Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Long before
meteorologists had state-of-the-art know-how and equipment to help them predict
the weather, people made forecasts based on their observations of the sky and
nature. There are many old sayings that
people sometimes still use today. “Rainbow in the morning gives you fair
warning”; “Clear moon frost soon”; and one of the most popular, “Red skies in
the morning sailors take warning, red skies at night sailors delight.
Jesus reproved
and admonished the legalistic Jewish leaders because they knew how to foresee the
weather, but they failed to identify the obvious signs that Jesus was the
promised Messiah (Matthew 16:23). Later in that same chapter He warned
His hearers about the judgment to come. He said it is foolish to grab the
things of this present world and yet lose one’s own soul for eternity (Matthew
16:24-27).
This verse of scripture is the
first reference of the Second Coming of Christ Jesus mentioned in the New
Testament. He will come with His angels at that time, with the glory of God.
The “Son of Man” signifies to the humanity of Christ; Jesus will come at His
second coming in human form. When Jesus comes back to the earth, He will judge
each person according to their works and deeds (Romans 2:5-8). The
message in this verse of scripture in no way points to our salvation or losing
our salvation. This judgment refers to the “Judgment Seat of Christ” where all
followers and believers in Christ Jesus will give account of our service to
Christ Jesus (Romans 14:10-12).
Knowing that Christ Jesus is
coming back allows us the keep eternal values in view knowing that one day we
will be face to face with the one that made it possible for us to know eternal
life. The things of this world might seem almost relevant at times, but when we
stand face to face with Christ Jesus, we will then see what was imperative.
This knowledge will empower us to nurture a true sense of priorities and values
in this life.
Christ Jesus did not preach a
prosperity Gospel; His focus was not on self-image, self-love, or self-esteem.
The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, similar to the prosperity gospel proponents
of our time, offer worldly riches along with fame and fortune. If we choose to
focus our lives on how much gold and silver we can amass, we will most likely
place more focus on self-worth and self-image than on surrendering ourselves to
God in Christ Jesus.
Every heartbeat we spend on
feathering our nest with earthly riches is a heartbeat that we are not focused
on our service to God. Some might say that one day I’ll have enough money, and
then I’ll start serving Jesus. The problem with that scenario is that for most
people that focus on gaining wealth, there is never enough. At the Judgment
Seat of Christ, we will be judged on our service to the calling of God on our
lives.
The sad part of this picture
is that all the riches we spent our entire life reaching for will be left
behind for our family members to squabble over. Then we will be standing at the
Judgment Seat of Christ with nothing to show for the service to the gospel of
Christ Jesus that we were supposed to be doing. In closing, remember that this
will not affect our salvation or eternal life, but I do not think any child of
God wants to see our Lord and Savior disappointed that we failed to do the work
He had called us to do.
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