The Meaning of “Reward According to Work”
In Rev 22:12 Jesus says to his church: “Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give to each one according to his work.” This verse (and numerous others in the New Testament that make the same point, e.g. 1 Cor 3:8, 13-14) need some clarification. First, “reward” is about being trusted and empowered in eternity (by Jesus) to live in our full identity as God’s Representative Children, as Shepherds of Creation (Gen 1:26-28, 2 Tim 2:12a, Heb 2:5-9).
But what I really want to focus on is the word “work” in Rev 22:12. When seeing our intended destiny as shepherds in eternity, it is easy to fall into new kind of works trap. Oh, not a trap that says “I need to be doing good stuff so God will love and accept me” – because, as God’s children, we are already unconditionally and deeply loved by him no matter how poorly we obey, serve, or honor him. Rather, we can fall into a trap that says, “I’m not DOING enough for God to trust and empower me to live fully in my identity in eternity.” Ultimately, in the same way that we grow to trust others, God’s eternal TRUST in us is more about our hearts than our doing.
The Greek word for “work” (‘ergon’) in Rev 22:12 is also more about heart than doing. A good translation of ‘ergon’ is “enterprise” (Friberg Analytical Lexicon). We should ask ourselves: “What is my life’s enterprise?” Is it My-Prosperous-Pleasurable-Life Enterprise or Kingdom-of-Christ Enterprise?
Any authentic enterprise will often manifest itself in doing. But an enterprise is first of all about the heart, about the things that occupy our thoughts, our desires, our dreams – the things we want to see succeed in the world. We should be “about our Father’s business [enterprise]” – Luke 2:49, NKJ.
We are already intensely loved by God. Let’s develop hearts that he can fully trust (Luke 16:10-11).
