Description
Understanding Rewards and Gifts in Revelation 22:12
Explore the dual promises in Revelation 22:12 regarding Jesus’ retu… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Within the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have great clarity about the fact that we gain salvation through no work of our own. Nevertheless, the Bible does talk about rewards that relate to what we have done.
For example, Revelation 22 verse 12. This is Jesus speaking, and he says: Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done.
So there are two quite exciting promises or maybe sobering promises in this verse. First, that Jesus is coming soon. Now, of course, what does soon mean?
The Bible says that a thousand years is as a day to God. His perspective on time is quite different to us. And so when he says, I’m coming soon, he means in the age, in the age of man, he’s coming back. But precisely when that is, we don’t know. And yet the promise is that he’s coming.
And then the second promise is that when he comes, he’s bringing rewards so that we are repaid in accordance with what we’ve done. Now again, we can’t do anything to earn our salvation, but what about how we are measured on the basis of how we’ve lived?
God has given us gifts and talents and he expects us to use them. And that doesn’t mean that we have to flog ourselves trying to accomplish something with every single second of every single day. No, because rest also is from God as a gift to us. We simply are expected to be responsible.
Has God given you a gift, my friend? Well use it. That’s all. And then the simple promise is that if you’ve used the gifts that he’s given you then you’ll be rewarded for that. You don’t have to do anything earth shattering. You don’t have to convert hundreds of thousands of people. No. Whatever God has put in your hand, you use it. It’s as simple as that. And the promise is that as we do that, he rewards us.
My friends take heart. Take comfort from these promises in the Book of Revelation. They are for you.
