The Road Ahead, Pursue the Prize! - A Sermon on Philippians 3
It
was my privilege to preach the last Sunday of 2012 at my church, Risen Life. I chose to preach on
Philippians 3, which gives us a great news year’s resolution. Paul urges us through his example to
pursue the prize of knowing Christ in Philippians 3:13-14 saying, “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.”
To
understand Paul’s example we filled in his resolution by looking at: Where we
have been this year, What exactly the prize is, and How we get there.
To
understand where we have been I walked through the way Paul has recounted where
the Philippians have been in their faith, and they have been in a great place. Paul praises them for the way they have
walked in the Gospel as Philippians 1:3-6 records. He then begins to urge them to continue in the faith like
Christ, Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:1-30 and to deal with
certain problems that have arisen within the church. Certain people are trying to steal the Philippians’
allegiance and focus away from the Gospel as recounted in Philippians 3:1-7.
To
counter the threats to the Gospel, Paul will remind the Philippians of what the
Gospel is in Philippians 3:7-11.
The prize in Paul’s mind is knowing Christ. This means being justified by Him in faith and then
beginning a process of sanctification that includes becoming like Him in
suffering, death, and ultimately resurrection. In fact resurrection, freedom from sin, a new perfect body,
and being with Christ should always be the Christian hope that keeps us
going. It is knowing Christ that
we seek.
Finally
Paul gives the example in himself of how to pursue this prize in Philippians
3:12-4:1. Paul gives us the
Christian mindset understanding that we have been saved, yet we are living in
the hope of complete salvation in the future. This means for now that we forget what is behind us, both
sin and good deeds, and continue striving for the prize of knowing Christ until
we are living in resurrected bodies with Him. In addition to forgetting what is behind and striving
forward for the prize, we live and strive with fellow believers trying to live
as citizens of heaven.
I
hope you enjoy the sermon and it encourages you to pursue knowing Christ more
in 2013. Knowing Christ is the
only thing that will bring us joy in this life and in the new heavens and new
earth.
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