Worthy of God’s Glorious Future

One of the most wonderful aspects of the Christian worldview is the hope that it generates for the future. No matter how difficult or painful life gets, Christians can hold firmly to the truth that God is absolutely determined to rescue his creation from all the dark forces which threaten to ruin it.

The reality of God’s glorious future raises the question, exactly who will enjoy this glorious future which God has promised? One standard answer often heard in evangelical Christianity goes like this, “All humans have been corrupted by the effects of sin and are thus alienated from God. Yet those who place their faith in Jesus and the sacrifice he made upon the cross can be forgiven of sin and assured that they will spend eternity in God’s presence.” According to this narrative, the new creation will be populated by forgiven sinners – that is, murderers, thieves, adulterers, liars etc. who have turned to Jesus for forgiveness. One corollary of this view is that those welcomed into God’s presence will have absolutely no “worthiness” or “right” to be there. Rather, their presence will be wholly undeserved, simply a matter of God’s mercy.

I wish now to put this viewpoint under the microscope of scripture and see how well it holds up.

Last week, we established the bedrock reality of all Judeo-Christian belief: one day God will judge all human beings according to their conduct or behavior. Specifically, we studied the dramatic scene before the great white throne in Revelation chapter 20, where John writes, “The dead were judged…in accordance with what they had done.”

This description of the last judgment is hardly exceptional. The Apostle Paul also depicts the final judgement in Romans 2: “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.‘ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” Note that when Paul speaks of God giving “to each person according to what he has done,” he is directly quoting from two identical passages in the Old Testament, Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12.

Paul’s overriding concern in this passage is to assert the impartial justice of God’s final judgment (v5); God will give people exactly what they deserve. Hmm. This is not the kind of language many folks are used to hearing from their church.

Let’s now turn to 2 Corinthians 5:10. There Paul writes “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, so that each of us may receive what is due him for the things done in the body whether good or bad.” Fascinatingly, the phrase “what is due him” again clearly indicates that God will give us precisely what we deserve. Whether we’ve done bad or good, God will give us either the punishment or the reward that we have coming to us. Hmm. Once again, this is not what many folks are expecting to hear.

Now let’s address the book of Revelation. In chapter 3, Jesus addresses the church in the city of Sardis: “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me dressed in white for they are worthy. He who overcomes will like them be clothed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my father and his angels.”

Now in the book of Revelation, white clothes or clean linen are a symbol for the righteous conduct of the saints; meanwhile, those who have “soiled their clothes” are those who have stumbled in wickedness. Importantly, the passage clearly states that the righteous acts of God’s people will make them worthy or deserving of God’s eternal reward.

Finally, let’s examine John’s depiction of the renewed creation.  God promises, “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (21:7-8)

Those who will inherit the new creation are those who have overcome.  Crucially, “to overcome” or “to conquer” involves more than simply accepting Jesus’ forgiveness; it indicates faithful devotion to Jesus even under severe adversity.  Remember, the Bible never separates our belief from our behavior.  As we learned last week, forgiveness depends upon repentance – the actual turning away from sin. This insight is confirmed by the description of those who will not inherit the new creation; they are characterized not just by their unbelief or their idolatry but by their conduct – murder, sexual immorality, lying, etc.

At the close of the book, John uses the metaphor of the New Jerusalem to portray the redeemed creation. The city is built around the throne of God and of the Lamb.  From the throne flows the river of the water of life; the tree of life grows on either side of the river. All this is obvious symbolism. The throne depicts the final establishment of God’s kingdom over all creation. The river and the tree of life portray the joyful, abundant, and eternal life that flows from God himself.

Jesus declares, “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” (Revelation 22:14-15)

The blessed people who have the right to enter the city and partake of the tree of life are those who have washed their robes. Many Christians might interpret “those who wash their robes” as those who have received cleansing and forgiveness in Jesus, apart from their conduct. While all Christians rightly celebrate the forgiveness we have in Jesus, that is clearly not the full sense of this passage.  First, Jesus has just announced that his reward will be based on what we have done.  Second, we’ve seen how John has already (in Revelation 19:8) interpreted the garments of God’s people: the pure, clean robes represent the righteous acts of the saints. Third, we know that this washing of robes refers to behavior based on the immediate contrast: those who are shut outside the city are the sexually immoral, murderers, liars, etc.

When we take into account these key Biblical passages, how can we answer the question “who will be a part of God’s glorious future?” We find that we must substantially re-think the common evangelical refrain often heard in our pulpits. God’s new creation will be filled, not simply with forgiven sinners, but with those who have actually turned away from their sins.

I hasten to add the following consideration. Every Christian who has seriously tried to pursue a life of holiness knows what it is like to struggle against sin. Yes, we sometimes fail. When that happens, we must acknowledge our wrongdoing, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and by the power of the Spirit recommit ourselves to the way of Jesus. Happily, God gives his people the strength they need to put sinful behaviors to death. Yet this process is often very painful and may take many years to achieve. Furthermore, we know that there will not be total victory over sin until we are clothed with our resurrection bodies on the last day.

This is a world of difference between a person steadfastly pursuing a life of Christlikeness and those who call upon Jesus’ forgiveness with their lips but make no serious effort to actually conform their behavior to his will. I believe that the former will be found “worthy” to walk with Jesus on the last day. I fear the latter may not; I pray that this blog might be a gracious warning to them.

There is another, much darker category of people who utterly reject the one true God and his Son. They embrace and even celebrate their shameful conduct, even though they know, at some level, that their deeds are deserving of death. Those who persist in rebellion will not be allowed to pollute God’s lovely world forever. Murderers, liars, and the sexually immoral can hope to be welcomed into the redeemed creation, but only to the extent that – through the work of Jesus and his Spirit – they abandon their wickedness. This whole process is truly a work of God’s grace and mercy. Yet the writers of scripture insist that God’s people will be “worthy” of the reward that God will bestow upon them, on the day of His just judgment.