Running for the greatest prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25:Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.
26:Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
27:No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
The passage that I have just read is a letter from the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. In this small passage he is talking about how we should live our lives before God. He uses the analogy of an athlete running a race in order to get the prize.
The Corinthian church would have understood the analogy as the Isthmian games was held just a few miles away from Corinth. It was a large scale games like that of the Olympics, and would have brought both athletes and spectators from both Europe and Asia. It drew all of the top athletes and their would be track, field, combat, and even equestrian events. The athletes would have to qualify and prove that they had been in strict training. To win the Isthmian crown would have been of great importance as the winner would be exempt from paying taxes and from military service. They would receive free education and a statue of themselves would be put on display.
The athlete today faces similar challenges and motivations, and strives for their goal in much the same way as their predecessors. Today we also need to see ourselves as athletes striving for a prize. Paul makes it clear that in this life, whether we like it or not, we are all in the same race. The consequences of winning or losing are the same for everyone.
There are three things that I want to look at, that we need in order to win the race that we are in in this life. Firstly we need to qualify for the race. Secondly we need to discipline our bodies for the race. Finally we need to get a good coach.
Qualification for the race.
In order to run the goal must be attainable. It must be within our reach or else there is no point trying. The athletes in the Isthmian games would have to qualify for the competition. Not just anybody could compete.
I started to swim when I was very young and began training at a swimming club. At first I was made to go, but then I started to enjoy it. I started to win a few events and started to dream of becoming a top swimmer. As I grew older I started to train even harder, and in my late teens I was swimming every morning. However I realised at the age of about 21 that I was never going to make it to the standard that I wanted. However hard I trained I just didn’t have the physical capability to become anything other than just a good club swimmer. The desire to get up early every morning, dive into a freezing cold pool, and work yourself to exhaustion, soon wore off. I just didn’t have what it took to win the prize that I wanted.
In our lives we face the same problem when it comes to pleasing God.
Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Romans 3:10
As it is written: "There is no-one righteous, not even one;
The Jews, in Bible times, thought that they could please God, but each and every one of them fell short. We can never do enough to please God while we are in our own, naturally sinful, bodies. We can never win that prize in our own strength.
The situation seems hopeless, and for those that don’t find the answer it is. There is however somebody who qualifies us for the race. Jesus set the qualifying time and the qualifying distance. Through Jesus living a perfect life and dying on our behalf, he qualifies us for the race should we chose to enter on his terms. Jesus death and resurrection is our ticket. The bible says that all we have to do is accept him by faith. We have to believe in Him, what He came for, and trust that He can qualify us for the prize. In order for us to gain qualification we need to put our trust in the qualifier.
Discipline the body.
One of the biggest problems an athlete has to overcome is his or hers natural desire to stay within the comfort zone. The body naturally wants to eat the foods that aren’t good for it, and in unduly large quantities. The body doesn’t want to get up early and train hard, pushing its boundaries. An athlete might also want to stay up late and socialise when they no they should be going to bed early and resting. If that athlete wants to achieve their goal though they have to put aside what they want to do in the natural and focus upon the end result.
Paul states that we find the same problem in our own lives. In the natural Paul, found himself doing what he hated and not doing what he knew he should.
Romans 7:15
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
The Bible tells us that since we are living in rebellion to God we naturally crave after the things that are not good for us.
Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20:idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21:and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
These are the things that disqualify us from the race and prevent us from winning the prize. If we look around is we see people giving in to the desires of the flesh. People often say, ’if we have a genuine desire for something then it must be right.’ If that desire comes from the sinful nature, then to follow it would disqualify us from the race.
If we are to win the prize then we need to repent and turn away from these very things. In our main passage in Corinthians Paul states that he beats his body into submission. In other passages and letters he actually goes further and states that he puts it to death. Jesus said that we must pick up our cross daily.
Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Picking up our cross and following Jesus means that we must sacrifice our own desires and will just as Jesus did. It could even mean death. If we follow our own will then we are following our natural desires, the acts of the sinful nature. We inherited those desires from Adam, who disobeyed God in the garden of Eden and in doing so corrupted human nature. If we are to win the prize that God has set before us then we must sacrifice that nature daily, that is give up our own will, and set our minds upon the goal.
The following illustration is taken from Danny Thomas at SermonCentral.com.
"A man was being chased by a tiger. He ran as hard as he could until he was at the edge of a cliff with the tiger in hot pursuit. The man looked over the edge of the cliff and saw a branch growing out of the side of the cliff a few feet down. He jumped down and grabbed the branch just as the tiger reached the cliff. The tiger growled viciously as the man sighed a great sigh of relief.
Just then a mouse came out from a crevice and began to chew on the branch. The man looked down to what was a drop of a thousand feet and sure death and looked to the heavens and yelled out, "Dear God, if you are there, please help. I will do anything you ask but please help."
Suddenly a voice came booming down from heaven, "You will do anything I ask?" it questioned.
The man shocked to hear a reply to his plea yelled back, "I will gladly do anything you ask, but please save me."
The voice from heaven then replied, "There is one way to save you but it will take courage and faith."
The branch began to weaken from the mouse and the tiger was still growling a few feet above the man, "Please, Lord, tell me what I must do and I will do it. Your will is my will."
The voice from heaven then said, "All right then, let go of the branch."
The man looked down to a fall of a thousand feet and certain death. He looked up at the hungry tiger a few feet away and he looked at the mouse still chewing on the branch. Then he looked up at the heavens and yelled, "Is there anyone else up there?"
Our will and our natural desires are the hardest thing we have to give up. If we want to we the prize, that is exactly what we might have to do. We have to discipline ourselves to let go of what we want to do.
Get a good coach.
If athlete sacrifices their own will to concentrate on the goal, whose will does he or she follow. Often they can have the will and determination to be successful, but lack the direction and technical expertise to achieve what they are capable of. Any athlete worth their salt will get themselves a coach who is both focused on the same goal as them and knows how to get them their. A top athlete with live and breathe their coaches instructions in order that they might win.
An athlete will choose a coach whose has been there themselves or at least has studied enough to know how to get there. When an athlete is lacking motivation, it is the coaches job to motivate them. When an athlete is lacking direction it is the coaches job to direct them. When an athlete has a fault with their technique it is the coaches job to correct them. The coaches job is to assist that person to become the ultimate athlete they are capable of being.
In this race for life we also require the guidance of a good coach. God has not set us this goal in life and then just left us to muddle through ourselves hoping that we get there. He has left us with a coach. Not just a average coach, but the best in the business. This coach is focused on the same goal, ensuring that we claim the prize. He has been sent from God and so knows what it takes. He is able to motivate, direct, and correct our lives towards the prize. Who is this coach?
In Luke 24:49 the disciples are told to wait for the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is sent from God and doesn’t just point us in the right direction, but actually guarantees us to win the prize he we follow His leading.
2 Corinthians 5:5
Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
God gives the Spirit to all those who seek Him. By seeking Him, that means putting to death the things that our sinful nature desires, as we do when we discipline the body, and instead accepting His Spirits leading. The Holy Spirit will train us in love, joy, peace, etc, the very qualities that we need in order to win the prize.
Galatians 5:22-24
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23:gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24:Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
This coach not only teaches us the qualities that we need to win the prize, but actually gives them to us. This coach doesn’t work from the outside, shouting at us and not knowing how we a really feeling, this coach works from within.
A salesman once sold a farmer a chain saw guaranteeing that it could cut down 30 trees a day. A while later the farmer took it back saying it must be faulty as he had only averaged 3 trees a day. The salesman picked up the saw, pulled the cord and the saw promptly went "Bzzzzzz". The farmer jumped back startled and said "Hey, what’s that noise." (Adapted from Jim Kane at SermonCentral.com)
If we were to try and reach the goal without the Spirit, we too would be like the farmer. The Spirit not only directs us, but it gives us the power to achieve far more than we could ever do in our own strength. We couldn’t ask for a greater coach.
Conclusion.
In order to win this race of life that Paul talks about we need to firstly qualify for the race, be willing to discipline the body, and get a good coach. That way we won’t be like the person Paul describes in verse 26:Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. Instead will be be running to win the prize. The only question left to answer then is, what is the prize?
The prize is heaven. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) That is the prize that we should be seeking for on this earth, an eternity spent with God. It is the total fulfilment of why we were put on this earth. Many people wander through life not really knowing what they are doing here or where their place is. Our purpose is to be able to spend our eternity in the presence of the one who made us. Everything we see around us will pass away, heaven is home, heaven is what we should be aiming for.
Paul states that only one gets the prize. That is not because we are running against other people, the Bible tells us that it is not flesh and blood that we contest against but the powers of the heavenly realms who want to stop us from getting our prize.
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The reason Paul tells us that there is only one prize is because there is no second place. There are no silver or bronze medals, only gold. If we do not win the race set before us the the only alternative is hell. It is an eternity of regret and torment, wishing that we had ran the race when we had the chance.
Revelation 20:15
If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
I want to encourage you tonight to set your face upon the prize. Will you qualify for the race? That is will you accept Christ’s death and resurrection and put your faith in Him. Will you disciple the body? Will you repent of the things that you have done, crucifying the sinful nature. Will you accept the workings of the great coach and follow God will in your life.
I want to encourage you tonight to let go of whatever is stopping you from doing so and run in such a way as to get the prize.
