EPM Resource - The New Earth is going to be so amazing, wonderful, beautiful, breath-taking, tangible, relational, joy-filled (the list goes on and on) and is also void of pain, suffering, death, sin, and grief. In light of all that, how much will rewards really matter?

The New Earth is going to be so amazing, wonderful, beautiful, breath-taking, tangible, relational, joy-filled (the list goes on and on) and is also void of pain, suffering, death, sin, and grief. In light of all that, how much will rewards really matter?

Answer by Randy Alcorn

First of all, rewards matter first and foremost because they matter to God. It should matter precisely to us because it matters to Him. The New Testament is full of references to rewards (http://www.epm.org/articles/qaeternalrewards.htm). The differences in position of leadership will be significant. The joy of having more of God will mean that some people's capacity for joy will be greater (i.e. the Jonathan Edwards's analogy, vessels are all full, but larger vessels have more).

It's like saying "I don't understand how we can learn more if we already know a lot." The base line is a huge amount of knowledge but it's not an infinite amount of knowledge. There is joy beyond imagination but not infinite joy because we aren't infinite beings. If knowledge can increase, why can't joy?

Think of Heaven as a place of abundant happiness but not infinite happiness. Nothing in our lives can be infinite because we are finite.

Visit Randy Alcorn's Blog

Permissions: Feel free to reproduce and distribute any articles written by Randy Alcorn, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this information, not protect or restrict it.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: by Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspective Ministries, 39085 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 206, Sandy, OR 97055, 503-668-5200, www.epm.org