Gold, Silver, Precious Stones
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which has
been laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, straw,
each one’s work will become clear, for the Day will declare it, because it
will be revealed by fire;
and the fire will test each one’s work, or what sort it is.
If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures,
he will receive a reward.
Most Christians don’t give much thought to their reward, neither to how much it is nor of what it is composed. Among those who do consider the treasure that awaits them at the judgment seat of Christ, there is confusion concerning the nature of our reward. We know that there are various crowns that might be earned, but the passage above does not speak of crowns. Rather, it speaks of the sort of treasure that every diver dreams of finding on shipwrecks and what have you.
We know that we shall receive crowns, but we also know that we shall cast them at the feet of our Lord as He sits upon His throne (
Rev 4:10). What then is our reward if we cast our crowns away? In the first place, if we are to reign with Christ in the millennial kingdom, then we must suppose that He will at some point return those crowns to us. It is at the rapture of the Church that we stand at the judgment seat of Christ, and the imagery in Revelation four would obviously be taking place shortly thereafter. We cannot say with authority at what point we shall receive our crowns again, whether it is before we return with Him to the earth to establish His kingdom, or after His coronation as King of kings and Lord of lords, but it is clear that we shall receive them again.But the crown does not constitute our reward. Rather, it represents our reward. That is, a crown is symbolic of several things at least: authority and power and wealth. The crown that the King of Saudi Arabia wears is not a great, large circle of heavy gold. Perhaps it weighs a pound or two. But it represents vast wealth and power among his people. David was probably the last pauper who was named king. Today, a king must be a man of great wealth and influence. When he is seen wearing his crown, no one would suggest that he was anything but terribly powerful and utterly wealthy.
And so it is with the Church Age saints. We shall wear our crowns, and we shall rule wearing them, but those crowns will also represent all of the treasure that we laid up during our earthly ministry in service to God. Whether it is literally gold, silver and precious stones, no man can say dogmatically today. But, as we utilize a normal method of interpretation, and since the Bible refers to our works in those terms, it stands to reason that at least part of our treasure will be little more than paving material (streets of gold). What the value of such treasure will be in eternity, we cannot say, but we can know and understand that God will not be tight-fisted as He gives us the keys to our safe deposit boxes. It seems best to presume that the treasure behind our crowns will indeed be gold, silver and precious stones. If you would highly value a dump truck of such treasure today, then it behooves you to value the treasure you will receive in heaven and work diligently for it. Whatever it may be, it may be compared to that sort of treasure in value. Press toward the goal for the prize!