THE FIRST WILL BE LAST:

And The Last Will Be First

“So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Matthew 19:28-30)

In the above passage, Jesus is describing His Millennial Reign, in which He is calling ‘the regeneration.’ And this is how we can discern that the first and last switch is referring to a person’s reputation here being changed to the opposite in Heaven, however, certainly not in all cases like every person, but with some people that’s what will happen.

However, in the parable in which Jesus teaches about financial compensation for the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16, the depiction of first and last is presented in a more obscure way. Some believers are teaching that the landowner was being completely fair in his payment for all his workers being the same, even though they did not all work the same amount of hours, because they agreed and he had every legal right in which to give them all the same pay. However, is that really the take away Jesus intended for this story? Because perhaps the real lesson Jesus was teaching here is the unfairness of life, and how that everything will be turned around to His Perfect Fairness in Heaven.

Moreover, Jesus also taught this one of God’s Statues in Luke 13:22-30; making this same point in speaking to the people in this same context using the teaching of the narrow way being the only way to make it into Heaven.

The above parallel verses seem to be referring to those considered not so great here in this realm, exalted by all in the hereafter, while those who are greatly acknowledged and exalted here, not considered so great in Heaven, as this man concurs—

God is so amazingly fair. What we cannot reap here in the world due to things that are beyond our control, God may just be keeping us from that reaping here in order to surprise us with much greater reward in Heaven. FOR HE IS CONTROL OF OUR REPUTATIONS! He was in control of Jesus’ Reputation and He is in control of ours—

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

In this verse, it’s easy to recognize exactly what Paul is saying about Jesus’ Reputation on the earth not being what anyone would expect. Because by all rights, He should have been greatly exalted in the earth since He made it! But, Jesus was not only kept down by others, He didn’t even seek to exalt Himself as KING, which He had every right to do! That should be an example for us, to remain humble and meek even when we feel our work excels beyond the work of others, whether that be the creative kind, the construction kind, the intellect kind or any other kind of work we human beings may find ourselves doing…

It’s so glorious the way God’s Word explains everything we wonder about and get confused about. It’s hard not to wonder why some extremely talented people cannot seem to attain as high a level of popularity as their less talented counterparts. But through the study of Scripture, we can learn and be far more equipped in comprehending how we ought to think about this and any other topic we may wonder about.

Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist once said that this world is our training ground for our careers in Heaven. If he is correct, that means that some people, who struggle for every crumb of acceptance here, may reap great reward within God’s chosen field for them in Heaven, which may or may not align if what they have chosen for themselves here. The video in which Hugh says this is apparently unavailable, but here he is with a little snippet of his testimony—

One very simple and plain reason for why God has ordained the talented in this way is in order to keep them from the pride that could antagonize the anointing of GOD, because how can anyone keep their anointing while being exalted by a large number of people? A drastic and sudden increase in success has the potential for any person to feel pride rise up upon being showered with acknowledgement, praise and admiration. We are only human and no one naturally has the ability to keep their egos in check if they are exalted to a higher level, particularly if it is sudden and dramatic, but even on a smaller scale, it can still be quite challenging…..

And after all, aren’t we supposed to be accepting of these things and just focus on developing deeper trust in God and continue in our glorying of HIM, even when things seem like they aren’t making sense? AND, none of us knows who will be exalted in Heaven. That is God’s Job! We just need to remain in humility and trust.

But, if we allow Him, God will turn our bad into good, as Paul instructed his church in Romans 8:28. For if we cooperate with the Lord, He may help us alter any stress or frustration by our determined redirecting of focus from self-promotion to greater spiritual growth, (which has greater value than any worldly success ever could.) Because in order to deal with repeated disappointment, our emotional and spiritual growth is a must for our mental survival. Thereby, we may grow less centered on our own goals and more centered on growth and peace, perhaps even in doing more for others.

It’s so wondrous to ponder that many of those who go unnoticed in this world will be giants in Heaven.

And we should see this as very encouraging news, while making sure to not compare ourselves, but instead relax and enjoy what God has us doing to glorify HIM!

, we ought to feel sorry for those who live for self-glorification. In the video below, these people mocked God and God took them out, as punishment, and a reality check for themselves and even those who witness their demise! They may have been popular on the earth, but they most likely will not even make it into Heaven, let alone be first in Heaven, They don’t need our pats on the back, they need our pity (the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 covers this topic) so that we may then pray for their salvation, even speaking with them if possible, if they are still among the living that is—

NKJV