Title: 13
Author: JOEG
Last saved by: Matthew C. Lawson
Company: Auth Co

© 2002 Joe Griffin	                                   ▼                    02-02-24-B.JSH-619 /

The Inscrutable Question: Definition of Nike Awards; Winners Receive while Losers Forfeit their Escrow Blessings, 2 Cor 5:10
	14-	The winner believers will be the honored following the evaluation at the presentation of the Nike Awards.  This is the ultimate glorification of God and Christ by the Church Age believer as each one receives the conveyance of his escrow blessings.
	15-	The development of this term “Nike Awards” can be reviewed rather quickly.  First of all we will build a case for assigning a special descriptive name to these rewards.
	16-	Excellence in human endeavors has been historically recognized by the presentation of prizes, awards, and medals.  Some of the more widely known include:
		1)	The Alfred B. Nobel Prize: Granted annually for those who benefit mankind in physics, chemistry, medicine, physiology, literature, economics, and peace.
		2)	The Joseph Pulitzer Prize: Awarded annually for work done in journalism reporting, commentary, feature writing, correspondence, editorial writing, editorial cartooning, and photography.
		3)	The Emmy Awards: Presented to television programs and performers which are considered the year’s best in categories of drama, comedy, miniseries, variety, and children’s programming.
		4)	The Tony Awards: Presented annually to outstanding performances and performers in the theater including best play, best musical, and best score.
		5)	The Oscars: Awarded each year by the Motion Picture Academy to the year’s best movies and performers including the best picture, actor, actress, and director.
		6)	The Grammy Awards: Presented annually to the best compositions and performers in the field of recorded music.
		7)	Military:  Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Crosses, Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and others.
		8)	Sports:
			Baseball: (1) Cy Young Awards for best pitchers, (2) Most Valuable Player award for best performer, and (3) the Golden Glove Awards for the outstanding fielders.
			College Football: (1) The Heisman Trophy for the most outstanding play of and (2) the Outland Award for the most outstanding interior lineman.
			All major sports, both college and professional, have halls of fame into which are inducted the most outstanding performers of each sport.
		9)	Each one of these awards is won by a human being who makes whatever sacrifices are necessary to maximize his own natural-born talents and abilities.  Through various methods of motivation he is compelled to excel under the pressure of competition against other performers or athletes or display gallantry and intrepidity while in the heat of combat.
		10)	When a Roman officer performed heroically in battle one of his rewards was to ride in a chariot through the streets of Rome in a Triumphal Procession.  Standing behind him was his aide-de-camp, who, while holding over his head the appropriate crown, or corona, would whisper continually into his ear: sic transit gloria mundi, how quickly the world’s glory passes away.
		11)	Such is not the case for escrow blessings conveyed to Church Age winners.  Once the believer receives his transfer, it may never be revoked.
12)	Our Lord will distribute to us our escrow blessings at the Nike Award presentations at the Evaluation Throne:
2 Corinthians 5:10 - We must all appear [ fanerÒw, phaneroo ] before the judgment seat of Christ [ b»matoj toà Cristoà, bematos tou Christou ] that [ †na, hina ] each one [ ›kastoj, hekastos ] may receive back requital [ kom…zw, komizo ] for the things he has done by means of the body, face to face with [ prÒj, pros ] what he has accomplished [ pr£ssw, prasso ], whether good [ ¢gaqÒj, agathos ] or worthless [ qaàloj, thaulos ].
		13)	Note that the entire royal family of Church Age believers will “appear before the bema of Christ.”  The verb “to appear” is the aorist passive infinitive of fanerÒw, phaneroo which means much more than “to appear.”  It means “to be exposed for who and what you truly are, to be revealed in one’s true character.”
		14)	How will our true character be exposed?  We learned this in:
1 Corinthians 3:13 - Each believer’s work will become evident [ qanerÒw, phaneroo, exposed or revealed as to its true character ]; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire [ pàr, pur ]; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
		15)	This is followed by the conjunction †na, hina which introduces a purpose clause.  We are all there for a purpose which is about to be stated.
		14)	We will each one receive something back, indicated by the aorist middle subjunctive of the verb:
				kom…zw, komizo -  “to receive back; to recover; requital”
Requital is the best English word to translate this verb.  We consult:
	Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, s.v.: 

“requite”: To make return for: repay.  To make retaliation for: avenge.  To make suitable return to for a service or for an injury.  Syn. Reciprocate.
	“reciprocate”: A paying back of what one has received.
	“reckoning”: A settling of accounts.
15)	This definition is amplified by:
Thayer, Joseph Henry.  The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.  (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishing Co., 1981), 318:
Since in the rewards and punishments of deeds, the deeds themselves are requited and so given back to their authors, the meaning is obvious when one is said to receive back that which he has done, i.e., either the reward or the punishment of the deed.
		16)	That this requital will be conveyed individually is brought out by the singular substantive ›kastoj, hekastos which means “each and every.”  Each and every Church Age believer will be exposed for who and what he truly is before the evaluation throne of Christ.
		17)	The Lord will expose the character of each believer by exposing the quality of his “work” or his “deeds of the body.”  1 Corinthians 3:13 indicates the “quality of each man’s work” while 2 Corinthians 5:10 indicates the requital will hinge on “the things he has done by means of the body.”
		18)	1 Corinthians 3:13 considers the evaluation before the fact while 2 Corinthians 5:10 views it after the fact.  In the former, the quality of the works will be evaluated by fire.  In the latter, once that quality is determined, the category of requital will be in accordance with the value of things accomplished, the aorist active indicative of the verb:
			pr£ssw, prasso - 	to accomplish something by an habitual process; to practice something habitually.
aorist:	Culminative; the event is viewed in its entirety, but it is regarded from the viewpoint of its existing results.
This verb thus shows effort or process which attains an end.  The end is what is emphasized.  Through habitual behavior of thought, decision, and action each believer has consistently produced one of two categories of works: (1) divine good (1 Corinthians 3:14) or (2) human good (1Corinthians 3:15).
active:	Each individual believer produces the action of habitually producing this behavior.  Fire reveals whether it is divine good or human good.
indicative:	Declarative; a statement that represents the idea from the viewpoint of reality and becomes a statement of simple fact.
		19)	Further, each believer is going to be confronted with those things he accomplished that are to be put to the fiery test before the evaluation throne.  The preposition prÒj, pros indicates each believer will be “face to face” with his works.  The fire will reveal whether they are “good or worthless.”  Here we have two predicate adjectives describing the two categories of works being evaluated.  First is:
			¢gaqÒj, agathos -	that which has intrinsic value.
			This refers to the “works” that have permanent impact and thus fulfill the conditions of the Escrow Agreement.  The gold remains because it has intrinsic value.  It represents the wisdom accumulated in the stream of consciousness of the adult believer.  This gold consistently produces divine good in thought, decision, and action.
			The silver represents this divine good and it also remains because it has intrinsic value.  It is produced when the gold, or wisdom, is placed under the pressure of the various levels of testing in the sophisticated spiritual life.
			When the adult believer reaches spiritual maturity he fulfills the condition required by the Escrow Agreement and receives the conveyance of Escrow Blessings in time.  These blessings are symbolized by the precious stones which have intrinsic value as well.
			Intrinsic refers to inward, internal, or inherent.  These metals and gems have values in and of themselves that are permanent even after testing.  Such is the case with wisdom.  The accumulation of divine thought in the soul of believers is permanent throughout eternity.  The production of divine good from this source involves permanent solutions to the problems presented in cosmos diabolicus.  The conveyance of escrow blessings in time has permanent impact in the Invisible War.
The next and final word in the verse refers to the second verdict rendered by the Lord following His evaluation of believers’ works, the predicate adjective:
				faàloj, phaulos -	“worthless”
The context refers to those whose lifestyle has been exposed as one that practices evil things in contrast to those who practice good things.  Divine good is placed in opposition to human good and evil.  The former fulfills the Escrow Agreement and its practitioner receives the conveyance of escrow blessings for eternity.  The latter fails, is in total contrast to divine good, and its practitioner does not receive the conveyance of his escrow for eternity.
20)	This verse may be paraphrased to bring out all the nuances of our exegesis:
2 Corinthians 5:10 - We must all have our true character revealed before the evaluation throne of Christ in order that each and every one may receive back requital for the things which he has produced by means of the body, face to face with what he has habitually accomplished, whether the intrinsic value of divine good or the worthlessness of human good and evil.
		21)	2 Corinthians 5:10 is a synopsis of what Paul taught the Corinthians in his first epistle to them.  That passage gives the mechanics of the evaluation:
1 Corinthians 3:13 - Each believer’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
v. 14 -	If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward.
v. 15 -	If any believer’s production is burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be delivered, yet as through fire.
		22)	A question has arisen regarding the verb “shall suffer loss” in verse 15.  It inquires as to how the believer can suffer loss of his escrow account.  Although not conveyed it was imputed to him in eternity past and his name is on the account in the Depository.  Consequently, if this is not loss of the escrow account then what is lost?
		23)	Good question.  This is why exegesis is so important.  I did not do a word for word analysis of the 1 Corinthians 3 passage and now the decision not to has afforded me the opportunity to stress why word for word exegesis is so important.  So here is the explanation.
		24)	The verb “shall suffer loss” is the future passive indicative of:
zhmiÒw, zemioo -	In the active voice it means “to damage.”  In the passive voice it means to “suffer loss” or “to forfeit.”
future:	Predictive; predicts an event which is expected to occur in future time.
passive:	The loser believer receives the action of the verb because he did not fulfill the conditions of the Escrow Agreement in time.
indicative:	Declarative; a statement of fact that will transpire in the future at the evaluation throne of Christ.
25)	The verb may be translated as “suffer loss” or “forfeit.”  In our context the English word that best translates the idea is “forfeit.”  The loser believer is responsible for his failure to receive the conveyance of his escrow account.
26)	Consequently, the loser believer forfeits the contents of his escrow by failing to fulfill the conditions of the Escrow Agreement.  Although its contents are still on deposit in his name, he can never enjoy their benefits.
27)	The winner believer does enjoy their benefits and will receive their conveyance at the presentation of the Nike Awards whose content is disclosed by the Lord to the Apostle John in Revelation 2-3.
28)	If you are interested in a brief review of the Nike Awards you may reference the tapes, Web site, and lesson notes for three lessons in the Joshua series.  The audio of these three lessons may be streamed on the Web site where the lesson notes are also available.  If you wish you may order them on tape.  The lesson numbers and tape numbers are: JSH-386 through JSH-388.

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