The Big Reward Comes at the End

We love others because Jesus loves us, and the amount of love we give others can never match the magnitude of the love that we have received from Him. It seems unreasonable—and maybe even a little ungrateful—to ask what we’ll receive for our obedience to the Lost Commandment (John 13:34). Jesus says, though, that we'll experience complete joy (John 15:11). And that's not all the Bible teaches we'll receive for our obedience.

I recently heard a sermon by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson. Wilkinson pointed out that after we die, we’ll face two judgments from Jesus: a judgment of destination and a judgment of compensation. The judgment of destination is determined by what each of us chooses to do with his sin. If we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then our destination is heaven. On the other hand, if we chose to attempt to pay for our sin by our works, then our payment falls short, and our destination is hell.

But then comes a second judgment: the judgment of compensation. In this second judgment, the Lord determines the amount of the reward (if any) that we’ll receive as a result of our works on earth. That means that what we do on earth, not just what we believe, has eternal consequences. Eternal rewards are at stake.

Does God really owe us anything for the works that we perform on earth? No, because He has already pre-overpaid us in the blood of Christ shed on the cross for us. Yet God, in His grace, chooses to reward us in order to demonstrate His glory. These rewards are, paradoxically, grace gifts that we earn. If we only focus on the first judgment—the judgment of destination—we miss some of the incentive that God gives us to love others as Jesus loves us.

Loving others as Jesus loves us probably won’t make us financially wealthy on earth, but it’s the best way to lay up treasures in heaven—treasures that God is pleased to give us, by His grace.