WORKING OUT OUR HEAVENLY JOB DESCRIPTION

 ARE WE WORKING OUT OUR HEAVENLY JOB DESCRIPTION ON EARTH?

As a Christian, you expect to go to heaven when you die, but what do you expect to be doing after you arrive?  Perhaps you will spend time with loved ones, make appointments to meet the great saints of the ages, or take a long rest.  But, is that all you will be doing?  Eternity is a long time you know!

Is it possible that what you are doing with your life on earth right now, is actually setting you up for a job when you get to heaven?  Let’s consider the proposition from a Biblical perspective.

·         Man’s very creation designated him as a working being: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.  God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28); “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (Genesis “2:15).  The creation mandate has not been withdrawn.

·         Following the flood, God said to Noah and to his family, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given” (Genesis 9:1-2).  Referred to as the Noahic mandate, like the creation mandate, it has never been withdrawn.

Do we have any insight from Scripture that we may continue to work in eternity?

·         Eternity for human beings begins at the moment of conception – for both the saved and the unsaved.  For the saved who die before the return of Christ the sequence is as follows:  earth life – heaven life – return to earth life (1k), and finally life eternally as citizens of the new heavens and the new earth.

·         Consider these words from the world to come – “Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘My lord, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes’" (Revelation 7:13-17).  Notice “and they serve Him day and night (:15).  Serve – (latereuo) lat-ryoo’-o: comes from “latris” meaning, a hired menial.  It means to perform service – to work - to have a job!

·         “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, `Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'  ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them’” (Revelation 14:13).   Labors is “kopos” kop-os meaning a beating, trouble – from the root “kop’-to” (to cut strike, smite).  Labors they rest from.   “Deeds” (work) on the other hand follow them – “ergon” er-gon means that business, employment in which one is occupied.  NOTICE- their labor does not follow them, but their deeds (work) do.  

Consider the labor (trouble) experienced by Moses, Abraham and Elijah.  Then consider their work.

·         Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus at His transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3), talking with Him about the coming events.  Who better to discuss the fulfillment of the law than the one who transcribed the Book of the Law - Who better to discuss the fulfillment of the prophets than the prophet whom God translated?

·         Abraham appears in Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:22-21), serving as an overseer and comforter for the abode of the righteous dead.  Who better to comfort the righteous dead of Israel than the father of their nation?

·         At the death of Jesus on the cross, many of the O.T. saints came out of the tombs and went into the city appearing to many no doubt work as as witnesses of the truth of Jesus.

·         And what of the great host of all the saints from the resurrection of Jesus to the present.  Of these (which includes us) St. Paul says, “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:6-10).  Why should we take this to mean for earth life only?

·         While we need not think that we shall exactly replicate our earthly activity in heaven, neither need we think that the sum of our lessons in life will be discarded or wasted in heaven.  What you have done, are now doing, and will do matters eternally ---- not wasting your time, talent or  treasure, but investing it, as all this will be put to good use in the world to come!

·         In I Corinthians 6:2-3 Paul declares that “the saints will judge the world,” and, that “we will judge angels.”

·         In Matthew 25:14-30 twice Jesus says “Well done, good and faithful slave.  You were faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your Master.”  This speaks not of this life, but of the life to come!  The context of this “Parable of the Talents,” is the kingdom of heaven.

·         Looking deeper into eternity until we reach the heavenly city of the New Jerusalem, we discover what John saw when he said, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it” “Revelation 21:22-26).

·          In the very next chapter we read “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his bond-servants will serve Him” (Revelation 22:3).  Serve  -"latreuo” - lat-ryoo’-o meaning to serve for hire.  That’s what bond-servants do - they serve!

·          Moving to verse 5 we read, “And they will reign forever and ever” (:5).  Reign - “bas-il-yoo’-o” meaning to exercise kingly power, to rule, to govern.  It is often used as a metaphor for exercising the highest influence or control.

·         Why would God waste all that has been learned on earth? In Revelation 21, is that great city not a center of activity? Do not nations walk there, and kings bring glory and honor into it?  In Revelation 22 are not the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations, and do not his servants reign there? And is not the word reign "basileuo" (bas-il-yoo-o) coming from the word basileus (bas-il-yooce) meaning to be a leader of people, a prince, a commander, and meaning to exercise kingly power - to govern?

·         And before that time, what will we be doing during the Millennial Kingdom when there may well be hundreds of millions if not billions of the descendents of the Millennial saints living upon the earth?  Does it make any sense that we should return as mere spectators?  And if not spectators, then what?  Will we be novices learning a new trade?  At what expense? At the expense of all that we previously learned in earth life?  Would the Great Economist of the universe permit such inefficiency?

·         And what may we learn on this subject by considering the angels?  In Hebrews 13 we are admonished to properly entertain strangers, some of whom may be angels.  Why are they among us if not to serve as the messengers of God, and at times to encamp round about us to protect us?  Are not the angels of God those created spirits who have passed their time of testing to live eternally in the gainful employ of the Lord?  Are we not created only a little lower than the angels?  Are we not at also passing through our time of testing, and destined to live eternally, and if so, why not in the gainful employ of our Creator?  Jesus said of us in the resurrection, “for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36).

Are we not working out our eternal job descriptions even at this very moment?

·         We learn from the great resurrection chapter of the Bible, I Corinthians 15 - "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men to most pitied.  But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep" (:19-20).

"Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly" (:49).  "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the lord, knowing that your toil [kopos - labor] is not in vain in the Lord" (58).

·         “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed [meaning literally to receive back] for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (II Corinthians 5:9-10).

·         From Matthew 25, hear these words from our Lord, “Then the Kingdom of heaven will be comparable to” (:1); “Be on the alert, for you do not know the day nor the hour” (:13); “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey” (:14); “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them” (:19); “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave.  You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master’” (:21).

Finally, is there a best way to work out a job description good enough for eternity?

Try this:

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE
by Frances R. Havergal, 1874

Do that, and God will assign you your dream job - for eternity!

 

Dennis D. Frey, M.Div., Th.D., President
Master's International University of Divinity
the.mdivs.edu

Note:  Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New American Standard Version.