“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” Matthew 5:12
Why do you value Jesus’ gospel? Do you value it because it meets your desire for forgiveness, health, peace, or eternal life? Although these are benefits provided through the gospel in varying degrees now and totally in heaven, they are actually not reasons why we should value and believe the gospel.
You may be thinking, How could you say such a thing? How can eternal life not be a motive for placing my faith in Christ?
Simple. Eternal life is not the real reward. So what is? What’s missing from the benefits listed above?
God himself.
The Apostle John wrote: “This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life, then, is knowing, enjoying, and experiencing a relationship with God through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the words of John Piper, “God is the gospel.”
The greatest reward given to us by God is the gift of himself. If you are in Christ, then you are allowed to experience a taste of eternal life now by knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he sent. In Christ, you are given the gift of God himself.
Read
Matthew 5:11–12; 6:19–21; Luke 6:35; and 1 Corinthians 3:13–14
- As you read through the different rewards in these passages, what do you think about them? How do they make you feel?
- How does it feel to know you have the reward of knowing God himself? What about this is difficult or easy to understand?
Prayer
Thank God that eternal life is knowing the one true and living God and Jesus Christ, whom he sent. Ask to come into a greater knowing of who he is.
This devotion is adapted from the Who Do You Think You Are? Study Guides with Daily Devotions resource.
