Visa to Heaven Rewards Program

I'm talking the results of your life...
And that means character and Christ-likeness...

-Bob Hyatt

Here's how I see the Visa to Heaven Rewards Program:

Our mission is to know Christ and to see him as he truly is. Paul and the rest of Christ's closest friends were clearly closer to Jesus than any of us will ever be in this life. When we start over with the perfectly purified life, the character and Christ-likeness that we developed will carry over into that incorruptable life with God. Some will have learned less of the treasure and beauty and power of Jesus than others, but all of us will see him as he really is--no bias. And if God's being is infinite, then there will never be an end to knowing him. We will know all of his perfections, but we will never know them fully; we will spend eternity delving into that infinite depth of perfection that is our God.

The apostle Paul, because of his life experience with Christ and the way he chose to live, is way ahead of me on that journey into knowing God. That is his reward, being closer, being "ahead" in the unending race for the fullness of God. This eradicates envy, jealousy, resentment, and regret. We all will have what our hearts have been longing for, and we will all be striving forward through eternity for more. Yet each of us, as a result of our life lived, will begin post-death eternity from different places. And when we see Paul, we will see Christ in him and want more of Christ, not more power or money or authority. When we see Peter, we will ask him why he was so freakin' stubborn and laugh at him, walking away.

But really, that's how I think of rewards in heaven. Not the cause of class, but the effect of our earthly relationships, with God, people, creatures, and the planet.