or The Power of Perceiving the Goal
Philippians 3:12-16
Before we begin looking at this short text, I want to set the scene. In verses 1-8, Paul lays out everything about his earthly life in which he could "boast in the flesh". After his list is expressed, he immediately dismisses all of his bragging rights: "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ."
Paul's earthly accomplishments are the same kinds of things in which we would be tempted to boast.
- A religious family
- A family with deep ties to the community
- From the right family
- Upstanding and esteemed by others
- A regular Golden Child who has done everything right
Sounds pretty good, right? Well, it wasn't that great to Paul because he chucked it all to the wind for the sake of Jesus Christ. In fact, more than just disregarding his accomplishments, he lowers them to such a low regard that he equates them with manure. Yes...MANURE! The word "rubbish" that Paul uses in verse 8 is σκύβαλα (skubala), which translates to refuse. So yes...what we might be tempted to boast in, Paul considered refuse, dung...rubbish.
Now, in verses 8-11, Paul reveals what his ultimate goal is: "that I [Paul] may know Him [Christ] and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." Paul simply wants to be with Christ, in Christ, like Christ in his life. That is his goal, and it is here that we begin our devotion.
In verse 12, Paul admits that he has not arrived at his goal. He is not there; he is not perfect in his becoming like Christ. However, Paul did not let the reality of his lack of perfection keep him from walking with the Lord. He said, "I am not perfect, BUT I press on". He keeps going every day even though he isn't starting from a place of perfection.
If we wait until we are "ready" to walk with the Lord, live for the Lord, and represent Jesus Christ in our words and deeds every day...we will never begin at all. We will never reach perfection, but God can and does use us even while we are still pressing on to make it our own. Paul revealed that his encouragement for pressing on was that Jesus made Paul His own through his death and resurrection. We press on even though we are no where near our goal yet.
Everyone has a past, but for some...their past keeps them from utilizing their present to positively impact their future. Paul acknowledges this, but shows us how to deal with the past. "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead."
There are two ways to look at the past: remembering lessons learned, or being weighed down by guilt and regret. Imagine Paul's own past as he penned these words. Paul, before his own conversion, was an enthusiastic persecutor of followers of Christ: "as to zeal, a persecutor of the church." Paul carried with him the memories of those he persecuted. We also know that Paul was present when Stephen was killed, and approved of the action. Paul was present, and condoned the killing of the first person in the Bible who died for their faith in Jesus Christ.
Undoubtedly, Paul struggled with those memories, but he could not allow memories of his past, memories which brought him grief, keep him from serving Jesus Christ. Jesus saved Paul! Jesus made Paul His own! For Paul to be able to press on each day, he had to forget what lay behind him, and keep his gaze fixed ahead of him. Remember the lessons of the past, but do not let the past become an anchor that prevents you from serving in the Present, or having hope for the Future.
Every day, we ought to have a very simple goal: to building on what happened yesterday. Even if you've had a setback, lost ground, determine today to build up from there. Paul calls us to this kind of maturity in verse 15: "Let those of us who are mature, think this way..." Anyone can look backwards at what happened yesterday, and use that as an excuse to stop growing, to stop building up, to stop becoming like Jesus today. That kind of thinking is immature, and not befitting a Child of God. Paul says, "Are you mature? Do you want to be mature in your faith? Then think this way!" Forward thinking is mature thinking.
Paul then says, "Do you not think this way? God will teach you!" In the latter part of verse 15, Paul writes, "and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you." One of the marks of a mature Christian is a TEACHABLE SPIRIT. Did you understand 5 years ago everything you understand today? What about last year? Do you imagine that there are still things you have yet to learn? Of course. There is a word for people who think they have nothing left to learn from God or His Word: delusional. God's word is living and active; it is perfect, inspired by God; it means what it says and it says what it means. The issue for us is whether or not we are in a place in our walk with Jesus Christ in which we are ready to learn. When you study the Bible, are you looking to be the most INFORMED person at your Bible study, or are you seeking to be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind in Christ?
Finally, Paul says that when growth happens, when we become more mature today than we were the day before, that we should "hold true to what we have attained". Maintain the growth! Keep building on it! Remember the lessons your learned. Be content with where God has brought you and taught you. But have a holy discontent and dissatisfaction with where you are: be wanting more of Christ! Hold tightly to lessons that God taught you through difficult situations. Remember, glorify His name, and keep pressing forward! Keep the bar raised in your walk with Christ to the extent that you stay hungry for His presence, hungry for His blessing on your life, and hungry for more and more each day.
I skipped verse 14 only to bring it back here at the end. The key, as Paul shares it in this text, to maintain Forward Thinking in a backwards world is to clearly perceive the goal. What was that goal?
"that I [Paul] may know Him [Christ] and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." Paul simply wants to be with Christ, in Christ, like Christ in his life. That is his goal, and it is here that we begin our devotion.
Yep. It really was that simple for Paul. In verse 14, he summarized his one driving goal very plainly: "I press on toward THE GOAL for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." The goal that Paul saw every day was being more and more like Jesus. The prize that Paul was pursuing was to share in Jesus' life in the power of His resurrection, suffering for his Savior, and if God so willed it, becoming like Him in death, laying his own life down for those he was serving. What a powerful example!
Are you encouraged? Are you challenged? There is a promise in the Word of God I never hear people claim:
"In the world you will have tribulation." John 16:33
Are you alive today? Then you will have troubles in this life. It's a promise from Jesus Christ. Own it!
But, Jesus told us such things that we might have peace. I imagine that Paul, even going through some of the most difficult troubles we could imagine, still had great peace. He had peace in Jesus. He had peace in God's sovereign hand. He had peace in what he knew he was called to do. He had peace because he was never in a prison, or bound in chains, where it was not by the sovereign grace of God that allowed him to be so. Plus, he relished in suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ, who suffered that He might make Paul His own. If you are looking for the courage to keep going, this is where it's found. Courage to keep going is found in the peace that comes from trusting Jesus Christ above all else in your life. That is the goal. That is the prize. And that is the kind of walk to which we are called.
Forward, brothers and sisters! To God be all the glory!
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