Rewards in heaven, glorify God, and provide us with joy, peace, and wonder as we pursue godly, living and surrender to God‘s in us and through us. Rewards in heaven are the completion of our earthly salvation experience and those rewards will be extremely satisfying. 
- The crown of rejoicing
- The crown of the soul winner
- The crown of righteousness
- The crown of life
- The imperishable crown
In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Paul best defines for us how these crowns are awarded.
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate (disciplined) in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”
How these crowns are awarded:
1. The crown of rejoicing
The purpose: The apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4 to “rejoice always in the Lord” for all the bountiful blessings our gracious God has showered on us. As believers, we have more in this life to resource than anyone else.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice.”
Luke 15: 7 tells us there is rejoicing even now in heaven.
“I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.”
The crown of rejoicing will be reward for believers where.
“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, the former things have passed away” -Revelation 21:4
2. The crown of the soul-winner
The Purpose:
Rewards for faithful service
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” -2 Corinthians 5:10
Proverbs 11:30 tells us “The fruit of the righteous is s tree of life and the one who is wise saves lives.”
3. The crown of righteousness
The purpose & recipients:
We inherit this crown through the righteousness of Jesus which is what gives us aright to it, and without it cannot be obtained. It is an everlasting crown, promised to all who love the Lord and eagerly wait for His return. Through our enduring discouragements, persecutions, sufferings, or even death, we know our reward is with Jesus in eternity.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” -2 Timothy 4:7-8
We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power that He will bring everything under His control (Philippians 3:20-21).
Finish the race, then the reward.
4. The crown of life
The purpose
This crown is for all believers. We know that our earthly lives will end. But we have the amazing promise that comes only to those who come to God through Jesus.
“And this is the promise that He has promised us -eternal life” -2 John 2:25
This crown will be given to those who successfully endure temptation and suffering, who bravely confront persecution for Jesus to the point of death.
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him” -James 1:12
Revelation 2:10-11 tells us, “Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you in prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life” (NLT). Revelation 3:11 tells us to hold fast to what you gave because the Lord will come quickly, to be sure no one will take our crown.
5. The imperishable crown
Paul gives us an analogy of the Olympic athlete to explain this reward.
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize I’d disciplined in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we got an imperishable crown” – 1 Corinthians 9:25-25
Paul explains that he exercises His godly liberty by living a life of disciplined endurance. The Corinthians were familiar with the Isthmian games which were a major festival in ancient Greece to honor the sea God Poseidon and Paul used that knowledge to teach them that they should live a godly life with a certain motive. The motive is to win an incorruptible crown, an honor bestowed by God. He provided himself as an example of such a life with the illustrations of a runner and a boxer.
“Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” -1 Corinthians 9:26-27
To reward the winner of an Olympic-type race. This kind of reward points to a permanent honor that Jesus will bestow upon those who live by the Holy Spirit restraint which keeps them qualified for ministry.
I think to get this, prize we need to live out our call in this life. In other words to master our old sinful nature. We need to learn how to deny ourselves for God’s glory that we might be honored at the judgment. which is quite difficult living in a broken world that pushes us toward sin at every turn.
Rewards in heaven glorify God and provide us with joy, peace, and wonder as we pursue godly living and surrender to God’s work in us and through us. Rewards in heaven are the completion of our earthly salvation experience and those rewards will be eternally satisfying (Psalm 16:11).
From Pity to Praise 