Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, Phil. 3:8-14. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- How many of you have ever won “the big prize” in some contest? I suppose I’m not any more “unlucky” than anyone else, but I can’t remember ever winning some really good prize. Fact is, I pretty much gave up trying any “games of chance” a long time ago!
- There are other “prizes” though – things that don’t involve chance but rather effort. There are “athletic” prizes to win, championships, medals, and even simple victories. It is true that in my younger day I spent a lot of time and energy pursuing some of these “prizes.”
- I suppose that all of life could be viewed as a “pursuit” of gaining “prizes” – an education, a good job, possessions, your beautiful wife or handsome husband, children, a great vacation. I suppose that any of our ambitions could be looked at as the pursuit of some prize.
- Many people look at religion the same way – turning it into an endeavor of “earning” some “prize,” whether earthly blessings and ease of comfort from God, or even some “reward” in the life to come. Most people understand that “accomplishments” are not a matter of luck or chance, but rather of effort – and so it seems reasonable that God’s blessings would follow the same dynamics.
- The apostle Paul speaks of the end result of “the upward calling of God” as being a “prize” in our text. However, the context, what he wrote before and after this reference makes it clear that this “prize” is certainly not a matter of chance or mere “fate,” NOR is it a matter of our own accomplishment. It is, however, something that we are eager to pursue and press forward toward – if we know the glory to come in God’s heavenly kingdom. We press forward, however, NOT in order to earn or “attain” this “prize” by our accomplishments. Rather, we “strain forward” and “press on toward” this prize because it is the gift of God, something that He has already blessed us with through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, “prizes” can also simply be “given freely,” and this is the case with the “prize” of eternal life and blessedness in Christ Jesus.
- The encouragement of our text, this Word of God, is to make this “prize” the most important thing in our lives even now, here in this world. Many blessings will flow from this, but sadly:
I. We Are Tempted To Pursue Many Prizes For Our Own Advantage And Glory – But These Are All, In Reality, Only Temporal Rubish
Text: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Statement: What was the “gain” that Paul was talking about, that he “lost”? He details exactly what he was talking about in the verses preceding our text. He was talking about his whole life – his education, his status in the community, his accomplishments, his “living” [his earnings and finances], and he was talking about everything which he could have done, or what anyone might possibly do, in order to commend himself to God, to earn blessings and favors and privileges from God, both for this life and the next.
Now Paul was a highly successful young man – very much upwardly mobile, well respected, intelligent, and influential. Yet, what did he call all that he had, and all that he had accomplished? He called it “rubbish” – trash, offal, worthless junk, in comparison to “knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” That is, the “prize” which God had given to him in Christ Jesus made everything else in life seem like “rubbish” – and he gave it all up, suffered the loss of all of it, in order to have Christ.
Application: This compels us to consider our own priorities – the “prizes” that we are pursuing, the things which we consider to be most important in life. Consider your own life – all the things that you value and treasure, the things that bring you comfort, ease, prestige, and a sense of accomplishment. Would you give all of this away for the sake of having Christ, and the “prize” that He freely gives to us in His salvation? This is the key “diagnostic” question for people of faith – so that we may understand what is “most important” to us. And sadly, we have to admit that “our life’s pursuits” are ordinarily these earthly things – and not the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom.
Transition: Perhaps even worse:
II. We Tend To Reject Or Under-Appreciate The Real Prize – The Rock Of Our Salvation, God’s Son, The Lord And Savior Jesus Christ
Text: “I count [all these things] as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know Him 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.”
Statement: The prize is the gift of God – in Christ Jesus; forgiveness, righteousness accounted to us through faith in Christ, and the blessedness of following Christ, being conformed to Him, in death and resurrection. The prize is an “upward calling” to blessings far greater than anything we can possibly have in this life – and it is all the gift of God, in His gracious forgiveness, mercy, and salvation in Christ Jesus.
Application: This is not, however, what we appreciate most in life – and day by day we pursue other prizes. This weakness, this sin, this idolatry – is all overcome in Christ Jesus. Our sin – all of it – is washed away and forgiven; and all that we lack, because of our own paltry righteousnesses which are as filthy rags, all of the proper righteousness which we need is supplied to us by Christ Himself, Whose righteousness is accounted to us and becomes our own through faith in Him.
How valuable is this? How great a prize has God supplied and given to us in Christ Jesus? All of our failings, our lack, is resolved in Christ Jesus! So how is it possible that we do not value Him most highly – “forgetting what lies behind”?
Transition: This is the principle point and logic of our text – what the Word of God bids us consider, that:
III. Only One Prize Is Worth Pressing On Toward – The Upward Call Of God In Christ Jesus
Text: “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Statement: You see, in Christ Jesus we are not given a mere “chance” at “winning” a prize! No, the prize has already been given – and with it such great blessings that lie ahead, that we can scarcely even begin to imagine the glory and joy to be revealed in us.
And the “prize” is not something that we have yet to “earn” or “deserve” or accomplish by our own efforts – it is already given to us in Christ: forgiveness, perfect righteousness from God. Remaining “in Christ” we have been placed on a course of life that connects us to His death and resurrection – an “other-worldly” life, eternal life, a citizenship in heaven, so that we truly are “strangers and aliens” in this present world.
Application: All of this means that our focus, our vision, our goals, our aspirations, are principally “not of this world,” but “above” – focused on Christ Jesus, Who is at the right hand of God. It is as this same apostle wrote to the Colossians: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” [Col. 3:1-3]
This is precisely what our dear Savior encouraged when He taught: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness . . . store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
If you understand these things, then you can answer the question for yourselves: “What could possibly be more valuable, more important, of greater priority, than pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?”
Conclusion: Again, all of our failures at having the right priorities, the right ambitions, the right goals and dreams in life, the right “prizes” to pursue – all of these our failings and weaknesses are forgiven and cleansed away in Christ Jesus. This is what makes Him such a treasured prize, such a wondrous gift of God.
So there is no reason for us to ever “under-appreciate” Him, and the gift of God’s salvation! Let us always turn to Him for forgiveness, for healing, and restoration in the certainty and joy of God’s salvation!
SO ALSO there is every reason for us to make Him – to make His prize – the primary purpose and goal of our lives – if we understand how blessed we are in Him!
WHEN we do this, we also will “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” our Lord. Indeed, we also will count all things – all earthly treasures, desires, pleasures, joys, accomplishments, prestige, as “rubbish,” that we too may be “found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
May God grant such joy in His salvation to each of us – that we follow the example of the apostle Paul and “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.