Watch
Listen
Read
The God Who Is: A Rewarder
Theology is literally the study of God. And as we study God to know who he is, we could cover the depth of his attributes without end. However, over the next couple of weeks, we want to look at the Scripture to better understand specific attributes of God that will help us to better relate with him and others during this time. Today’s traits will better root us in our confidence in God.
Focus: We will more fully embrace motivation in life when we understand that God is a rewarder.
God the Rewarder
The Reward and the Fight
The God Who Fights for You
God the Rewarder
God’s nature is that he loves to reward the life that we live by faith in obedience to his commands.
The point is this: If God does not exist, then life is objectively meaningless; but man cannot live consistently and happily knowing that life is meaningless; so in order to be happy he pretends life has meaning. But this is, of course, entirely inconsistent—for without God, man and the universe are without any real significance.
- William Lane Craig, On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision
Thankfully, there is a God who has made himself both historically and presently known.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
God has called you to work.
The participation reward mentality can be a toxic one when it does not give people the understanding that they need to work to get better, to develop a skill and achieve in life.
Proverbs 14:23
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
God does not reward without our effort.
The Reward and the Fight
God understands that there is a fight of faith to live in obedience to his commands.
The good news is that not only is God a rewarder, but he is also a fighter.
He is known as the Lord of Hosts.
God is himself a warrior.
Exodus 15:1-3
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord , for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.
Understanding what God rewards is important.
He has both temporal and eternal rewards.
Do not be confused.
God will not reward that which does not honor him or stands opposed to him, though the world systems may for a moment.
For example, you may have material comfort as your sole pursuit in life.
You work hard, earn a good living, save and want to enjoy a leisurely life.
It is the pursuit and preservation of the American Dream.
There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this mentality.
Or is there?
There is nothing wrong with having great wealth.
It is seen throughout Scripture as a blessing that can come from God.
Yet this posture bereft of a submission to God can be idolatrous and lead to a life of greed.
In times like the Pandemic, we’re tempted to abandon the disciplines of a life of faith to hoard.
According to Jesus, you may have had worldly pleasures, but will be lacking eternal reward.
If you are stingy, this will be your lot.
Matthew 6:19-33
Luke 12:13-48
Luke 16:19-31
“We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.”
David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.
Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
The life of God is one of generosity, and He blesses such a life with both temporary and eternal reward.
“It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing.”
― Thomas à Kempis The Imitation of Christ: Classic Devotions in Today’s Language
Blessing can become a temptation, and a temptation a curse when they are not submitted to God.
And often the trouble begins in the heart.
We must fight for our blessings to be submitted to God, lest they become a vice.
Temptations like these are what Christ uses to teach us to fight to remain connected to his eternal Kingdom purposes and to remind us how desperate we are to stay near the heart of God.
Judges 3:1-2
Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before.
There was someone who said,
“A man without a righteous fight will degenerate.”
The God Who Fights for You
The good news is that the Lord of Hosts fights on behalf of those he loves that they might obtain his reward.
“Your life is a continuum where wholeness is on one end and destruction is on the other. Each decision you make is moving you one direction towards wholeness and peace with God, or away from Him.”
-CS Lewis
God does not just give you commands to be obeyed, or territory to take, but he himself fights to get you there.
God is the ultimate player-coach.
1 John 3:8
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
What we must do as God is fighting for us:
Learn what God is fighting for - you do this through his word and
Learn how to go to God in the midst of the fight - you do this is prayer, both individual and corporate
Learn to fight God’s battles as a part of a team - this is why active participation in church life (even during the Pandemic) is vital.
This is true even when you’re believing for a breakthrough or trying to overcome sin.
2 Chronicles 20:15-17
And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
What you notice about this victory is that God fought it on behalf of his people, not just an individual.
You will begin to win your individual battles as you begin to fight them as a part of God’s collective.
You need to link your fight to the corporate fight.
Always remember, when you take care of God’s business and house, he will then take care of yours.
Psalm 18 is a beautiful picture of how God fights on our behalf, even when we feel weak.
Psalm 144:1-2
Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.
What battles am I fighting that the Lord is winning on my behalf?
Zechariah 4:6-7
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
When we come into the gospel, we rest from our works before God, but come into being beneficiaries of Christ’s work done for us.
Someone still had to work.
Someone still had to fight.
Jesus did the work of perfect, righteous living for us, and won the ultimate battle over Satan, sin and death at the cross for humanity.
God’s grace allows you to live in the benefits of Christ’s victory on the cross and resurrection from the dead.
This is salvation.
However, you will be rewarded both now and eternally by how you apply those benefits by faith in the work that you do today.
Let all your work be God’s work.
May you receive his Kingdom reward.
Study
Click HERE to download our study guide
Second City Church - The God Who Is - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020