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Onward And Upward
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil.3:14)
The very day we put on Christ (Gal.3:27), a new journey began – a walk onward and upward. Did we notice the positive nature of our journey together – it is not only onward, which implies progress, but it is also upward—which implies divine destination and divine origination of the call!
Be prepared, there will be times we will live the ole’ cliché, “two steps forward, one step back;” because there will be both bad and good days. Being a Christian doesn’t mean we are perfect, but rather we are being perfected. Let’s notice the context of this uplifting description of our spiritual life.
Don’t skip the reading. After all what God said is more important than what I say about what God said.
Philippians 3:7-14 – [7] But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, [9] and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, [10] that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; [11] in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. [12] Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. [13] Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (NASB)
That which is in the past is gone, including each and every one of our sins, and even our personal goals are put in proper perspective. We now have a righteousness that is not derived from our own goodness. Isn’t it wonderful knowing we do not have to be perfect for God to love us? Isn’t that how good parents love their children? How much does God mean to us? Paul so valued Christ that even his past accomplishments were now considered rubbish. Consider this word, rubbish, it could be translated dung, or table scraps. Disgusting, I know, but while it is disgusting it is also vivid. All our glories of the past are worthless in comparison to presently having Jesus in our life.
Paul desires to know three things: (1) Jesus, (2) the power of His resurrection, and (3) the fellowship or sharing of His sufferings.
Our spiritual life is personal, powerful and cost Jesus everything. Paul’s point is his willingness to give up everything because Jesus gave up everything. To be successful, we have to let go of the past and hold on to present as we walk to the future. It is not always going to be easy. There might even be some suffering. But Jesus thought it worthwhile enough for us that He endured the ultimate in suffering.
The very day God cleansed us, we decided to go on a journey – a journey onward and upward. A journey from this earth to heaven. A journey from ourselves to our God. Keep your eyes on the Lord as you travel this road.
Questions:
What is not as important to you any more?
What were the goals of Paul in this reading?
What methods can we use to make Paul’s goals our own?
Prayer: Thank God for the friend we have in Jesus and that He showed us the way to happiness here and home for an eternity.
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