Where the righteous are rewarded is a vitally important question for everyone interested in life after death. Although contrary to popular opinion, the Bible really teaches that one’s belief of where the reward is to be, largely determines whether one will receive a reward. It is natural to be more concerned about our temporal affairs than to think seriously about an inheritance after death.
Steps are quickly taken to ascertain the location of a prospective inheritance, and no heir would hesitate to take possession of an estate because the location was not where he thought it was. And since one must accept the real location of such a gift as an unalterable fact, it is equally obvious that if the righteous are rewarded here on earth, conflicting views on the subject will not alter that truth. Where our eternal reward is to be enjoyed should interest us much more than the location of a temporary inheritance.
But there is still another aspect of our subject that makes it important. No prospective heir would have the effrontery to ask that the last will and testament provide for moving a house to a location chosen by the heir. And if such a request be outrageous in human society, may we be in doubt about God’s displeasure if we wilfully ignore His revelation of where the righteous are to be rewarded ? A Scripture view on this question is necessary if our faith is to please God (Heb. 11:6).
Our Lord demonstrated how faith is directly related to a prospective reward when He opened the eyes of two blind men. Had they believed the slander that our Lord’s power stemmed from Beelzebub, they would have remained physically and spiritually blind. But their request, “Thou son of David, have mercy on us” reflected their faith that Jesus was truly the Christ, the son of David (Matt. 9 :27-31) .
Their faith was the prerequisite to the opening of their eyes and just before the miracle our Lord stated the principle, “According to your faith be it unto you.” How necessary, then, that our faith be based on truth if we are to receive the reward of the righteous. What, then, does the Bible teach on the question of where the righteous are rewarded ?
It will help us to find the answer if we lay aside popular belief on the subject and make a fresh approach. The Bible account in Genesis presents man as God’s crowning work on the last day of the sixth day’s creation. Because man was created in God’s image, he was given “dominion . . . over all the earth.”
There was nothing to be desired and God viewed man in his original state as “very good” (Gen. 1:26-31). But man’s disobedience to God brought death and all the evils we now suffer. God in his mercy, however, conceived a plan to finally redeem man from all the consequences of the first Adam’s sin by raising up Jesus, a second Adam (I Cor. 15:21-22, 45-47).
One feature of the second Adam’s mission is to accomplish that which the first Adam failed to do—to subdue and have dominion over the earth. David refers to God’s purpose in creation that man should have dominion over the earth and expresses the idea in words frequently quoted in the New Testament, “Thou hast put all things under His feet” (Psa. 8:6). This psalm is quoted at length in Hebrews 2:6-8.
The inspired writer explains that all the work is progressing to that end because we see Jesus, the victor over death, “crowned with glory and honor” (2 :9). In Ephesians 1 :20-22, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the supreme honor of Christ “not only in this world but in that which is to come” and again Christ is linked with God’s original purpose in man’s creation, by the summarizing quotation from Psa. 8:6, “. . . all things under his feet.”
We learn from the last Scripture reference that Christ will wield His power not only in this world but “in that which is to come.” In this world to come the same apostle foresees the Lord’s triumph over evil when as a reigning King He subdues the earth. “For He must reign ’til he hath put all enemies under his feet” (I Cor. 15).
The righteous are associated with him in this work of ruling the earth in “the world to come.” The apostle calls attention to Abraham as a man of outstanding faith in God’s promises. Because he “believed God it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
One feature of the promises to Abraham is that “he should be the heir of the world,” not heaven (Rom. 4:13). These promises to Abraham, recorded in the book of Genesis (12:1-3, 13:14-18; 15:318, 17 :1-8 ; 22:15-18), refer to Christ as a direct heir of the same promises and therefore also “the heir of the world.” For the Apostle Paul declares : “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16, see also Gen. 22:17). Not only is the Lord Jesus Christ an “heir of the world” as a descendent of Abraham but the Gentiles also can inherit these same promises if they have the faith of Abraham.
If objection is made on the ground that belief of the gospel and baptism into Christ is the way of salvation, then the reader is asked to note Gal. 3:8, which identifies the promises to Abraham as the gospel. All elements of the gospel are distilled into one brief statement which foretells the final blessings of redemption for all mankind here on earth– “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” The apostle says we share the same blessings if we “be of faith” and “are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Gal. 3:9).
He then concludes his argument that the faith of Abraham is the means of salvation and says we “are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many . . . as have been baptised into Christ, have put on Christ . . . and if . . . Christ’s, then . . . Abraham’s seed and heirs (of the world Rom. 4:13), according to the promise” (Gal 3:26-29).
Thus far we have tried to show God’s original purpose in creation, that man should have dominion over the earth, and that His method of redeeming man from the bondage of sin does not abandon that purpose but implements it. Consequently as the honest inquirer for truth searches the Bible he will find it instinct with the emphatic declaration of God : “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num. 14:21).
Let us now consider a few passages pertinent to our subject. “The heaven even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of me” (Psa. 115:16). “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” (Prov. 11:31).
Peter testified concerning David “that he is both dead and buried, and His tomb is with us unto this day . . . for David is not ascended into the heavens” (Acts 2:29, 34). “And no man hath ascended up to heaven” (John 3:13). That the redeemed share with Christ the work here on hearth in the age to come is clear. (Dan. 7:27, Rev. 2:2, 5:9-10; 11: 18; 21:1-4.
It should be evident that the basic Bible teaching is that the righteous are to be rewarded on earth. Yet a number of passages apparently teach that heaven is the place of reward. Since contradictions in God’s Word are excluded, we must assume that apparently contrary passages appear so because we fail to understand them.
Let us consider Matt. 5:12 in the light of an analogy drawn from the last World War. When the Nazis occupied western Europe, refugee governments were set up in London. In France, the underground patriots hoped for their reward when General De-Gaulle, the head of the French refugee government in London, would return victoriously to French soil. But meanwhile the Vichy government was the ruling power in France.
To the French underground fighters, one could have said, “Take courage in your present trials for great is your reward in London.” Similarly Jesus told His disciples to be glad when persecuted, “For great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:12; Luke 6:23). In each case the reward is said to be where the seat of authority is.
“When the war ended, General deGaulle returned to France. The head of authority was then moved from London to Paris. Heaven is the permanent place of God’s authority, but when Jesus returns He will exercise heaven’s delegated authority in Jerusalem, the city of the Great King” (Matt. 5:35).
The rewards that are said to be in heaven now will then be dispensed on earth, according to merit. For Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be (Rev. 22:12). The Apostle Paul was referring to this time when he wrote to the Colossians, “Your life is hid with Christ in God, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” 3:3-4).
Simultaneous rewards, as the two preceding passages teach, precludes the popular idea of each person being rewarded at the time of his death. For the righteous are to be “glorified together” (Rom. 8:17), not separately. See also Heb. 11:39-40; II Tim. 4:8.
The Bible’s concept of Divine redemption embodies a nobler hope of finally solving this world’s problems when the Lord returns instead of abandoning the earth for a home in heaven. Certainly this is a better hope, which visualizes an effective remedy for the world’s ills than a hope which is supposed to take the righteous to heaven at death and leave the living to shift for themselves in a deteriorating world. And it is the only true hope of redemption. We must believe it if we would inherit the earth, the reward of the righteous. “According to your faith be it unto you.” “And unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9:28).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One