“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 4:8 NKJV).
Unlike the traditional crown that is associated with a royal king, the crown mentioned here in 2 Timothy 4:8 referred to the laurel (or ivy) wreath that was presented to the winner of an ancient athletic contest. We can find a modern-day equivalent of this award in the form of a trophy that is given to the champion in a competitive event.
But unlike the discarded trophy from a long-forgotten contest that holds no further relevance, the crown of righteousness mentioned here will never lose its value. The Lord will award this crown to everyone who has “…set their affection on his appearing” (NET). Since it is bestowed by the God of eternity, it will always mean something important to those who receive it as well as everyone else.
The following author makes some important observations regarding this crown that are worthy of our attention…
“The crown of righteousness is given to those who long for the second coming of Christ (2 Timothy 4:8). It is highly revealing that in Revelation 4:10 we find believers casting their crowns before the throne of God in an act of worship and .adoration. This teaches us something very important. Clearly the crowns (as rewards) are bestowed on us not for our own glory but ultimately for the glory of God. We are told elsewhere in Scripture that believers are redeemed in order to bring glory to God (1 Corinthians 6:20). It would seem that the act of placing our crowns before the throne of God is an illustration of this.
Here’s something else to think about. The greater reward or crown one has received, the greater capacity one has to bring glory to the Creator. The lesser reward or crown one has received, the lesser his capacity to bring glory to the Creator. Because of the different rewards handed out at the judgment seat of Christ, believers will have differing capacities to bring glory to God.
Still, we shouldn’t take this to mean that certain believers will have a sense of lack throughout eternity. After all, each believer will be glorifying God to the fullness of his capacity in the next life. Each one of us, then, will be able to ‘declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light’ (1 Peter 2:9). (1)
Image Credit: “Wanna know what I think of your trophies?” by Lodigs is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
(1) Ron Rhodes, The Complete Book Of Bible Answers, Copyright © 1997 by Ron Rhodes, Published by Harvest House Publishers [p. 275]