by Mac Hammond
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us… (KJV).
When Christians die, their spirits go on to be with the Lord, and they become part of this great cloud of witnesses. Part of the definition for the word “witnesses” implies agreement and exhortation. These witnesses are not only very much aware of the unfolding plan of God on the earth, they know what’s happening in your life and are cheering you on from the grandstand of heaven, adding the power of their agreement to the course you’re running in this life.
One thing these witnesses cannot do yet is step into their eternal calling of ruling and reigning with the Lord because that requires a physical body. In order to fulfill this calling across the vastness of a universal creation that is temporal and physical, we have to have a physical body.
Angels can’t do what we do as human beings because they don’t have physical bodies. They can only legally function in this world as ministers to the heirs of salvation, which is their calling. The same is true with demons; they can’t do things in this earth without first possessing a biological life form through which to find expression. That’s the way God created this universe.
All Christians—both those alive and those who have died—will receive a glorified, physical body at the rapture of the Church so they will then be enabled to fulfill their eternal calling. First Corinthians 15:22-23 says:
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. (KJV)
Christ experienced a physical resurrection of His body. He didn’t enter into some kind of spiritual immortality; He was physically raised from the dead and it says that He was the firstfruits of many to follow. The resurrection of our physical bodies will occur when the Lord returns at the end of the church age and the Church is raptured.
What happens to the people who have died and their bodies are rotting in a grave or even cremated? Their earthly bodies will be resurrected to life and rejoined to their spirits who are with the Lord; those who are alive will experience the resurrection of their bodies after that.
Start Thinking About It!
So why is this important to know?Well, I believe that if people knew what their future looked like, they would live their lives much differently here on earth. A future you are certain about is the only way your quality of life now is going to be what it should be.
Hebrews 11:12-15 says:
Therefore sprang there even of one [talking about Abraham], and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith [a reference to the men and women of faith talked about earlier in this chapter], not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (KJV)
You and I need to become more mindful of the heavenly, eternal truths that are going to define our future than we are mindful of the earthly experiences that often occupy much of our thinking. Being heavenly minded makes a huge difference in the way you see everything in life. Of course, you can’t be mindful of something you know virtually nothing about. That’s why I’m sharing with you some basic truths about eternity.
What else do we know about the resurrection of our bodies and the eternal ages to come? We can read more about it in 1 Corinthians 15:35-38.
But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. (KJV)
Since I went into the ministry, I’ve had questions asked me about the rapture. “I’m a short guy now; I want to be 6’ 5” in the rapture.” “I have brown eyes, but I want blue in the rapture.” Paul shows us two things in this passage. First, your glorified body will be better than what you currently have. Second, he states, “to every seed his own body.” Your body is a seed of what is to come. If your body—“the seed”—has black hair and blue eyes, when it’s raised, it’s going to have the same thing. If you have a hook nose and a little bit of a hawkish profile, you’ll have that in the resurrection.
I heard somebody preach that we’re all going to be neutered in the rapture since there will be no marriage or giving in marriage in heaven, and thus, no need for sex for purposes of procreation. That’s not right though. If you’re “sown” a man, you’re going to be raised a man. If you’re “sown” a woman, you’re going to be raised a woman.
The things that get changed in the rapture are the corruptive effects of sin: disobedience, aging, sickness, and infirmity. In your glorified body, you’ll look in a mirror and say, “Whoa, do I ever look good!” No bald spots. No potbellies. No blemishes. You’re going to look good, but you’re going to be you.
The point of all this is that heaven is going to be so good, it’s just going to blow your socks off. You’re not going to be disappointed about a thing. You can’t even imagine the joy in a place without tears or sorrow. You’re going to be so excited about everything that unfolds.
The truth of it is that every God-given desire of yours will be fulfilled. If the promise wasn’t received in this earth and your heart’s desire was to be healed, then come heaven, you’ll experience healing. If you have a desire to experience an abundance that never seemed to manifest on this earth, then, man, your mansion and the street in front of your house paved with gold is going to be more than satisfying.
These are truths you need to know about the resurrection as you enter the eternal ages to come. Much is a mystery that the Bible doesn’t address, but we can rejoice in the certainty that heaven will more than satisfy every yearning of the human heart.
What About the Judgment Seat?
Another eternal truth is found in 1 Corinthians 15:41–42.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. (KJV)
Eternity will be pretty glorious for all of us, but the degree of glory from one person to another will differ. Why would that be? It could be because of the rewards that are meted out at the judgment seat of Christ, which are dependent upon the works done in this body.
Second Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or be bad” (KJV).
This isn’t an appointment we can miss. It will occur immediately after the resurrection because the degree of glory that is going to ultimately crown your resurrection will be dependent on this, the judgment seat of Christ.
The purpose of the judgment seat is that “everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad.” Now if that’s all you knew about the judgment seat, it might sound like a little bit of a scary experience. We’ve all done a lot of things in this body we would just rather not give an account of and certainly not receive something accordingly. We need to know more about the judgment seat which we find in 1 Corinthians 3:13–15.
Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (KJV)
This isn’t about who gets into heaven and who doesn’t; the issue of salvation was settled at the cross. No punishment is administered at the judgment seat. This is talking about getting a reward or not getting a reward. The greater degree of glory will come to those who have more works that He can reward you for.
Our Future Rewards
What are those works you get rewarded for? A lot of things have been preached about this. Today I want to show you the one passage of scripture that I can find in the New Testament that deals specifically with the basis of the reward system at the judgment seat. It starts in Matthew 25:14, where we find the parable of the talents.
The idea conveyed in this parable is that a lord is going on a journey to a far country and he entrusts all of his kingdom and possessions that represent his kingdom to his servants. This is an analogy for the Lord entrusting the Church and you as an individual member of the body of Christ with certain talents—gifts, abilities, financial resource, etc. He entrusts that to us until He returns and then an accounting will be taken.
The first two servants—one received five talents and one received two—produced an increase for their Lord. The Lord said, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many more” (KJV). The third did not produce an increase. The third was the one whose works got burned up and he suffered loss.
An important part of the reward system is our eternal assignment. The extent and the nature of that assignment is the ultimate reward you will experience for the things you do on this earth. The basis of measurement for reward is going to be whether or not you produced an increase for the kingdom of God.
The Importance of Increase
How did you use your gifts, your spiritual and natural talents, and your abilities? How did you use your financial capacity and resource? Did you use it for personal consumption or elevation of your own ego or fame or did you use your life’s resource to bring increase to the kingdom of God? That is the primary basis of measurement at the judgment seat.
Remember, increase in the kingdom of God only comes one way: through the principle of sowing and reaping. That principle governs increase in the kingdom. (See Mark 4:13, 26.)
As Jesus defines in Mark chapter 4, the soil is the human heart. The seed is the Word of God—not just a word off a page from the Bible but principles from the Word. God’s Word sets our perception of life and reality and our paradigm of what’s important and what isn’t.
When the principles of God’s Word are sown in the soil of the human heart, healing is produced. Deliverance is produced. Salvation is produced. Provision is produced. The kingdom is increased, and for that, you will be rewarded.
When you use your time to preach the Gospel and go on the missions field, when you use your talent, ability, and gifting to lay hands on the sick, when you use your money to support the preaching of the Gospel (that’s the only time money is called seed), you are increasing God’s kingdom.
God entrusts each of us with certain levels of responsibility. Don’t get bummed out if He only gave you two talents and He gave another guy five talents. We tend to look at the big TV preachers and say, “Man, they have a lot of reward coming because look who they get to preach to.”
I’ll tell you who is going to get the biggest reward. It’s going to be the ladies who sit in their prayer rooms and pray and believe God for His Word to bear fruit!
Don’t use your natural reasoning to figure this out. “Well, look at all that he’s got….” The increase you see on this earth has nothing to do with it. The question is this: what did you do with what He gave you? Did you use it to bring increase to the kingdom of God?
These things are really important. It’s what is going to make you more mindful of heaven. When you stand before your Lord to give an account for the deeds done in this body, with the desire to bring Him glory, it has an effect on the way you live your life.
So start thinking now about heaven and your part in eternity. Learn how to live in this world while remaining focused on heaven!
Mac Hammond
Mac Hammond is senior pastor of Living Word Christian Center, a large and growing church in Brooklyn Park (a suburb of Minneapolis), Minnesota. He is the host of theWinner’s Waybroadcast and author of several internationally distributed books. Mac is broadly acclaimed for his ability to apply the principles of the Bible to practical situations and the challenges of daily living.
Mac Hammond graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1965 with a Bachelor’s degree in English. Upon graduation, he entered the Air Force with a regular officer’s commission and reported for pilot training at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. He received his wings in November 1966, and subsequently served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia, accumulating 198 combat missions. He was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of Captain.
Between 1970 and 1980, Mac was involved in varying capacities in the general aviation industry including ownership of a successful air cargo business serving the Midwestern United States. A business acquisition brought the Hammonds to Minneapolis where they ultimately founded Living Word Christian Center in 1980.
After more than 30 years, Living Word’s church attendance has grown from twelve people in 1980 to an active church body of 10,000 members. Today some of the outreaches that spring from Living Word include Maranatha Christian Academy, a fully-accredited, pre-K through 12th grade Christian school; Living Free Recovery Services, a state licensed outpatient treatment facility for chemical dependency; The Wells at 7th Street, a multi-faceted outreach to inner-city residents; CFAITH, an online cooperative missionary outreach of hundreds of national and international organizations providing faith-based content and a nonprofit family oriented ISP; and a national and international media outreach that includes hundreds of audio/video teaching series, the Winner’s Way broadcast, the PrayerNoteseNewsletter, and the Winner’s Way eMagazine.
