How will you spend eternity?

These comments from Brian D. McLaren speak frankly and directly to this area of dumbed-downedness:

“What could be more serious than standing in front of your Creator—the Creator of the universe—and finding out that you had wasted your life, squandered your inheritance, caused others pain and sorrow, worked against the good plans and desires of God? What could be more serious than that? To have to face the real, eternal, unavoidable, absolute, naked truth about yourself, what you’ve done, what you’ve become? . . . . Nothing could be more serious than that . . . . We cannot select out comfortable passages and ignore those that make us uneasy” (McLaren, The Last Word and the Word after That, 79, 80, 96).

Yet McLaren reminds his readers that he is “not denying salvation by grace . . . . I’m just advocating judgment by works,” and that “being judged isn’t the same as being condemned and that being saved means a lot more than not being judged” (Ibid., 138).

In sum, a hierarchical heaven is where some, many, most, or all will spend eternity. And heaven is gift, not a reward. But how we spend eternity there will be determined by our good works on this earth during this life. These works earn rewards. Hence, how we live this life determines our next life—our status, privileges, provisions, levels of reward, treasure, glory, authority, joy, enjoyment, and also “rewards lost due to disobedience on earth” (Alcorn, In Light of Eternity, 123).

And contrary to what most Christians have been told and taught, “all men [and women] are not equal before God; the facts of heaven and hell (sic), election and reprobation, make clear that they are not equal” (Rousa John Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (n.l.: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1973), 509-510). Hence, these differing degrees of reward will be determined according to:

The knowledge, time, talents and resources given us.(Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27)
How we use them for God’s glory to expand his kingdom.(2 Thess. 1:4-5; 1 Pet. 4:13; Phil. 3:10-11)

Yes, we have a great and unlimited heavenly future awaiting us. But since there will be different rewards, different positions, and different experiences in heaven that are currently being determined in this life, doesn’t this future destiny give this life even greater meaning? You might be wondering how could someone in heaven be happy with a “lesser” amount than they could have received or with less than someone else receives? The answer is, we don’t know. And, yes, this is a threatening, controversial, and surprising message for some people. But once again, would you rather hear it now while you can do something about it? Or would you rather wait until later when you can’t and have it come as a complete surprise?

So what’s going to be your degree of glory, level of blessings, rewards, station, position, responsibilities, joy, and/or punishment in this eternal afterlife in God’s hierarchical heaven?

Sources:

1 Hell Yes / Hell No by John Noe

2 The Last Word and the Word after That by Brian D. McLaren

3 In Light of Eternity by Randy Alcorn