Phil. 3:12-14
What have you been dreaming about and wanting to happen in the future? I’m sure you have one, and everything that you are doing today might have something to do with what you are aspiring to be and do. But whatever that is, I guess that’s the temporal thing that you’ve been working for a while. Paul considers those things as rubbish, or garbage, or dung. That is if you put those things above the ultimate goal that we should be pursuing as Christians.
In the previous passage or eight verses before verses 12-14, the apostle Paul stated his ultimate goal in life. What was that? He said he wants to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection, to be like Christ in his suffering and being conformed to His death. That was his goal, and that absorbs all of Paul’s strength and energy. That is the encouragement for us. We should not only focus on temporal goals here that will hinder our emptying of ourselves, but we should be consumed with one ultimate goal as well. We should not let anything take our aim off that goal – that is, KNOWING CHRIST.
But in the passage we are meditating, Paul admitted that he is still in the process of attaining it. He is not yet there. You see, in verse 12, says, “Not that I have already obtained it, or have become already perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”
You see, he said, “I haven’t obtained it,” “I haven’t held it,” “and I am still pursuing it.” In verse 13a, Paul repeated the phrase that he’s not yet in there; “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet. . .” Paul, in his writings, always mentions of an athlete to point out the rigidity of his pursuit. With single-mindedness, the single-aim focus of an athlete in training, we Christians must press on like that of Paul. We must lay aside things that are harmful and would endanger our effectivity as believers that God wanted to use.
What did Paul do to keep on pressing on? He said there is only one thing that he did, but Paul does it progressively; He said “but one thing I do,”
- First, forgetting what lies behind
What is behind Paul? Do you know what might have been haunting him? If you are in his shoes, you might not be able to sleep. He was there and holding the coats of Stephens executioners. Paul was nodding when they stoned to death the first Christian martyr. He was the great persecutor of the church, raiding them, punishing them, putting them in prison, and putting many to death probably. When he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, he came to his senses that what he was doing was ruthless, and he was worthy to be executed. He has the reason to forget what is behind because if he dwells on the past, he will not move forward. For sure, he will be haunted by the evil things that he did.
How about you? What is holding you back? What lies behind you? Like Paul, you might have a bitter past, an unacceptable, humiliating experience or a shameful thing that you have committed, and every time you remember those memories, you can do nothing but feel guilty and feel unworthy. Your own conscience is accusing you. But the good news is that the one who said that “I am the chief of all sinners” also noted that “I need to forget what lies behind.” It means that since he met Christ and believed in Him and forgave him, then he decided not to dwell in the past. Not to be affected by the past and not to be crippled by the past. You need to have that resolution, as well. Nobody could decide it for you. You must choose to forget what is behind you if you want to be a man that God can use.
- Second, reaching forward to what lies ahead
After Paul realized that he needs to put aside the things of yesterday, he must do something that will make him look forward instead of looking backward-that is to reach forward to what lies ahead. What is the most important thing now and tomorrow? For Paul, the most important thing is knowing Christ more in his life. He wants to grow in the grace and knowledge of God and grow in his relationship with Him now. Again he said that he wants to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. He wants to fellowship with Christ in sufferings, and he even wanted to be conformed to Christ’s death. The other term for this is CHRIST-LIKENESS. That may sound too idealistic or too fanatic, or you may say that it is too difficult to attain. In the eyes of man, it might be, but in the sight of God, that is the least thing that we can do. That’s the last thing that we can offer! Besides, He is the one who enables us.
What is most essential for you right now? What is pre-occupying your mind, your strength, resources, and time? Does it know God? Does it know Christ? Does it know the Spirit? These are the things that we should be reaching forward. The future is God himself, and He holds the future. When we are pursuing God, then our future is secured.
- Third, pressing on toward the goal for the prize
The reason we need to keep on pressing on, to keep on keeping on is for us to conform to the image of the Son-Jesus Christ. Paul aims to get there and win the prize.
