it’s subject to change. But once it’s dropped into the fixer or “stop bath,” it’s permanently fixed. The photograph is done. What you see is what you get. So it will be when we die and enter eternity—the lives we lived on earth will be fixed as is, never to be altered or revised.
At the end of the movie Schindler’s List, there’s a heart-wrenching scene in which Oskar Schindler—who bought from the Nazis the lives of many Jews—looks at his car and his gold pin and regrets that he didn’t give more of his money and possessions to save more lives. Schindler had used his opportunity far better than most. But in the end, he longed for a chance to go back and make better choices.
This life is our opportunity. Scripture does not teach what most of us seem to assume—that heaven will transform each of us into equal beings with equal possessions and equal responsibilities and equal capacities. It does not say our previous lives will be of no eternal significance. It says exactly the opposite.
Beyond the new heavens and new earth—which themselves are populated and structured according to what has been done in this life—there is no record of change. We might hope that what happens at the judgment seat will be of only temporary concern to the Judge, and that all of our disobedience and missed opportunities will make no difference. Will God make all souls equal in heaven and thereby consider as equally valid a life of selfishness and indifference to others’ needs as compared to a life spent kneeling in prayer and feeding the hungry and sharing the gospel? The Bible clearly answers no.
Donald Gray Barnhouse put it this way:
Let us live, then, in the light of eternity. If we do not, we are weighting the scales against our eternal welfare. We must understand that “what- soever a man soweth” must be taken in its widest meaning, and that every thought and intent of the heart will come under the scrutiny of the Lord and His coming. We can be sure that at the Judgment Seat of Christ there will be a marked difference between the Christian who has lived his life before the Lord, clearly discerning what was for the glory of God, and another Christian who was saved in a rescue mission at the tag end of a depraved and vicious life, or a nominal Christian saved on his deathbed after a life of self-pride, self-righteousness, self-love, and self-sufficiency. All will be in heaven, but the differences will be eternal. We may be sure that the consequences of our character will survive the grave and that we shall face those consequences at the Judgment Seat of Christ.57
If we really believed that what we do with our money and possessions—and everything else—will have an irreversible effect on eternity . . . wouldn’t we live differently?
There lies ahead for each of us, at the end of the term, a final examination. It will be administered by a fair yet strict Headmaster. How seriously we take this clear teaching of Scripture is demonstrated by how seriously we are preparing for that day.
When we took courses in college, we asked questions about the teacher: “What are his tests like? Does he take attendance? Is he a hard grader? What does he expect in your papers?” If we’re to do well in the course, we must know what the instructor expects of us. We must study the course syllabus, God’s Word, to find out the answers to these questions. Once we find out, we should be careful to plot our lives accordingly—in light of the long tomorrow.
I spent a day with a missionary friend in the ruins of ancient Corinth. For an hour we sat on the same judgment seat that Paul stood before in Acts 18, the one he used to help the Corinthians visualize Christ’s future judgment of Christians. Together we read Scriptures that speak of that day when we will stand before the Lord’s judgment seat and give an account for what we have done with all he has given us. We discussed the implications and prayed that when that day comes he might find us faithful and say to us, “Well done.” We prayed knowing that our hourly and daily choices, empowered by our Lord, will determine what transpires on that day. It was one of the most sobering hours of my life.
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist who made his fortune by inventing dynamite and other powerful explosives that governments bought to produce weapons. When Nobel’s brother Ludvig died, a French newspaper accidentally printed Alfred’s obituary instead. He was described as a man who became rich from enabling people to kill each other in unprecedented quantities. Shaken by this assessment, Nobel resolved to use his fortune to reward accomplishments that benefited humanity, including what we now know as the Nobel Peace Prize. He invested nine million dollars in this attempt to edit his role in history.
Nobel had a rare opportunity to look at the assessment of his life at its end—yet while he was still alive and had an opportunity to change that assessment.
Put yourself in Nobel’s place. Read your own obituary, not as written by an uninformed or biased reporter, but as an onlooking angel might write it from heaven’s point of view. Look at it carefully. Then use the rest of your life to edit that obituary into what you want it to be.
When you leave this world, will you be known as one who accumulated treasures on earth that you couldn’t keep? Or will you be recognized as one who invested treasures in heaven that you couldn’t lose?
Martin Luther said that on his calendar there were only two days: “today” and “that Day.” May we invest our money and possessions today in light of that day.