Bible Study

How do our works prepare us for eternity? We continue from A Glimpse of Eternity – Part 1 as Daniel Kolenda reveals how our obedience prepares us for all Jesus has promised to those who overcome.

“You can have something that will turn the devil himself green with envy!” – Daniel Kolenda

A Glimpse of Eternity (PART 2)

The book of Revelation paints a striking picture of saints who sit on thrones, and receive power from God to judge (Rev. 20:4). This is not symbolic. They sit on actual thrones. They receive real authority to judge. They rule all of creation with King Jesus.

Please, give careful consideration to this message. Satan fell because he put his eyes on the throne of God and desired it. That was his ambition. Yes, he tempts people with much lesser things, like material success, cars, clothes, popularity, and political power. But Satan himself had his eyes set on something much greater—something carnal humanity knows nothing about. It is a prize much greater than anything ever imagined—the very throne of God. That is what the devil wanted. But he was banished from Heaven for coveting it. The very thing he desired and rebelled to acquire, is the very thing he will never attain. And yet, Jesus said, you can sit on My throne with Me! You can have something that will turn the devil himself green with envy!

How is this possible? Exactly because of what Jesus taught us: only the meek inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). In other words, those faithful saints whose only ambition was to serve, not their own interests, but the interests of their great King, will inherit the very thing the devil raged to obtain. Likewise, the tycoons and moguls of this world, who spent their whole lives chasing earthly riches, will look up at the ones sitting with Christ. They will weep and say, “I’ve wasted my whole life searching for things that were dust in the wind, and I didn’t even know it!”

Notice what Jesus promises to “those who overcome.” They will:

• Eat of the tree of life (Rev. 2:7).
• Receive a crown of life (Rev. 2:10).
• Eat the hidden manna (Rev. 2:17).
• Receive a white stone bearing their new name that only they would know (Rev. 2:17).
• Receive authority over the nations (Rev. 2:26).
• Receive the morning star (Rev. 2:28).
• Wear white garments (Rev. 3:5).
• Become pillars in God’s temple and never go out of it again (Rev. 3:12).
• Have written on their very persons God’s name, the name of Jerusalem, and the new name of Jesus Christ (Rev. 3:12).
• Sit with Christ on His throne (Rev. 3:21).

This extraordinary life of the age to come is difficult to picture. Scripture describes it in powerful images, and its practical details are beyond me. But two things I do know: it is unspeakably more glorious than all the wealth of this world, and you can choose to live for that age. While most people are chasing new cars, bigger houses, a few pieces of “green paper,” or a better looking body, others have decided they will chase eternal rewards and store up treasures in heaven. The moment you drive a new car off the lot, it depreciates. The first year, it could go down in value by twenty percent. But something tells me those white garments will never lose their value. I’m not sure what the morning star is, but I have a feeling it will never depreciate. Even after a million years, I don’t think that ruling nations will ever get boring!

I don’t know about you, but I want Jesus to tattoo His new name on me. I want to sit on a throne with Him. I want to eat from the tree of life. I want to wear a crown on my head. I don’t want to be somewhere on the fringe of the holy city like Moses looking into the Promised Land, seeing it only from a distance. I want to be one of those “pillars” in the house of God that never has to go out. I want to live close to Him for all of eternity, able to gaze upon the One who sits upon the throne and on the Lamb forever.