The Big Picture

We are in week 3 of our series, “Called”.

We are talking about how each and every one of us has a specific call on our lives.

Last week we talked about WHY it’s important that we know what our calling is and why we should LIVE our calling.

If you missed any of the first two sermons you can find them on our website, app, Facebook, or YouTube channel.

We ended last week by saying one of the reasons it is important that you live your calling is because you will be eternally rewarded.

There’s more to God’s rewards than just salvation.

Spending eternity in heaven is not the only reward we get for living for God.

That’s why it is so important that we live with an eternal perspective.

When people live with an eternal perspective they live differently.

Because they don’t make decisions based JUST on what will affect them in their 70 to 80 years on this earth.

They make decisions that might not even benefit them that great here on earth but they know it will affect them in eternity.

2 John 1:8 NKJV “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.”

What’s interesting about this is notice how John doesn’t say, “that we may receive a reward.”

He says, “that we may receive a FULL reward.”

Now when someone says that you can receive a full reward doesn’t that make you think that there is a partial or no reward?

But notice how he doesn’t say, “live in such a way that you will receive a partial reward.”

Because God wants you to receive the FULL reward.

Just like as a father I love to reward my kids, God loves to reward us.

However, I don’t reward my kids unless they earn it.

Their reward is an incentive to do something I want them to do.

Well God is the same way.

He gives us incentives to live the life He’s called us to live.

Now I know some people hear that and right away are thinking, “but we can’t earn salvation. It’s not about works.”

I’m not talking about salvation.

Salvation comes through Jesus.

But God doesn’t want us to just stop at believing in Jesus and calling it good.

He has more for us.

So to encourage us to live the life we were called to, he rewards us for doing so.

Because a lot of people don’t understand that each and every one of us are going to stand before God as our judge.

2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

Now we know that Paul is talking to believers here.

Because he says, “to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

We know from the scriptures that if you are not a believer in Jesus when we leave this earth we’re not with the Lord, we’re in hell.

That’s not a mean judgemental thing to say.

That’s what the Bible says.

So we know he’s speaking to believers.

2 Corinthians 5:9 NKJV “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.”

Paul then goes into how it is our GOAL to be PLEASING to God.

You can’t do anything to make God love you anymore than He already does.

You can’t do anything to make him love you less than He does.

But you are in charge of how PLEASED He is with you.

It’s no different than my own kids.

I can’t love my kids more than I do right now.

And they can’t do anything to make me love them less.

But how many of you know your kids can do things that make it so you aren’t pleased with them.

That’s why Paul wrote that he wants to live a life that is WELL pleasing to God.

Why?

2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Most of the time when we think of judgement we think of condemnation.

We think it’s always something bad.

But the Greek word for judgement is “Krima”

Which means, “a decision resulting from an investigation.”

God is going to investigate our lives and make a decision based on what He sees.

Now what’s important to know is that this judgement has nothing to do with our sins.

We will be standing before God as saved believers whose sins have been forgiven because of what Jesus did on the cross for us.

We’re going to be judged by how we lived this life AS believers.

He’s going to judge our words, our works, and even our intentions.

And based on what he finds he’s going to make a judgement.

And that judgement will be either we will receive a reward or suffer losses.

The Bible makes it clear that rewards we could get to the losses we may suffer will range from ruling and reigning with Christ forever, to everything we did being burned up.

Now ruling and reigning with Christ would be the full reward and everything getting burned up would be no reward.

And everything in between would be a partial reward.

So what’s important to know is that what we do with Jesus and the cross will determine WHERE we spend eternity.

The way we live as believers will determine HOW we spend eternity.

Now I think I used this example before but I like it so much I’m going to share it again.

Imagine if someone came up to you and said the way you live your life for the next 24 hours will determine how you spend the next 1,000 years.

It will affect your job, what kind of house you have, your car, everything!

How many of you know you would live the next 24 hours with some serious purpose?

The thing is that’s nothing compared to eternity.

24 hours compared to 1,000 years is NOTHING compared to 80 years and eternity.

And yet so many people just coast through life not realizing what they could be working toward in eternity.

Now you will see many times in the Bible it compares us to builders.

So let’s look at a verse in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 3:13 NLT “But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.”

1 Corinthians 3:14 NLT “If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.”

Hopefully it’s a full reward

1 Corinthians 3:15 NLT “But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”

Paul clarifies right there that there is a reward system in heaven.

He basically gives an example of people who barely get in.

Those people that maybe they loved the Lord but they lived their life for the temporal.

Not to do things that will affect eternity.

1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

Paul uses the example of running a race.

And in a race only one gets the prize or “reward”

Paul is saying you should run YOUR race like there’s only one prize and you run to WIN!!

Hebrews 12:1 NLT “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

Again we see that example of running a race.

Notice how the Hebrew writer says, “run the race God has set before us.”

To run the race God called us to run we need to know the course.

We need to see where we’re supposed to run

It’s like if you’ve ever run cross country.

There are usually markers of some kind throughout the course the runners are running to let them know which direction to go.

Otherwise, someone is going to go running off deep into the woods and get lost.

And at some point they’re going to realize they’re off course and quit.

If you want to finish your race you better know what course you’re running.

And God laid your course out long ago.

Psalm 139:16 “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Before you were even born God wrote a book about you.

So God wrote a book about your life and then basically said, let’s go to the beginning and start.

And YOU determine if you follow what God wrote in that book.

Remember last week we talked about how Paul said in Ephesians that God prepared good works for us that we SHOULD walk in them.

He didn’t say we WILL walk in them.

He said we SHOULD which means we have a choice.

Ecclesiastes 3:15 NKJV “That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.”

Think about that for a moment

“That which is has already been”

Today has already happened to God

“And what is to be has already been”

God already knows what tomorrow will look like.

“And God requires an account of what is past.”

In other words, did we walk in what He wrote in our book or did we go our own way?

So what does that mean when it comes to our calling?

You’re not going to be judged on what you did, you’re going to be judged on what you were CALLED to do.

You see some people want to negotiate with God.

God I don’t want to do that but instead I’ll do all this other stuff for the kingdom.

I don’t want to be a Pastor but I’ll go into the workforce and make a lot of money and I’ll give back to the church!

Your rewards will be judged not by what you did but what you were called to do.

Take a look at this powerful video that shows what it may look like when we stand before God.

PLAY VIDEO

That’s powerful

I love that because so many people think that their calling is to go into ministry or work and this big company and they don’t realize that God may call you to be a stay at home mom and pour into your kids and prepare them for what God has called them to do.

No calling is better or greater than another.

The question is very simple, “Did you do what God called you to do?”

And remember it’s not too late.

If you know you’re not doing what God called you to do, seek Him now and ask for direction.

And then be obedient.

Altar Call