Varying Rewards In Heaven

 

            Christians will be offered varying rewards in heaven (cf. Daniel 12:3; 1 Corinthians 3:14-15). The Bible says all Christians will stand before the judgment seat of God and each of us will give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:10,12). Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth tells the Corinthians, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10; cf. Luke 19:17,19).

            Christians need not fear; for during this judgment we will not be relegated to hell (cf. John 5:24; Romans 8:1). God will only judge the Christians to evaluate and offer varying degrees of rewards in heaven (cf. Revelations 11:18).

            It also seems that the sins of Christians would be revealed on the last day for the Lord, “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5; cf. Colossians 3:24,25). The sins that will be exposed will be exposed as sins that have been forgiven, and thereby there will be the occasion for giving glory to God for the richness of HIS grace.

            While on earth, we, as Christians, should be careful as to how we live, “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15, ESV).

            Even though there will be degrees of reward in heaven, the joy of each person will be full and complete for eternity. If we think that those with greater rewards or higher status would be more joyful in heaven, we are mistaken. For if those with higher status would be more joyful, the apostles and the heavenly creatures would be more joyful than the others. In a state of perfection, this disparity does not seem plausible.

            Millard J. Erickson in his work Christian Theology (Second Edition) offers a useful analogy. He compares the joy in heaven to the varying degrees of pleasure people derive from a concert. The same sound waves fall on everyone’s ears, but the reactions may range from boredom to ecstasy. A similar situation may well hold with respect to the joys in heaven, although the range of reactions will presumably be narrower. No one will be aware of the differences in the range of enjoyment, and thus there will be no dimming of the perfection of heaven.

            What should we do now to gain better rewards in heaven? Gotquestions.org describes this beautifully, “The closer we were to God during this life, the more centered on Him and aware of Him, the more dependent on Him, the more desperate for His mercy, the more there will be to celebrate.”¹

            Last but not the least, can a born-again Christian willfully disobey God and yet expect rewards in heaven? This question does not need an answer per se but a more significant aspect to consider is if a born-again Christian could even think of willfully disobeying God. If a Christian thinks so, would it not question his born-again status?

Endnotes:

¹https://www.gotquestions.org/rewards-in-heaven.html

Content sourced from: Systematic Theology (An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine) by Wayne Grudem and Christian Theology (Second Edition) by Millard J. Erickson.

The website last accessed on 30^th April 2021.

The New Heavens And New Earth

 

            So many Christians are longing to be free from evil and to live in HIS glorious presence.

            Evil is rampant in our world (cf. Ephesians 2:2). Those whose lives are overwhelmed by evil are yearning for deliverance.

            For Christians, this earthly life is a road to the glorious life we would be living with God forever.

            After our death, our soul (in a disembodied existence) would proceed to God’s presence (although not yet into the new heavens and new earth), awaiting the final judgment.

            After the final judgment, Christians will enter into the full enjoyment of life in the presence of God forever. Jesus will say to us, “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” (Matthew 25:34, ESV). We will enter a kingdom where “And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him...” (Revelation 22:3, NET). We would be with God in heaven forever in the new heavens and a new earth – an entirely renewed creation (cf. Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13).

            The new heavens and new earth is a joining of heaven and earth in this new creation wherein we will live in the presence of God forever. Just as the earth is a place, the new heavens and new earth will be a literal place, not a state of mind.

            In the new heavens and new earth, we will live in our resurrected bodies – a body that will never grow old or become weak or ill.

            We will have perfect knowledge – a beatific vision of God. For the very first time, we shall see and know God in a direct way (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 & 1 John 3:2).

            The following aspects characterize the new heavens and new earth:¹

           No death, sorrow, or sickness (Revelation 21: 4; 2 Corinthians 1: 4-5).

           No curse (Revelation 22: 3).

           A place of abundant life and joy (John 10:10; Revelation 22: 1-2 cf. Psalm 16: 11; Luke 15:10).

           Perpetual worship and service (Revelation 4:8, 5:13-14, 22:3).

           We will be perfect in heaven – in body, in morality, in knowledge (Philippians 3: 21; 1 Corinthians 13: 9-12, 15: 51-53; Revelation 21: 27).

           There could be heavenly homes, mansions and palaces (John 14: 1-3).

           We would be reunited with our loved ones in heaven (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18).

           Heaven is a place of eternal rest and eternal reward (Revelation 14:13, 22:12; Hebrews 4: 9)

           Heaven will be exceptionally beautiful and indescribably glorious (1 Corinthians 2: 9; Revelation 21: 18-21; Romans 8:18; Ezekiel 1:13).

            Heaven is an eternal or everlasting or an endless abode. Heaven will not cease to exist (Titus 1: 2; Matthew 25: 46). 

            William Lane Craig describes our post-death corporeal existence in the new heavens and new earth as, “Your next life will not be “in heaven” but on the new Earth that God will usher in after the close of human history and the dissolution of this universe. We shall have resurrection bodies that Paul describes as glorious, powerful, immortal, and supernatural (I Corinthians 15.42-44), inhabiting a new universe which has undergone a resurrection of its own (Romans 8.21), free of decay and death... I would say that the afterlife will, indeed, be “an extension of our earthly life.”... There will not be marriage in the afterlife, but that’s no reason to think that you will not know your earthly wife (or wives!) as your sister in heaven.”²

            How does the study of the new heavens and new earth help us now? The present creation filled with evil is temporary. Our life in the new creation will last for eternity.

            Hence, we should strive to live a godly life while on earth regardless of living in a [perpetual] state of happiness or sorrow (cf. 2 Peter 3:11-13).

Endnotes:

¹https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2016/02/what-is-heaven-like.html

²https://www.reasonablefaith.org/question-answer/P40/how-will-we-be-different-in-heaven

Websites last accessed on 29^th April 2021.

Does God Determine The Date & Time Of Our Death?

           For many of us, living during the Covid pandemic is to stare death in the face.

            It’s not that in pre-covid times we took life for granted, but, then the chances of living were more than the chances of our dying. Today it is not so; the chances of our death have increased exponentially.

            Death seems so much closer to us than ever before.

            Although we hope to die peacefully without being a burden on any one, we are not in control over our death. Some deaths are peaceful, some brutal and violent, and some deaths are sudden and unexpected. We are painfully unaware as to how and when we would die.

            In this context, we may be more secure if God determines the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ of our death i.e. the date, time, place, and the nature of our death. To know that God is in total control of our death is to know that God would be with us when we breathe our last breath (cf. John 14:17). If God is with us, we could be secure and peaceful during our final moments of this mortal life.  

            When we say that God determines our death, we are not alluding to the notion that God knows every detail about our death. Of course, God, as the maximally great being, would know everything – that includes every detail of our death.

            To know something is distinct from determining something. Consider a casual example. I may know that you would be travelling to your destination in public transport. On the other hand, if I play an active role in you using public transport for your travel, I am rather determining the nature of your travel. (The more I increase my involvement in your journey, the more I determine your journey.) Knowledge of an event is included in determining an event. So determining an event includes both knowledge and an active participation of the causal agent in causing that event to occur.

            When God determines our deaths, God is actively involved in the date, time, place, and the nature of our death.

            This does not mean that God is the cause of all suicides. God will not violate man’s freewill.

            God allows man to commit suicide [although in certain instances, God, being a sovereign being, can prevent a man from committing suicide]. In other words, man decides freely to commit suicide. While using his freewill to commit suicide, man chooses to either actively or passively ignore or violate God’s perfect will.

            Unhealthy lifestyles could also usher an early death. But an unhealthy lifestyle is not God’s perfect will for man. However, if man chooses to disobey God to live an unhealthy lifestyle, God, in all likelihood, would allow that man to exercise his freewill.

            So a suicide or an unhealthy lifestyle or a rash decision could usher an early death. But the exercise of man’s freewill does not diminish God’s perfection by any means. God would still determine or be actively involved in the death of every Christian.

            Does the Bible teach that God determines the death of every Christian?

            Consider these verses:

            God has ordained all our days on earth. This includes the days of our birth and death. (Psalm 139: 16 (NIV) “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”)

            God is in absolute control over our life. (Matthew 10: “²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. ³⁰ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” - NIV)

            God gives us our life and our death. (Acts 17: 25 “And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” - NIV [Emphasis Mine].)

            The Lord decides our death. (James 4: “¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”” - NIV)

            (Also refer Deuteronomy 32: 39; 1 Samuel 2: 6; Job 1: 21, 14:5 etc.) 

            To conclude, we may stare death at the face, but worry not, the Triune God who created us and sustains our life is in control over your life and mine.

            On a personal note, my prayer, when I die, is that I will be sane and diligent to pray, “Into your hand I commit my spirit.” (Psalm 31:5 ESV; cf. Acts 7: 59).

Should Christians Take Covid Vaccine?

            The anti-vaccine movement is rather rampant. Quite a few anti-vaxxers are actively feeding seeds of doubt into the cautious and contemplative minds of certain Christians, who are uncertain about receiving vaccine shots.

            Some critical objections of the anti-vaxxers are:

1.      Vaccines have not been tested properly. Animal tests have been either inadequate or the vaccine made animals deathly ill in trials.¹

2.      Some Covid vaccines are mRNA vaccines, which are completely new type of vaccine. We are clueless if these vaccines will be effective or safe.²

3.      mRNA vaccines will alter our DNA. We would, then, become genetically modified organisms, if we received the vaccines.³

4.      Vaccine hooks us all up to an artificial intelligence interface.⁴

5.      Some vaccines (Oxford University/AstraZeneca) were developed using HEK-293 cells that were obtained from a human fetus (unborn baby) who was legally aborted.⁵ So it would be a violation of Christian ethics if we are to take these vaccines.

6.      Covid vaccines are related to the “mark of the beast.”⁶

How should we respond to these doubts?

A.     mRNA vaccines cannot alter the human DNA, according to the fact-checking website Snopes. “The mRNA is incapable of crossing the nuclear envelope of the cell where that human DNA lives. It means the vaccine cannot alter human DNA,” says Snopes.⁷

Christian biochemist, Dr. Fazale Rana, in his article entitled The COVID-19 Vaccines and God’s Providence claims God’s presence in the rapid developments of the Covid vaccines. mRNA vaccines are safe to use, he claims.⁸

B.     Should we receive a ‘morally tainted’ vaccine? John Wyatt, who was the Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, Ethics & Perinatology at University College London, encourages Christians to receive vaccines that may be ‘morally tainted.’ A Covid patient or a relative of the Covid patient is not as morally responsible as the Christian technologist or  a Christian pharmaceutical executive making decisions about which vaccine candidates to invest in or a Christian politician with responsibilities for public spending.

If our viable option is only the ‘morally tainted’ vaccine, we should receive that vaccine than risk our lives by not receiving one. But if there is another option, then we could opt for the ‘non-morally-tainted’ option.⁹ 

This, of course, matters only to those Christians who are staunch ‘pro-lifers.’ (Pro-choice Christians don’t care about abortion.)

C.     Many Christian leaders (Fazale Rana, Franklin Graham, s/o famous evangelist Billy Graham, Robert Jeffress, Francis Collins etc.) have encouraged vaccination.¹⁰

The ‘mark of the beast’ is not a medical procedure and most certainly is not at all something that could be accidentally taken, claims an article in the Logos Academic Blog entitled COVID-19 and The Mark of the Beast.¹¹

D.     There is no concrete evidence for the vaccine to hook us all up to an artificial intelligence interface.

These assertions negate doubts about the inadequacy of the vaccine tests.

            Aside from these doubts, Snopes has refuted an apparent claim that Covid vaccines are called Luciferase, indicating that the vaccines possess satanic connotations. In reality, Luciferase refers to a group of enzymes which act upon a chemical compound called luciferins.¹²

            Believers of the Lord Jesus should not worry about death with respect to receiving Covid vaccination. Unless, God allows, we will not die. If God allows our death through Covid infection, we would be in God’s presence – a much better place than this evil world.

            Finally, if our government makes vaccine mandatory, could Christians resist receiving the vaccine? “Therefore, since the word of God gives us no specific direction on medical treatment (including on taking vaccines), believers have no Scriptural basis for choosing to disobey a government requirement to take the vaccine,” according to an article entitled Should Christians receive the COVID-19 vaccine?¹³

            In conclusion, when we have overwhelming evidence to receive vaccination, what then prevents us?

Endnotes:

¹https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/enough-make-scientists-cry

²https://www.hartleychiropracticsaintaugustine.com/letter-from-frank-shallenberger-md-hmd-regarding-the-covid-19-vaccine/

³https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/enough-make-scientists-cry

⁴Ibid.  

⁵https://johnwyatt.com/2021/01/04/article-coronavirus-vaccines-and-christian-ethics/

⁶https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/16/covid-vaccine-misinformation-evangelical-mark-beast/

⁷https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/12/17/frank-shallenberger-covid-vaccine/

⁸https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/the-cells-design/read/the-cells-design/2020/12/23/the-covid-19-vaccines-and-god-s-providence

⁹https://johnwyatt.com/2021/01/04/article-coronavirus-vaccines-and-christian-ethics/

&

https://pastorsacademy.org/blog/pro-life-christians-are-free-to-get-a-covid-vaccine/

&

https://pastorsacademy.org/blog/can-christians-get-a-covid-vaccine/

¹⁰https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-26/u-s-evangelical-leaders-preach-vaccine-to-holdout-flocks

¹¹http://academiclogos.wpengine.com/covid-19-and-the-mark-of-the-beast/

¹²https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/covid-19-vaccine-luciferase/

¹³https://www.versebyverseministry.org/bible-answers/should-christian-receive-the-covid-19-vaccine

Websites last accessed on 14^th March, 2021