What's in It for Me? Would a Promise to Share the Throne of the Universe Be OK? How Do We Qualify?

Summary: Christ promises that He will make us ruler over all that He has if we meet the conditions in His wedding parable recorded by Luke. This is a huge answer to “What’s in it for me? And it reminds us of the army motto, Be All That You Can Be!

What’s in It for Me? is a human persective that quickly analyzes every situation we find ourselves in and then determines how much we want to participate.

If I could offer you heaven in return for something you could do, it might seem like a great offer. But we should remember that Eve was in Paradise already, yet she was tempted with more. The serpent said she would be like God, but Genesis 1 says we were made in His image. We might conclude that she was greedy for not being satisfied with the role that God had appointed for her.

Christ’s disciples were no better. They argued over who would be the greatest in the kingdom. They said they had left all for Him–what they would get?

Are we any different? As Christians, we believe that we are treated better than we deserve and we understand that we cannot earn heaven by good works—heaven is a free gift to those who give themselves freely to Christ. Doing so makes Him our Savior and Lord in the same transaction.

Evangelical Christians explain Revelation 3:20 as an invitation to receive Christ who is at the door of our hearts, knocking for entrance. He’s a gentleman and doesn’t beat the door open. It’s our choice to surrender our lives to Him or continue the ruin. This truth has applied to countless millions who have asked Him to save them.

But the next verse is commonly misunderstood as applying also to countless millions—that He will grant us to sit with Him on His throne. If this applied to the countless millions of saved people, it would be a crowded throne!

Actually this promise is addressed to the church of Laodicea, the last of seven churches, lukewarm with materialism, and to the responders who get it right, He will share the throne with them. We might wonder how? What does He expect of us?

We need to remember that the Bible is its own expositor—it explains itself. This passage in Revelation 3 has six parallels to Luke’s wedding parable.

1. “Loins girded” in Luke 12:35 is like having white raiment in Rev 3:18.

2. “Lamps burning” is parallel to having eye salve to see.

3. Both get a knock.

4. Both are to open.

5. “Ruler over all that He has” is like “sit with Me on my throne.”

6. Both are end-time, Luke 12:43.

In Luke 12:32-48, we see that there’s more to Christ’s promise than simply saying, Lord save me! Nevertheless, the promise is real and it comes from the One who hung the stars in space. Our challenge is to understand His knock and how we must open.

In this short article, we have looked at a huge “What’s in it for Me?” but to explain more is beyond the scope of this article which is complemented by information on the author’s websites.

Because my name is Ruhling, I wanted to understand how we become “ruler over all that He has,” and I’m confident that we can do it. For a better understanding of the “knock,” please visit http://MayJudgmentDay.com because it explains that the ancient church of Laodicea (where Christ “knocked”) ended in an earthquake that destroyed the city. Consider the reasons that could apply to us.

A second website with additional information to understand Luke’s wedding parable is at http://TheBridegroomComes.com It offers a synthesis of Christ’s wedding parables. They all have some things in common and they are not about a sudden rapture to heaven!