-Paul has not arrived. He as of yet has not achieved the goal nor seized the prize, this ultimate reason for which God has called him as well as for which He has called every Christ-follower. And no, this perspective is not something just for Paul (cf Philippians 3.15, 1Corinthians 9.24, Colossians 3.1-2, 2Timothy 4.8, Hebrews 3.1, Hebrews 12.1-2).
-Indeed Paul is thus our example, and a good one at that. He is in a race, and he’s still competing. He describes his posture and attitude as that of a runner who is nearing the finish but hasn’t reached the finish line. He is stretching out, leaning towards the line, he is almost there. He is not focused on the distance he has traveled or the obstacles and hurdles he has cleared to get to this point. Certainly the awareness of his good racing to this point gives him confidence and additional incentive to finish, but he knows that whatever he has done in the past will not carry him across the remaining distance. What matters now is actually finishing and finishing well, focusing on the goal and exerting himself as best he can - with the power which God supplies of course - to cross the line and break the tape.
-Clearly, for Paul and for us, the goal and the prize is Jesus. He is what lies ahead. We can talk about heaven being what lies ahead, but only because that’s where Jesus is. We fix our eyes on Him. We direct our attention and every divinely-empowered effort to know Him, to follow Him and to become more like Him, to grow to love and enjoy and want Him more than anything or anyone, to live more and more into what He wants, to share in the experience of both His joys and His sufferings and ultimately to share in His resurrection and His glory. And thus every day we are enjoying and maintaining and growing and living out our relationship of right standing which we have with Almighty God through Jesus. And we are exerting ourselves to spread the fragrance and knowledge of Jesus Christ throughout the world, to help men and women and children in every nation know and follow Him and love Him. Every day, this is the oportunity which lies before us. We do not let the failures of yesterday deter us or slow us down. We do not allow lesser or lower inducements to distract us from our ultimate objective. We are running to finish and win the race. We are running to gain Jesus.
-Consider the very nature of this heavenly call. The call is ‘upward’ because it comes from above, from whence Christ came (John 8.23) and where He is now, seated at the right hand of Almighty God (Colssians 3.1-2). The word is ano, meaning above. It is the opposite of kato, meaning down or below, and which in this context refers to the world and to the things of this earth. But just as our goal and our prize is not of this world, our calling is also not of this world. God has called us FROM heaven, and He has called us TO heaven. Our call did not originate from some ruler on earth down here below - no, it comes from God Himself, God above, God on high, the lofty Most High God Who inhabits the heavenly realms in inapproachable light and Who rules over all. And He has called us to live there with Him as a member of His forever family. His Son the Prince of Peace is now our brother and we are called to be like Him. This call affects who we are and what we do. It informs our past and our present as well as our future. It’s a game-changer. It changes us. It changes everything. And so we do press on, and we do not let the failures of yesterday deter us or slow us down. We persevere through problems and pain because it brings us closer to our goal. We do not allow lesser or lower inducements to distract us from our ultimate objective. We are running to finish and win the race. We are running to gain Jesus. How's your race going?
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