·
I
want to know Christ
·
And
the power of his resurrection
·
And
the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death
Paul’s goal (v.11):
If somehow I may attain the
resurrection from the dead, i.e. the completion of his salvation.
So we have an acknowledgement that the
Christian Jesus-following life is a journey. This journey starts with the grace
that has been prepared for us in God’s heart, then really kicks off with our
first statement of repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Saviour, then
progresses through our learning and changing and our participation in God’s
mission, until it is fulfilled when our earthly life comes to an end and we move
into the presence of God eternally. We would be foolish to take any of this for
granted – certainly Paul didn’t take anything for granted. This is not to say
that we are judged in any way by our works, rather to say (with James and with
Paul), that we need to continually show that our faith and salvation is real
and alive. So Paul pressed on, with all he was worth, toward the goal of the
heavenly call of God (v.14).
It is one thing according to Paul
(v.12b) for Christ Jesus to have made Paul or anyone his own, but another thing
for he or anyone else to make Christ Jesus our own. This is a two-way street!
Christ Jesus claims us, but we still need, in all the realities and activities
of life, to claim him. Paul was acknowledging that he still had a way to go in
fully knowing Jesus, and the power of his resurrection, and to be able to say
that he shared the sufferings of Jesus to the point of death. Paul was a work
in progress!!
One of the ways Paul pursued his purpose
and goal is mentioned in verse 13b – “… but this one thing I do: forgetting
what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead”. This means at least
three things are ruled out:
(i)
DESPAIR
… Firstly, we don’t dwell in the mistakes and failures of the past. We accept
forgiveness, and learn all we can in terms of not repeating such mistakes, and
move forward WITHOUT the weight of these on us any longer. Past sins should not
absorb our thinking. Such burdens will slow us down, impede our progress, and
dent our helpfulness to others; and there is no need for us to be carrying
them. Forgive yourself as God has forgiven you! To dwell on the past is to
waste Jesus’ work on the cross!!! I’ve made mistakes in the past – letting
people down, failing to witness with integrity, serving my own ends; but I’ve
had to let these go in the wonder of God’s forgiveness. Of course having made a
few mistakes along the way, allows us to empathise with other people,
understand the difficulty of their journey, and perhaps to be able to
gently offer some learned wisdom.
(ii)
COMPLACENCY
… Secondly, we don’t go back to those activities that we have found to be
personally destructive, unhelpful to others, and generally contrary to our
growth. We don’t even go back to those activities that on the surface may have
seemed successful, yet were not in line with God’s purposes. We completely
apply to our purpose of knowing Christ … and this defines what we choose to do.
(iii)
NOSTALGIA
… Thirdly, and somewhat differently, we shouldn’t adopt a nostalgic view of
life, where everything was better in previous times, and if only things were
like that again. We mightn’t like the change that has happened around us, but
this is the new reality in which we have to live out our faith. If we can’t
turn back the hands of time, then we better apply ourselves to the realities of
the present and future.
So we return to Paul’s purpose
statement (v.10):
·
I
want to know Christ =
to know Christ is to enter into a relationship with him and to get to know him
who he is. This is the mind and the heart, the thinking and the feeling … all this
embracing Jesus. This involves trawling through the Gospel narratives and
really soaking in who Jesus was (and is). This involves considering what Jesus
might say and do in the situations we find ourselves in. Can we see things as
Jesus sees them? To truly know Jesus is also to love Jesus. All of who Jesus is
should make a difference to who we are and who we are becoming.
·
And
the power of his resurrection = to experience the power of Christ’s resurrection is a massive
statement! This is about new life being injected into us. This is about our
actions being effective … very effective. And this is also about all the
results of our actions in life corresponding to the example of Jesus. So this
is all about living out the life of Jesus in all of our daily interactions. And
this sort of life-orientation should be easily identifiable as having some
extraordinary source behind it. Would our neighbour say of us … ‘Now there is a
person of humility, peace and purpose’ … ‘What goes there’! Do other people
experience the life of Jesus when they encounter me? The prior question has to
be, ‘Do I experience the living resurrected Jesus myself’? And collectively
speaking, with the “power of Jesus’ resurrection” on-side, surely we could
become a transformed community that transforms neighbourhoods.
·
And
the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death = a seemingly awkward transition – yet
all part of the same package! This ‘becoming like Jesus in his death’ has
become a literal outcome for many people including Paul; yet it is true that
most of us won’t have to literally die because of our faith. This statement
actually means far more. This is following the Jesus way wherever it takes us;
this is taking up our own cross and following Jesus; this is taking up the same
sort of mindset, attitudes, priorities and activities that caused Jesus to be
taken to a cross; this is taking up Jesus’ causes on earth despite the risks; this
is the humble road of self-sacrifice (or self-giving love); and, this is to be willing to die for the cause if
necessary [in the firm knowledge of being subsequently raised up].
So where is Jesus now? Think of our
life as a plane flying through the skies. Where is Jesus? Outside the plane
(completely out of view)? In a passenger seat (just being taken along for a
ride)? Acting as a steward (just serving our needs)? In the co-pilot’s
seat (who just takes over now and then when he’s needed)? In the pilot’s seat
(in full control)? What about the auto-pilot switch (where the plane just flies
itself) – do we tend to prefer that?
Where does Jesus need to be so that
our plane doesn’t crash?
Finding our purpose actually makes our
life more manageable and simpler. We are less easily distracted, a better
decision-maker, and naturally don’t dabble in worthless or wasteful pursuits.
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