Wait. There is a world of articles, books, and information out there when it comes to Christianity, but we are mostly stuck with rhetoric and double talk when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, our new identity as believers, and the security and finality of the work of Christ. Are you getting everything you need spiritually from your church? Or do you find yourself feeling hungry for more? Join Lenny as he unpacks what Scripture really taught about our Lord Jesus Christ in context and why this matters to you. Wake up, wake up, wake up to grace.

Is the Christian walk all about earning heavenly rewards and crowns for the next life? If we're earning some sort of special status in heaven for our behavior, what does that look like? Will God shower heavenly rewards on those who did the most good deeds in their living years? Will they balance a mighty stack of crowns on their heads and wear silver bracelets, diamond rings, and golden chains that make any rap music artist jealous? Is it possible that we're seeing this all entirely wrong and it's affecting our Christian walk in a very negative way? I've had the song by the band America stuck in my head all week. Oz never did give nothing to the tin man. That he didn't didn't already have. The chorus to this song inspired me to write about the heavenly rewards and crowns that we talk about so much in our Christian circles. In the classic film the song is based on, a tin man, a scarecrow, and a cowardly lion set out on this great journey with Dorothy to meet the Wizard of Oz. When they meet the wizard, he would surely grant the scarecrow a brain, give the lion courage, and the tin man would receive a heart. They had no doubt about this. When their journey reached its end, they finally arrived to meet the wizard. As the song goes, the wizard gives the tin man nothing he doesn't already have. In the Wizard of Oz film, the great wizard presents the tin man with a heart shaped watch, a mere keepsake to remind him of what he already possessed. Are you on a journey to receive heavenly rewards and crowns in your Christian walk? When you finally meet God most high, the mighty Lord behind the unseen spiritual veil, will you receive something of the same value that the scarecrow received? Is it possible that what you're seeking is something that you already have? Let's take a look at what Scripture says about heavenly rewards and crowns so we can be sure that our thinking is in line with truth, shall we? What we'll be looking to find about heavenly rewards and crowns is what are heavenly rewards and crowns? How do we earn heavenly rewards and crowns? When do we receive heavenly rewards and crowns? What is the benefit of heavenly rewards and crowns? And then who will receive heavenly rewards and crowns? So we're looking at what, how, when, what, and who when it comes to crowns. So let's start with what are heavenly crowns. The word translated crown in our Bible comes from the Greek word Stephanos, and is a badge of royalty, a prize in the public games or a symbol of honor. In the ancient Greek games, it referred to a wreath or garland of leaves placed on a victor's head as a reward for winning an athletic contest. The New Testament uses this word figuratively to refer to the rewards of heaven that God promises the faithful. About this, in 1 Corinthians 9 23, Paul writes, I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we and the imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching others I myself should be disqualified. We get a pretty good idea of what a wreath or crown is in the context of this passage. In the preceding text, Paul describes this ministry to the Jews and Gentiles to proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. How can the same Paul who said it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, be using an analogy that appears to be based on his own effort? And even more alarming is the fact that he seems to see himself as able to be disqualified from the benefits of the gospel? Did Paul believe he could lose his salvation, as many suppose based on the text? The New Testament scripture reveals to us five crowns the imperishable crown, the crown of rejoicing, the crown of righteousness, the crown of glory, and the crown of life. Paul is seeking an imperishable crown in this case. Are all these five instances of crowns referring to the same crown? I think questions like this will become clear as we investigate the topic. But first we need to understand how to earn these crowns in order to gain any clarity on what Paul is saying in this passage. So how do we earn heavenly crowns? Interestingly, but not surprisingly, taking a look at the life of the King of Kings may be the best place to learn about heavenly crowns. I'd like to look at two passages of Scripture with you to build on our understanding of how heavenly crowns might be earned. In Hebrews 2 9 we read, But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. Christ Jesus was crowned with glory and honor for his suffering. He came to earth as a man so that he might lead us by example. He came to defeat death for us. But does something strike you a little funny about this passage? The author writes, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. The Lord made Jesus perfect through suffering? Was he not already perfect? We see a similar thing written later in our Hebrews letter. Hebrews seven reads In the days of his flesh Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. How could God make Jesus perfect when he was already perfect? Our scripture is very clear on how perfect he was. Second Corinthians 5 twenty one says for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And this perfection did not begin when he went into his three year ministry, it began at birth. The Lord found great pleasure in Jesus before Jesus even began his ministry. In Matthew three seventeen we read, and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Everything Jesus did please the Lord. Jesus lived a holy life as a child and a son, as a craftsman, and as a neighbor. Could Jesus say it is finished as a baby? How about when his mother found him in the temple as a boy or when he was preaching the sermon on the mount? Was he perfect when he washed the disciples' feet? Did he please the Lord when his sweat was like blood in the garden of Gethsemane? Jesus pleased his father in everything he did. He was perfect in all things. But what exactly was he perfect at doing? Did he use his powers as God to make things happen? No, he didn't. He depended on the Lord for all things. What was perfect about Jesus was his commitment to doing the will of his Father and not his own. In Hebrews ten five, we read consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me, and burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. Earlier we read, but we see him for who a little while was made lower than the angels. Jesus came to earth as God and man, but he did not rely on his own power for anything. He offered his human body fully to God the Father to do his work within him. In the fourteenth chapter of John's gospel he writes, Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these he will do, because I am going to the Father. We see in this passage that Jesus relied on his Father for everything in his human life. He truly made himself human, or to be an example to us, and to lead us back into the life of dependency that God created us for. When God created man and woman, he designed them to depend on Him. They had His Spirit, His life force within them. But as we know from Genesis, they fell. They didn't trust the Lord, and the serpent deceived them into seeking their own will. Christ came to restore mankind back into a perfect fellowship with God. He taught how he would make this possible as well as how we would benefit. He tells his followers that he will give them the same abilities that he had, and what again were his abilities? In John 5 thirty, Jesus says, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Jesus Christ taught us by his own walk how we are able to walk in our Christian life. We cannot walk by the Spirit on our own or by our own effort. Jesus shows us that in our walk we're nothing more than a pair of shoes. Have you ever seen a pair of shoes walk on their own? Shoes can't do anything on their own, can they? But what happens when you put your feet in those same shoes? Now they can actually take steps, can't they? Those shoes can walk quite well when you have your feet inside to guide them. Christ Jesus teaches us that we're the pair of shoes. We need his feet in order to walk by his Spirit. Jesus needed the Father, and we need Jesus. And so we find our new abilities in Christ. In John fifteen, five, we read, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. What we learn here can be startling when we come to fully understand its significance. In regards to earning heavenly rewards and crowns, we have multitudes of Christians putting forth great effort in their lives to please the Lord, and doing absolutely nothing. We often mistake the physical for the spiritual because no one has taught us of the spiritual. We strictly look for deeds to show us who are good Christians among the flock, but do not understand how to see Christ at work. Doctrines of self help and human effort have bedazzled us. Our churches are alive with activity, powerful music, and smiling faces, but are dead in spirit. Entertainment cannot cover up the lack of life that is in our churches when we see it through a lens of truth. Reality is that we cannot earn heavenly rewards or crowns by our own effort. Doesn't matter how sincere we are, how hard we try, how many groups or ministries we lead at our church, or how much good we have done in our lives. In fact, the harder we try, the less we do. A good pair of shoes doesn't guide a person's steps. It's defeat that wear the shoes that are necessary for the walk, no matter how much we polish those shoes or how good they look on the surface. Imagine for a moment that Christ himself decided to earn heavenly rewards and crowns on his own effort. Would Jesus be wrong to seek justice on those whom he allowed to capture him by Judas' betrayal? Would it have been wrong to fight back against the evil that was at work in the plot to kill him? In Matthew twenty six, fifty one we read, and behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the received servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so? What if Jesus did ask the Father to send a legion of angels? How would this have gone for us? This was not the Father's will for a reason. If Jesus had not handed himself over as the Father desired of him, we would not have received salvation. Jesus did it all for us, not for himself. He did everything the Father asked of him and received the crown of glory. And when did Jesus receive his crown according to Scripture? He received a crown for finishing his work at the cross. He did the will of the Lord and received a crown of glory. His life was restored. The author of Hebrews described the benefits of the finished work of Christ in this way, for it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, and bring in many sons to glory, and he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. So we see clearly when Jesus received his crown, and he would become the source of life and salvation to those who obey him. So the answer to our question is that we receive our crown through obedience to Christ. We get our heavenly rewards and crowns through him alone. Christ is our source of life. John three sixteen says for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. So if we go by the names of the five crowns mentioned in our New Testament, we have the imperishable crown, the crown of rejoicing, crown of righteousness, the crown of glory, the crown of life. Are these not all things we're promised through belief in Christ? That leads us to wonder why someone like Paul would be seeking after a crown. Was Paul not a faithful believer? This all stirs up some confusion. In the first passage we looked at, Paul refers to running a race to earn his crown. How can anything we studied line up with this analogy? Paul sounds like he's earning his crown, doesn't he? Was Paul double talking about the gospel and pumping up his self effort? Before we answer this challenging question, we need to find another piece of information. When did the apostles believe they would receive the promised eternal life, which is being represented by heavenly rewards and crowns? When do we receive heavenly rewards and crowns? In order to better understand Paul's running a race analogy, we must find out exactly when the crowns were to be given to the apostles as well as the saints. In 1 Peter 5 4, we read, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Today most Christians believe that they have salvation now. They go right to heaven when they die. This is absolutely true, but there lies an error in their mathematics. Their doctrine actually produces a glaring problem that cannot be ignored. The five crowns, imperishable, rejoicing, righteousness, glory, and life were all promised to the first century apostles and Christians. It was as good as theirs, because God doesn't break promises. But the apostles taught that these things were promised. They were as good as theirs, but they were coming soon. We cannot read our New Testament writings without noticing this urgency. Most scholars will tell you that the apostles believed that Christ would return in their lifetime. The return of Christ was coming very soon, according to the original language, using the Greek word mellow. The event that was coming very soon would fulfill the promise and bring salvation and redemption to all. Christ Himself spoke of when resurrection life would be received. In John 5 twenty eight we read, Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. We see here it is not when one dies and goes to heaven that heavenly rewards and crowns are received. We're trained to think this way in error. There's much to study on the topic, but we ought to start by believing what Jesus Himself clearly taught. We must shift our paradigm to understand that the resurrection was a spiritual event, accompanied by a physical one. We must shift our thought process to believe it happened when Jesus said it would. In Matthew twenty four, Jesus said, Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. In Luke twenty one, Jesus said, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written. John twenty one, Jesus said to him, If it is my will he remains until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. Matthew sixteen, Jesus said, Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. And then in Matthew ten, Jesus says, When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. Was Jesus a liar? Or even worse, was he a false prophet? Modern teachers tell us that he's still coming soon, an idea Christians have not accepted nearly as long as we'd like to think. Are you aware that the armies of Rome surrounded Jerusalem in AD seventy, and God completely leveled the once holy Jewish temple in his final judgment? Do you realize that this final judgment, according to Christ, was synonymous with his second coming and the redemption of all who believe? It would fulfill all that is written. Not most all. If Christ did not return, no one has received a crown. We continue to wait for something Christ promised to the first century believers. This is certainly not a gospel of good news. That's a gospel of bad news and ignorance. We'll never fully understand our Bible or our redemption if we continue to ignorantly parrot the idea that Jesus is coming soon. In order to truly grasp heavenly rewards and gifts, we have to realize that the apostles waited by faith for something that we receive as soon as we believe. Paul was running a race to spread the gospel of redemption before the resurrection, a redemption that would be spiritual and immediate for all who come to Christ in their future generations. If it's true that we already have these heavenly rewards and crowns at this very moment, we must ask, what is the benefit of heavenly rewards and crowns? Going back to the beginning of our study in 1 Corinthians 9 23, Paul wrote, I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them and its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we and imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. The second exodus was happening in the age of the apostles. It was by faith that Joshua led Israel into the promised land. It was also by faith that the apostles would lead true Israel into their promised salvation. The first exodus out of Egypt was merely a shadow of what was to come in Christ. Paul speaks of disciplining his body. If he were to preach the gospel to others without himself being spiritually disciplined, he would disqualify himself from the race. Christ would be of no value to him if he were to stop depending on him. Paul was living out his belief by trusting in the Lord. Paul was experiencing the benefits of the gospel. Christ had already given his spirit to the first century believers as a seal for the promised redemption. They benefited from the vine and branches relationship just as we do today. The difference is that there was a race at hand with a preordained timeline, and the apostles were at the front lines. Just as all of history would have changed if Jesus didn't follow the lead of his Father. Same goes for the apostles. They finished the work that the Lord divinely appointed them to do, and the faithful entered into the promised salvation. Jesus is our salvation right now. He calls us to live in light of this great truth. He's our strength now and forever and in every circumstance we face. This pretty much answers our final question Who will receive heavenly rewards and crowns? Upon studying the heavenly rewards and crowns in our scripture, we find that many Christians are playing the role of the scarecrow and the wizard of Oz. They set on on a journey for a future imperishable crown, crown of rejoicing, crown of righteousness, crown of glory, crown of life. Do we want to wait until the end to find out we had what we were looking for the whole time we lived on earth? You've received your crown at salvation, but maybe you don't wear it. Maybe you set it aside thinking it's for a later time, not knowing the great power it contains right now. We seek a reward for our own deeds, while the reward can only be earned by the work of another. In Second Corinthians five, Paul writes For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. This passage is not as scary as we like to make it in our minds. We've been taught wrong for so very long. If apart from Christ we can do nothing, then who is the something that gets us our heavenly rewards and crowns? Make no mistake, Jesus took what we deserved so that we could have what he deserved. This passage teaches the recipients of the value of their belief now and forever. Whatever benefits we have from these crowns, we see in John's Revelation how In Revelation four, verse ten, we read The twenty four elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. The great news is that God works out all things for good. Even in our failures, He finds success. Have you been seeing things all wrong for way too long? Don't be afraid to face the truth. Imagine how God can use your experience to enrich your walk, as well as helping others who share your struggle. Doing it wrong gives you a ton of experience that God can turn into something amazing. The key is to start depending on him now. Start today. Spend the rest of your life waking up to grace and don't look back. You won't regret it. Stop trying to earn something that Christ Jesus already provided. Put on your crown and live the abundant life that Jesus promised to those who depend not on their own effort, but the strength that He provides. Christ does not strengthen us, He is our strength. He is our crown and He is our reward. Accept nothing less and be blessed. Talk to you guys next time. Grace and peace. The content of this message can be found on my blog post at WakingUpTograce.com. My writings include linked references and visual aids, which will give even more valuable insight, and it's always free of charge. 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