Just as Jesus wore a crown of thorns/love, Christians will receive a crown of love for serving and loving God and others.
WILL YOU BE REWARDED IN HEAVEN?
Eternal degrees of rewards for acts done and suffering as a Christian.
There are degrees of reward in heaven for the Christian’s faithful service, self-sacrifice, and suffering. In Jesus’ sermons, he repeatedly preached that there are degrees of rewards in heaven. In his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, he concluded the Beatitudes or blessings from God, “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12 NLT). Just as Jesus wore a crown of thorns/love, Christians will receive a crown of love for serving and loving God and others.
Jesus continued his teaching by warning people that did their good deeds to be admired by other people, they would not receive a reward in heaven (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18). Instead, Jesus encouraged his followers to store “treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:20-21 NLT). In Jesus’ parable of a man who entrusted his money (talents) to his servants based on their abilities before going on a long journey, the master rewarded the faithful servants that increased the talents, put them in charge of many things, and allowed them to share in the master’s happiness. But the unfaithful servant that just buried the talents in the ground forfeited his reward and was thrown into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:14-30). What Christians do in obedience and through the power of the Holy Spirit to help others believe, receive, trust, and follow Jesus will be evaluated, and “they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are worker’s in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:8-9 NIV). God will also reward Christians based upon how they conduct themselves in body and mind, because they “ought to live holy and godly lives” (2 Peter 3:11 NIV). This is an incentive to work for God with the right motive. Christians will not all receive the same rewards. Christians do not all have the same God given abilities, spiritual gifts, and opportunities. But God will judge them according to their faithful stewardship and use of their abilities, gifts, and opportunities.
Receiving a crown that last forever.
The Christian doctrine of eternal rewards depends on specific acts of faithfulness done on earth that survive God’s judgment of the Christian and are brought into heaven by the Christian (1 Corinthians 3:14). The apostle Paul used the analogy of athletics to demonstrate the eternal crown or reward to the Corinthians. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV). Paul also wrote in his letter to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight … There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NKJV). Therefore, what you do as a Christian in this life will determine your eternal crown or reward in heaven.
The Christian’s righteous acts will follow the Christian into heaven.
In heaven, the bride’s wedding dress represents the “righteous acts of God’s holy people” done on earth (Revelation 19:7-8 NIV). The Christian’s righteous deeds on earth will not be forgotten, but “will follow” them in heaven (Revelation 14:13 NIV). The positions of authority and spiritual treasures that Christians are granted in heaven will remind them of their lives on earth, because what they did on earth will earn them those rewards (Matthew 5:12, 6:19-21, 19:21, 25:23; Luke 12:33, 19:17-19; 1 Timothy 6:19; Revelation 2:26-28, 22:12).
Good works do not earn salvation.
Although salvation is not earned by good works (Ephesians 2:8-9), God will reward faithful Christians for their good works in heaven. God keeps a record in heaven of what all people do on earth. This record will outlast their lives on earth for Christians at least until the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10); for non-Christians, this record will be kept right until the Great White Throne Judgment of God/Jesus when non-Christians will be banished to hell and punished and tormented according to their bad works (Revelation 20:11-13).
Alcorn, Heaven (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2004), 47, 68, 226-227,312-313, 454; Hank Hanegraaff, After Life: What You Need to Know About Heaven, the Hereafter & Near-Death Experiences (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing, 2013), 40-42; Erwin Lutzer, Your Eternal Reward: Triumph and Tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1998), 1-161; Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994, Appendix 6 and glossary copyright 2000), 1143-1145; Billy Graham, The Heaven Answer Book (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012), 120-21.