“The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether (as the hymn so mistakenly puts it…). They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.”

– NT Wright (Surprised By Hope)

Another reality of the new earth Jesus taught was that we will have responsibilities in the age to come. Let’s take a look at a story Jesus told, recorded by Luke in his gospel. In the parable, Jesus said there was a man of noble birth who left ten of his servants with ten minas (an ancient form of currency). He told his servants to put the money to work until he would come back. 

The noble man was named king and returned to see what his servants did with the minas. The first servant told him he had earned ten more minas for the king. The king told him, “Well done, my good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities” (Luke 19:17). The story continues with another servant multiplying his minas and being put in charge of cities as well. Unfortunately, there was another servant who was afraid of the king and, because of that fear, hid his mina away in a cloth. The king then took it away and gave it to one who had exercised more boldness with his mina. 

Responsibilities Over Cities

The point we want to focus on right now is how those who were fruitful were given responsibility over cities. It reminds me of the verse from 2 Timothy that says, “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12). Like the NT Wright quote above, what we do in this life matters and will affect our roles in the age to come. 

I don’t believe Jesus is saying we are saved by our works. The rest of the New Testament is clear that we are saved by grace through faith (see Romans 4:6 and many other verses saying the same thing). The key is embracing the salvation we already have. Then, getting to know the true heart of our King, unlike that fruitless servant. This is what removes fear. It’s from that place of joy that we will bear a lot of fruit in life and then be trusted in the age to come over cities, people groups, and hey, maybe even nations! (Maybe planets too?! Okay, now I’m getting a little crazy, but hey, why not?)

The point is, why not start living for Jesus now? Can you be trusted to keep your house clean? To care for a wife? To care for children? These are ways that we can show our gratitude to the King for our salvation. Can we take care of people? Can we take care of our money? Can we care for our family by cooking food? These are all simple ways that we can show Jesus we are trustworthy. 

And let’s also make it clear that it’s through the presence of the King within us that we can do anything. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” he said in John 15:5. Praise the Father that he sent his Son for us so that we would not just work for him but work with him–and even in him. It’s actually not supposed to be hard to bear fruit in this life. All we have to do is abide in the vine who is Jesus himself. Yes, we will have hard moments, face trials, and deal with difficulties; but fruit should happen as we live in the faith, joy, and love of Jesus within us. He wants us to be successful and to multiply all he’s entrusted to us.

It’s certainly interesting that it was the servant who expected things to be hard, believing the King was a difficult person and hard to please, who didn’t produce any fruit. Isn’t that how it works? When we are living in fear (the unhealthy kind) toward God, we tend to hide and not bear any fruit. On the contrast, when we know the goodness of the King, his love and confidence towards us, we feel empowered to live generously and fruit comes quite naturally. 

With all of this said, let’s remember how good and abundant is the King of all kings. He died for us. He saved us. He has always been there for us. In view such grace, let’s share his love with the world in any and every way we can.

And when he comes back, may he trust us with more. 

The new earth is going to be filled with absolutely beautiful and stunning cities filled with the manifest glory of God. And these cities will be filled with real people! Jesus will trust some of us to help lead these cities with him. Make no mistake about it, in the age to come, the leadership style of Jesus will continue to be servant leadership. It will be through loving service that we joyfully lead cities to praise God in all we do! 

For a deeper dive into this discussion, check out Episode 21 of The Elisha’s Riddle Podcast where Dylan and Nick explore this topic further: