This rewarding at His return requires Jesus to judge the works of the Saints.. This is the type of judgement that will happen upon the first resurrection of the Saints at the time of the return of Jesus when the saints will be resurrected to live and reign with Jesus on earth for 1000 years..
The parable below indicates servants being rewarded in relation to their efforts...
(Luke 19:12-19) "He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. {13} And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. {14} But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. {15} And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. {16} Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. {17} And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. {18} And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. {19} And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities."
To undersatnd the judgement you need to see the big picture.
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
Moses was given a miniature blueprint of the great throne room in the heavenly sanctuary. His instructions were, "Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee,
after the pattern of the tabernacle. . . ." Exodus 25:8, 9.
Moses had the exact specifications for constructing a wilderness church where God would commune with His people during their desert sojourn.
The portable tabernacle was roughly fifty-five by eighteen feet in size with a surrounding enclosed courtyard facing the east. The rectangular building was divided into two apartments separated by a heavy veil which extended from near the ceiling to the floor. The larger first room was called the holy place and contained three special articles of furniture -- a candlestand on the left, the table of shewbread on the right, and a golden incense altar directly in front of the veil.
In the second apartment, called the most holy place (or the holy of holies), there was only one article of furniture -- the ark of the covenant. This was a gold-covered chest of acacia wood which was to contain the tables of the Ten-Commandment law. On top of the ark was the mercy seat, representing the corresponding place in heaven where God's presence was manifest. A bright spot of glory called the Shekinah abode in that most sacred of all locations on earth. On either end of the ark were two carved cherubim of gold, one wing of each overarching the mercy seat while they gazed reverently down upon the ark and its contents.
Many say so what !
what has this to do with today....?
The requirements for this temporary structure were so exacting, and God command Moses to make it precisely after the pattern which he was shown in heaven itself?
God wanted us to understand what it was like in Heaven.. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
By shedding the blood themselves, they were constantly reminded that sin means death and that they could only be forgiven through the atoning death of another. It all pointed to the coming Messiah..
Then came the annual Day of Atonement when a final disposition was made of their record of sin in the sanctuary. It always fell on the tenth day of the seventh month and was called the "cleansing of the sanctuary." To this day, that solemn observance (Yom Kippur) is regarded by every Jew as a
day of judgment. Symbolically a blotting out of the blood-recorded sins took place as the high priest, alone, entered the holy of holies to sprinkle the blood of a goat.
It is all important to help us understand how the heavenly system works. I'll try to explain it in the next....
