176. Salvation Reward, Work
Isaiah 62:11 Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
The prophecy of the coming Messiah contains a promise. The Messiah is Salvation, and salvation is coming to the Church (the daughter of Zion); the Messiah is bringing his reward with him, and He will give it to the Church; the work of the Messiah is coming before him.
Salvation comes with Christ. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, comes as salvation for all people. This salvation is proclaimed in the Gospel to the end of the world, both in space (to the ends of the earth) and in time (to the end of the age). The Gospel of salvation is meant for and proclaimed to all peoples of all the earth for all of the history of people living on the earth. The Lord proclaims the Gospel to all. The prophet says it to the Church. The Church preaches through the Apostolic word witnessing to salvation in Jesus to the ends of the earth. Salvation comes = Jesus brings salvation, for Jesus Himself is Salvation: He saves all people from Sin and its punishment, from Death and its finality, and from Satan and his torments. We hear the word of Christ and we are saved. And by faith the Spirit applies salvation to every aspect of our lives daily and eternally.
Christ’s reward is with Him, meaning that He grants the reward of His earned work to all people. The reward is the eternal life that Christ earned by His life, death and resurrection. It is Christ’s reward for He is the one who earned it. It is His and He is authorized to give His reward to all people, for whom He died. We who believe Christ and His proclamation have received the reward by His grace. Christ dispenses His reward freely to all believers. Christ gets the credit for our salvation and its rewards, but we get the benefits and the results for free. The promises of rewards both in this age and in the Age to Come are guaranteed by Jesus Christ.
The work of Christ goes before Him. The work of Christ includes the signs, wonders, miracles and healings He has done, and it also includes His entire life lived as a righteous and holy man, for He lived an entirely innocent human life; He lived with the temptation to sin, but He always overcame the temptation and never sinned. How did He do that? He did it because He loved you and me so deeply that the joy of your salvation drove Him to the innocent, bitter, suffering and death of the cross and to a glorious victory of bodily resurrection unto life eternal. This work earned the grace rewards He gave to us; and his work earned the reward that comes to Him, which is the salvation of the Church, which He loved and gave Himself up for. Because of His love for you and me He finished the work, earned the rewards for Himself and for us, and gives it to us richly and daily by grace.