Rewards: Part 6

Objections (cont.)

2. If we are all perfect, won’t we all be at the same level?
We tend to think that perfection is a static state. Once your perfect, you don’t get any better. Or so we think. But perfection is more flawlessness than being all that we could be. Think back to Eden. Our first human ancestors were created perfect, but were they all that they could be? Apparently not, for God commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” Following those commands would lead them into whole worlds of new experience like sex, romance, building, creating, etc. Over time they would grow better and better at these tasks and derive more and more joy. They have always loved perfectly, and yet as they grew in their knowledge of one another they came to a deeper understanding of what “love” is. God isn’t “the same yesterday, today, and forever” because he is perfect, but because he is infinitely perfect.

As I said before, our brokenness, both our broken and twisted hearts and our broken bodies, will be gone forever. In that sense, we will be perfect, but we will not be all that we can be. It’s impossible to imagine that with minds no longer clouded by the psychological, social, and emotional effects of sin, with bodies liberated from the weakness and diseases that have hampered them, while living in the presence of the Creator God and of the redeemed from tribes, people groups, and nations from all over the world and history, we would not grow in our knowledge of God, love for others, joy of new experiences, etc. Edwards said, and I quite agree, that eternal life will not be more static but more dynamic than this present life. Freed from all that weighed us down, we will not run slower but faster. And I cannot help but conclude that part of the reward is just how fast we will grow. And when shall we stop growing? God is infinite and infinity alone is where we stop. But we can never reach that infinite level, for we are finite. That means that we shall grow and mature, learn and develop faster than we ever have before, but we will never stop. We will only increase at ever widening paces into eternity.

3. If we can progress in eternal life, why start storing up rewards now?
This objection comes directly on the heels of the last answer. Why get serious about rewards now when we’ll have eternity to make up for lost time? How twisted is the mind that offers such an objection. I don’t say that to condemn, for I entirely sympathize with the question. That doesn’t make it less twisted, because I'm a twisted man.

However, once you take a moments reflection, you will observe the absurdity of this thought. One might as well say, “Why should I start fighting this cancer now, I always have tomorrow” or “Why should I eat my dinner this week. There will be dinner next week everyday, and every week as far I can see.” If you do not cherish the miraculous and indestructible gifts of love, joy, faith, and holiness more than the temporal and fading treasures of this world, I can promise you that you will not like an eternal dwelling with God. In other words, if you are not seeking rewards, than you are not seeking God.

4. Isn’t working for an eternal reward really acting selfishly?
I hope by this point that you can answer this question yourself. But sometimes our minds are slower than our hearts, so I’ll give a brief response. Put simply, to love others to get the reward of a new corvette is selfish. To love others to get the reward of more love for others is not. Seeking God to get a gift is selfish, but seeking God to get more of God, or to get one of his gifts that displays more of Him to you, is not.

I have read a helpful illustration by Randy Alcorn, but I’ll put my own twist on it. Let’s say my son is taking swimming lessons (which he is) and is terrified of water (which he is), and let’s say that I promise to take him out for ice cream (which I did) if he doesn’t scream, cry, and does what he is told during the lesson. Now is my son’s motivation for obeying entirely selfish? Not necessarily. At least I hope not, since I try not to teach my children to be self-centered. We can find out pretty quick what his motive is. If say I take him out for ice cream, and he says, “Dad, I want ice cream, but I really don’t want to eat it with you,” then his motive would have been selfish. But he didn’t do that, and that is because his love for me and his desire for a reward from me are all wrapped up together. To him ice cream is a display of my love for him. God’s rewards are not detached from him; they are displays of him. If you want the gift but not the Giver, then you have a problem. But if you want the gift because it’s from the Giver, then you are living exactly as Jesus commanded.