The Judgment of Stewards

.... When Jesus returns to the earth He will rule and reign for a thousand years. At the end of that period will come the second resurrection and the Day of the Lord, when the unsaved will be judged before Him (Romans 2:6; Matthew 12:36). But Christians stewards will play an important role in between, during the millennial reign itself, so a special judgment will be held for them for this purpose. Two parables explain this stewardship and special judgment at length (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:12-27).
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.... In the begin of each of those parables, the Lord called certain of his servants who had already gained a degree of business savvy, and entrusted them with start-up capital. They were to use this money to do business for His kingdom until He returned (Luke 19:13). Thus, they would become ‘marketplace ministers’. They were to gain by trading until the day of His coming, when He would settle accounts with them.

.... "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.'

(Luke 19:15-17)

.... Let’s think about this arrangement and its practi- calities. The concept of making a profit includes an understanding that all of the expenses will be met along the way. Accordingly, God has ordained and financially blessed certain Christian businessmen who will raise financial empires, now in this world, to help fund the needs of His kingdom until the Day He returns. They are to be savvy enough to help with the kingdom's financial needs and yet, at the same time, increase their own business holdings more and more. As a basic mechanism for transferring these funds to the kingdom, a ratio of their profits such as tithing most naturally suggests itself (Deuteronomy 14:22).

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.... As seen in both of Jesus' parables, some stewards will do better than others. Those who behave wastefully will be punished. But those who do well will receive new charges in the millennial kingdom itself, in relation to the abilities they’ve shown. In the quotation above, one steward received authority over ten cities; in Matthew’s account they could received charge over various other affairs of the kingdom as well. But in regard to the Millennial kingdom, why would this be important to know?

.... "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

(1 John 3:2)

.... At this point we must venture into some areas that are not clearly defined in the Scriptures, but let’s make the best case we can with some of the things that we do know. We know that presently, in this world, the nations, cities and regions are spiritually ruled by principalities and powers of a demonic nature. These demons are fallen angels. But throughout the thousand year reign, we know that these same demons will be bound and so their dominions, of necessity, will be vacated (Revelation 20:1-3).

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.... On the other hand, Jesus told us that in the resurrection, when we are glorified with Him, we will become equal to the angels (Luke 20:36). We will also be much wiser then, for we will be glorified in Him, and we will be able to represent Him truly.

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.... It seems most likely, therefore, that these faithful Christian stewards, now glorified and obtaining Christ-like wisdom, will be appointed over cities in the spirit realm in a manner that replaces the fallen angels who will be bound during this same period (1 Corinthians 6:3). In other words, they may very well become the new ruling powers over earthly realms during the millennial reign.

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.... Although all Christians will rule and reign with Christ during this period in the general sense of sharing in His exalted status, this particular type of reign seems to be reserved for Christian stewards, including apostles and other ministers, on the basis of their proven faithfulness. Therefore, persons having this ministry must always seek to please the Lord in the financial and ministerial decisions they make. We will discuss the similar judgment for ministers in our next posting.

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Daily Bible Reading: Titus 1