The "Reward" or the "Rewarder?" | Liberty at Home

Who is God? Let's try to tackle this

infinite subject in a very finite amount of time on this

week's episode of Liberty at Home.

Hello, my friends. I'm Pastor Adam Rivero, and

welcome to our latest edition of Liberty at Home.

This weekly devotional series is brought to you by Liberty

Baptist Church right here in town.

Today, as always, we're broadcasting from Easton, MA,

where the Patriots have defied all odds and are the winners of

Super Bowl 60. Now Full disclosure, I recorded

this a good two weeks before the Super Bowl and boy I hope I

didn't just embarrass myself. Well, on to more important

matters. In fact, much more important

matters. Who exactly is God?

Now we can't answer this limitless question in a limited

5 minute TV episode, but we can look at one very interesting

facet of who He is and how it relates to you.

You know, people have many different concepts of who God

is. Some believe it would be a cruel

taskmaster looking down from heaven, ready to rap the

knuckles of anyone who doesn't toe the line.

Others think of him as a doddering old grandfather,

sitting bleary eyed in heaven and unable or unwilling to act

in the affairs of men. Still others consider him to be

a magic genie, only to be turned to when it's time to cash in on

one of their wishes. Of course, still others don't

believe he exists at all, that he's a figment of the

imaginations of weak minded, silly individuals who can't live

life without a religious crutch. When we consider who God is, our

thinking cannot be shaped by our own thoughts or wishes, rather,

it must match up to God's Word. Some time ago, as I was reading

Genesis 15, I took special notice of verse one.

After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a

vision, saying, fear not Abram, I am thy shield and thy

exceeding great reward. I'd like to take a moment to

pause and consider that God is our reward.

Many people look at God as simply a rewarder.

They serve Him to receive earthly benefits in return.

Now certainly God is gracious and meets the needs of His

people, and Hebrews 11 verse 6 talks about this.

Hebrews 11:6

Yet Genesis chapter 15 verse one tells us that He is a reward,

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

not a rewarder. This is a distinction with a

difference. A reward is something that is

received in exchange for consideration from another

person. For instance, to collect a

reward at the police station, you can't just walk in and

request some. You have to give some

information about a crime that leads to an arrest.

This exchange will net you the reward.

If God is our reward, what do we need to possess for him to

become our reward? The answer is clear faith.

Consider a few verses later in Genesis 15, verse 6, And he,

Genesis 15:6

Abram, believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for

righteousness. Hebrews 11 verses 8 and 9 also

Hebrews 11:8

speak of this when they say by faith, Abraham, when he was

called to go out into a place which he should after receive

for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither

he went. By faith he sojourned in the

land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles

with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

When we trust in God for salvation, understanding that is

by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of

our sins. God becomes our exceeding great

reward. We don't need to look for

heavenly handouts to be blessed. We don't even need to wait for

heaven for our reward. We're blessed right here and now

because God himself is our reward.

How exciting. This encourages believers that

no matter how difficult life may get, we still have the greatest

treasure of all, God's presence and power in our lives.

What could possibly be a greater reward than that?

If you've never put your faith in Jesus Christ, I implore you

to call upon Him to save you today so that you can receive

your blessed reward. You know, as we close, I want to

say that I'm always thankful when you take the time to watch

Liberty at Home, whether on your TV, YouTube, or some other

social media platform. At Liberty Baptist Church, it's

our goal to preach the word of God to the community and

proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ.

And Speaking of that, we love to invite you to one of our

upcoming services at 800 Washington St. here in Easton.

You can visit at 10 AM, eleven AM, 5:00 PM on Sunday, and 7:00

PM on Wednesday. To learn more about a church,

visit [email protected].

Thanks for tuning in. And don't forget that where the

Spirit of the Lord is, there's Liberty.

See you next week right here on Liberty at Home I.