In case you haven’t yet heard…the Olympics are coming to Vancouver in less than 100 days. Athletes all over the world are preparing for their various events, from speed skating to downhill skiing, and my favourite…hockey (Canada’s Game!). Athletes train in such a way as to be the best of the best. Their goal; an Olympic Gold Medal, and hearing their national anthem playing while their flag is raised and they stand atop the podium as ‘Olympic Champion.’
Have you ever heard of someone saying, ‘I want to be an Olympic Silver or Bronze medalist.’ or, ‘We’re here to lose!’, or how about, ‘What AM I doing here?’ What would we think of a coach who said something like, ‘I’m here to help you be number TWO!’ Anyone who sets their sights on being in the Olympics wants one thing…to win the top prize, the GOLD medal. And their coaches and trainers want to do everything in their power to help them see that goal realized.
As followers of Christ, should we set our sights any lower than the prize for which we all strive for? What is that prize? What is our goal? Are we in a race of some kind that we need to win? Take a look with me in the 3rd chapter of Philippians, and let’s read about what Paul has to say to the church then, and now, about the prize we should desire with every ounce of our being.
Philippians 3:12-16
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained. (NIV)
How many of us have ‘arrived’, or feel that there’s nothing more in life for us to accomplish; for us, for God or for anyone; we’ve heard it all, we know it all, we’ve done it all? Anyone like that here today?
If that were somehow possible, we would be…perfect, right? Paul knew that he had not yet ‘arrived’ at perfection. He knew what it was to BE perfect because he knew the One Who IS perfect, Jesus Christ.
Paul talks in the previous few verses, which we looked at last week, about KNOWING Christ; about knowing the power of Jesus’ resurrection, about sharing in Jesus’ sufferings, and about dying to himself so that, somehow, he might one day rise from the dead into eternal life also. The ‘somehow’ is the amazing part; simple, yet amazing. Because Jesus Christ did die for us, and did rise from the dead three days later, we too can have eternal life, if we put our complete faith and trust in these truths, and in THE TRUTH, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
But Paul has not obtained all of this yet…this KNOWING of Christ and this complete understanding of what God has done to bring us back into relationship with Him. This is a great mystery, the reclamation of our souls, the sacrifice that God made on our behalf, the atonement for our sin. And not just our sin, but the sin of the entire world, from then until now, and for all eternity…our ‘crime against the Creator’, paid for in full by the Creator Himself.
And if Paul, one of the forefather’s of the Church cannot claim to have obtained all of this knowledge, how can we? We cannot be ‘comfortable’ in our position in the Kingdom of God yet, nor should we ever feel like we’re ‘old dogs’ that can’t be taught any ‘new tricks.’ No, we keep moving forward, and we keep working for the Lord, and we keep on keeping on!
No, we haven’t ‘got there’ yet, BUT…says Paul, but we press on to take hold of that for which Christ has taken hold of us, and then he says we press on toward the goal to win the prize…some might say that the Canucks need to press towards the goal a lot more, but we as Christians need to PRESS ON. It’s not a button that we press on or off; it’s an attitude of always wanting more of Jesus in our lives now, and to one day rise to eternal life with Him in Heaven, heaven is the goal, heaven is the prize, being with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for all of eternity is the gold medal that we must strive for, train for, strain for, and press on towards, today, and every day of our lives.
How do you feel about your life? Is it worthwhile? Or, let’s change the question. What would it take for you to feel that your life is worthwhile? What would have to happen to make you feel really positive about your life?
If you won the lottery, would that do it? If your marriage suddenly was all patched up, would that do it? If your kids began to make you proud, or if you got a promotion, would that do it? What would it take for you to really feel positive about your life?
Now if that’s the way we’re thinking then you’ll probably never feel really positive about life because all the little pieces that must come together to make you positive about life will probably never be there.
If our goal is heaven and eternal life with Jesus Christ, then all these little setbacks in life are only stepping stones getting us closer to the time when we will be with Jesus.
There will be disappointments in life, but every day that passes is one day closer to the time when we will be with Jesus. If that is our goal, then Romans 8:28 is true. "All things" do "work together for good to those who love God & are called according to his purpose."
The world says that the way to feel good about ourselves is by climbing the ladder of success - by making a lot of money - by having influential friends - by receiving a lot of awards - by belonging to the ‘right’ circles. Those are the things that make you feel good about yourself.
But the Bible teaches us that we are to feel good about ourselves because God loves us. You are such a treasured person in God’s sight that He gave His only Begotten Son for you. That makes you valuable, & you can feel good about yourself.
We have to forget about what is behind us. You know, that is one of the hardest things for anyone to do, to forget about our past. Why? It’s because we have so many reminders about our past all around us, and we have an adversary who like to remind us that we once did things that were hurtful to others, ourselves, and to God. We are not worthy of God’s forgiveness, therefore how could He ever really forgive us. There must be something more we have to do, something more we have to do to somehow appease an Almighty God with a short fuse who cannot wait to send us to Hell. How could God love someone like me, He can’t, He doesn’t, I’m not good enough, I can’t be, therefore I give up, and I’ll just live for myself because God doesn’t care…
I could go on, but it all is so depressing, and it’s all LIES; lies from the one who’s been telling lies since we were created on this earth…the devil himself. He is the prince of liars, he’s good at it, and if we are not careful, we’ll start believing the lies and turn away from the truth that God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes on him will not die, but have eternal life! AMEN!!
To be called heavenward is the highest ‘calling’ we could ever have. To be a child of God is to have that calling, and the ONE THING we need to do is live like that is really true of whom we really are. If there is one thing that you take from this message today, one thing that you remember as you walk out the door and into the world is this, if we call ourselves Christians, then we had better live like Christ!
I myself am tired of being content with where I am in my walk with the Lord, I want to know Him more! I want to know His Word more, to study it more, to memorize more. I want to see so much less of ‘me’ in my life and so much more of Him. I’m tired of just doing what gets me through each day, I want to do more. I’ve got a conviction that God wants more of me, that somehow I’ve been holding back, and what I’ve held back has held back what God really wants to work in and through my life. I don’t feel that I’ve ‘strained’ enough towards wanting that prize, and perhaps I’ve even become complacent in my walk…no more!
As I read this passage this week, I really believe that God has spoken to my heart and told me that I need to press harder, work harder, and strain more in a few areas of my life. And with his help, in his strength, I will do it!
What about all of us? Are we content with where we’re at in our walk with the Lord? Do we feel that we have arrived at some plateau and there’s no where left to go? OR do we feel that God is calling us to press a little deeper into our faith. As a coach pushes his team or an individual towards the goal of winning the prize, God himself is calling all of us to press on into deeper understanding of what it is we are called to in our lives.
Now not all of us are at the same point in this race of life, but all of us have the same goal, and that is heaven. Some are more mature than others, and those who are mature should help those who are not along in their walk, discipling them and teaching them so that they can grow in maturity and understanding of Who Jesus is.
And no matter WHERE we are in our walk, we are called in verse 16 to one thing…to live up to what we already have understood about what God has called us to, to live up to what we know about Jesus now, to keep moving forward, and not look back or turn back but forget what’s back there, and move closer to Christ every day.
Will you join me in that commitment? Will you take a step of faith TODAY and trust that where God is leading you, He will walk or even run with you towards the goal of eternity with Him. Will you take a stand today for your faith and tell the devil to get behind you and stop believing any of the lies he’s been feeding you? Will we stand as a church and proclaim that this is God’s church and the gates of hell will not stand against it?
Will we go wherever He calls us, will we follow wherever he leads us, and will we one day take hold of the prize and hear our Lord tell each of us, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’?
