Imagine an Olympian, standing on the highest podium to receive the coveted prize. The crowds roar! She bows to receive the heavy gold medal around her neck, and feelings of validation and honor flood her system as she remembers the countless hours of training that led to this point.
But is the gold medal the only reward? Or is the medal merely the culmination of an already rewarding journey?
Many have come to imagine the concept of “rewards in Heaven” as something like a gold medal. We sometimes adhere faithfully to strict, righteous-looking morality codes in order to gain better, more luxurious goods in Heaven after we die. In this perspective, we stay self-focused and usually assume that heavenly rewards are only for the future.
What if, instead, our focus was on a way of life as our reward, where we experience a taste of life in God’s heavenly realm here on Earth?
When we obey Jesus’ teachings to share our food with others who hunger, to help care for those who are sick or imprisoned, and to practice hospitality in our homes, we are living with an attitude of abundance and generosity. And we experience the kind of life that God first gave humanity in the garden of Eden.
Back in Genesis, when God creates the world, he plants a garden east of Eden with numerous, vibrant trees to provide food. At the center, he plants the tree of life and tells people to eat all they want from that tree. The symbol says that God’s own, incorruptible life is freely given. There’s no need to compete for resources because the garden blooms with enough for all to eat. There’s no need to fight for superiority because in the beginning, human life is safe, well-supplied, and filled with love for all.
The garden-style way of life in the beginning is essentially the Kingdom-style way of life that Jesus invites us into now. It’s the way all humanity will operate in the end.
God’s life is never-ending and imperishable. And it’s what the New Testament authors call “eternal life,” which is also the ultimate reward in Heaven. In his high priestly prayer, Jesus says, “Now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
