Introduction

It was more than 55 years ago now that Roger Bannister did what was thought impossible. He broke the four minute mile in May of 1954. Through a tough regimen of unorthodox training and extreme practice, the young med student pushed himself through the barrier others thought was humanly undoable.

Interestingly, just six weeks later his new record was beaten by the runner who came in second at that famous race. And since then, dozens have benefited from more modern methods of training and run the mile in less than four minutes.

Even high school students have since beaten the previously impossible goal, including Jim Ryun, recent US Representative from Kansas. What changed in May, 1954 that after Bannister’s accomplishment so many are now able to run the four minute mile? Very simply, the spell was broken when someone did it. Once Bannister did it, other runners knew it could be done—so they did it!

Let’s talk about another race—the one with the greatest prize of all– that is being run by each of us right now, and how we might win. I want to encourage you to see the apostle Paul as a man who understands life as it ought to be lived and is going to share with us three very important perspectives. Grab these ideas, put them to work and 2010 will turn out to be a truly life-changing year for you.

Preceding our text at Philippians 3:12-14 is that section of Paul’s letter where he wrote about his religious exploits prior to his faith in Christ, and how he discovered what is, and what isn’t, of real spiritual value in God’s eyes. He closes that section by presenting his goal in life: “to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul’s goal was Christ likeness—in every dimension—and the prize was eternal life through the resurrection. He determined that to be like Jesus, even down to the way He suffered and died, was going to be more important in his life than anything else. More important than any financial goals, career goals, family goals, business goals. Everything else would take secondary priority to Christ likeness.

And he didn’t mean some kind of cosmetic veneer of Christ likeness --you know, where you look spiritual and act spiritual, but the spirituality only goes skin deep—just enough to impress others.

The label on the bottle said: "Blueberry Pomegranate, 100 percent juice, all natural.“ There was also a picture of a ripe pomegranate [spilling] its exotic, glistening seeds onto mounds of fat, perfect blueberries. …

And then he read the ingredients list: "Filtered water, pear juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate." Where was the blueberry? Where was the pomegranate? ...

Was Paul talking about Christ likeness or Christ-flavored-ness?

Read along as these three verses appear on the screen.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize from which God has called me heavenward.

One way to understand this passage is to look at the three “time frames” Paul refers to: the present, the past and the future.

An Honest Perspective on the Present

In verse 12, the apostle makes it clear he has not arrived, spiritually speaking, at his goal yet. He clarifies for the church family at Philippi that he certainly is not perfect, but that he is definitely working his program. May I just point out what a wonderfully balanced statement that is? No bragging, but no belly-aching either. Then, he says it again in verse 13, in case anyone missed it the first time around, “I have not yet taken hold of” my goal of Christ likeness.

Paul the apostle was no braggart. The humility he learned when he came to Christ taught him well. All the hubris that drove this aggressive religious man in his earlier life has been healed. He is, after all, now a servant of the Servant King. And he is quick to tell you that any spiritual progress he is ever privileged to make is all because of the grace of Christ, in whose image he is being remade.

I think Paul had a very honest perspective of his present condition. If you were to encounter him at the communion table and ask him, “Hey, brother, how are you doing? Really, what’s happening in your spiritual life?” I think you’d get the same answer you see here. Maybe Paul had just shared a communion meditation in the service and talked about what he wrote about in the earlier part of chapter three. And then he shared his goal to be like Christ. And now you ask him, “How are you doing on that goal?” I think you’d get an honest, straightforward response.

He’d say, “Well, I’m certainly not there yet, but I’m real serious about my goal! And I am currently applying myself to more serious prayer for the churches, trying to be more patient with those who mistreat me, and—oh, yes—I’m working on being more thankful, as I have sensed the Spirit chiding me to practice more what I preach in this area.” And you? Tell me, how are you doing spiritually?

You know, we hear a lot of two kinds of testimonies from people: some who struggle with pride will tell you how great they’re doing—how God’s blessing them and how they’ve done this or that. And they end up looking pretty good in the eyes of others.

Then there are the others who are so caught up with trying to appear humble that they are actually morose. “Oh, you know, I just wish I were a better disciple; I don’t feel like I’m living up to God’s expectations; I just thank God for His mercy, because I sure need it!” Their theme verse is from the hymn, the line that says, “Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?”

Paul’s current self assessment was neither of these extremes. He said, “I’m not perfect—but I’m workin’ on it!” Don’t get me wrong. I think we should always admit that we are not all that we should be, and never make ourselves look like something we’re not. But, don’t stop with just a testimony of how you’ve failed and how wonderful it is that blood of Jesus is powerful to go on forgiving. That’s not humility! That’s futility! We don’t encourage anyone by just telling of our failures. Tell them you might have fallen seven times, but In Jesus’ name, you’re getting up again.

Being humble does not rule out being positive about your future in Christ. Step out in faith and stake a few claims for some maturity. Tell someone how you plan to grow this year in the grace of Christ. Be sincere, and share with a trusted other how glad you are that God has brought you thus far, and how excited you are to grow further in your spiritual pilgrimage! It is no longer you who live, but Christ lives in you if you are a Christian. It is God’s will that you grow, from one glory to another, into the fullness of Christ!

If you want to be spiritually healthy, and on the growing edge, you need to maintain an honest perspective on your present state. But you will also need to carefully handle your past

A Careful Handling of the Past

“One thing I do,” Paul insists, “I forget the past.” Television and movie actor Alan Alda wrote a book titled Never Have Your Dog Stuffed. In an interview, he explained the significance of the title:

I was 8 years old. My father was trying to stop me from sobbing because we were burying the dog, so he said, “Maybe we should have him stuffed.”
We kept it on the porch, and deliverymen were afraid to make deliveries.
There are a lot of ways we stuff the dog, trying to avoid change, hanging on to a moment that’s passed.

There are dangers lurking in your past. If you keep going back there snooping around, one of them will reach out and grab you. What dangers? Two, to be precise. The first one is the mistakes, the sins, of your past. “But I’ve been forgiven in Christ!” That’s right. All the more reason to forget about it all—as best you can.

There’s a crime wave in Britain causing political battles, health and safety threats and massive costs. It’s chewing gum—chewed, eschewed, spit and spewed onto the sidewalks. It turns black and sticks to shoes, is unsightly and just has everyone’s knickers torqued. Ireland now fines gum-spitters $160 and Britain is considering taxing chewing gum to help cover the costs of clean-up...

John Claypool tells about his grandfather’s pear tree. It had stood on the farm for as long as anyone could remember. A storm took the tree down, and grandpa was deeply grieved to lose the tree where he had climbed as a boy and whose fruit he’d eaten all his life. The neighbor came by and asked what he was going to do. He said, “I’m going to pick the good fruit, and burn the rest.” Take the good memories from your past and relish them; burn the rest.

But there’s a second danger. Not only your sins and mistakes and the guilt and shame they stir up, but also the good things you’ve done in your past. You don’t want to focus long on them—they are capable of fostering pride in you. They’ll get you thinking about what a nice person you are and how good you are and soon the Lord will fade from the screen. Don’t dwell on your good accomplishments. “But I enjoy thinking about them.” You’ve got to ask yourself WHY you enjoy that.
These are the things Paul talked about earlier in chapter three. All his hard work as a zealous Jew, his strict Pharisaic, law-keeping, and all that he did in what he thought was service to God. Do you remember what he did with those things? He considered them loss, counted them as rubbish, to get rid of self-righteousness so he could be in Christ having righteousness from God that is by faith.

James 4:6-7 – “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God.” Scripturally-speaking, pride is the deadliest of sins. It comes in so many different forms and hides so well. Pride is ugly, and it makes those who wear it ugly, too. A three-year-old's Sunday school teacher mentioned to his mother that it had been a wild morning--the children just wouldn't settle down. Her son, Clayton, was one of the culprits. At one point she’d said to him, "Clayton, come and sit down on the rug, pronto," he indignantly replied, "Nobody calls me Pronto!"

A Hope-filled Approach to the Future

We are taught in Philippians 3:12-14 to maintain an honest appraisal of our present state and to carefully handle our past (Paul says simply, “forget what is past”). Lastly, the thing that brings us closer to our goal of Christ likeness is a hope-filled approach to our future. “Straining toward what is ahead” is what verse 13 says.

What is ahead? Actually, there are a number of things on the horizon for the Christian. There is the goal: Christlikeness, becoming like Jesus. Romans 8:29 tells us we are predestined to this ultimate state. Imagine—we will be like Him! All our lives we have the glorious privilege of being brought, step by step, into the likeness of Jesus. And then, at the end, when we see Him face to face, we will be changed instantly, and, as 1 John 3:2 puts it, “we will be like Him.”
 
Paul says in verse 13, “I press on toward this goal…” Will we ever achieve anything close to Christ likeness before the time when we see Him and are transformed? I think not. I’m pretty sure Paul thought he wouldn’t. Nevertheless, he presses toward that goal. We press toward that same goal. Because we love him, because our greatest joy and fulfillment is serving him, and because the Holy Spirit within us drives us toward that goal, we press on.

There is the goal, Christ likeness; but beyond that, there is the “prize.” Verse 14 says, “I press on toward the goal [in order] to win the prize. If the goal is Christ likeness, which we will not attain in this life, then the prize is receiving that Christ likeness at the end. Back to 1 John 3 – “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” What a glorious finish line!

Add to that beatific vision, all the resources of heaven. An existence we are utterly unable to fathom from this earthly blind. But we know this much, thanks to Revelation 21: all our tears will be wiped away, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Imagine the sheer wonder! Even our capacity to appreciate it all will be magnified; our ability to love and praise Him will be elevated to that of the cherubim; our wisdom and understanding will be limitless.

Are you ready? I know you are! But not yet. We are required by the will of the One who knows the end and the beginning to wait. If you are a Christian, this is your hope. If you are not a Christian, this is NOT your hope. This promise is not made to those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus. Revelation 20 reads like this: “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” To those who do receive Jesus by faith, their names are written in that consummate book, and they are given God’s promise of the glorious hope of heaven.

There’s one way taught in the scriptures to get your name written in the Book of Life—receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. Trust Him today, and you will be given the hope of heaven for all eternity. Trust Him today, and you are also given resources for this life hard for you to understand or appreciate. Imagine, your sins forgiven—every one of them—forgiven by the One you’ve truly offended, God Himself. Imagine the very Spirit of God, coming to live inside you to guide and empower you on this adventure called life. He will move you inexorably in the direction of your new goal as a Christian—Christ likeness.

Brothers and sisters, life in Christ really is meant to be an adventure. Inhabited by God’s Spirit, predestined to Christ likeness with your ultimate prize and destination, eternal presence with God in heaven. Let’s press press on toward the goal to win the prize.

John Stott says, The most important race we’ll ever run is the one that ends in resurrection life. Straining forward to what lies ahead, we’re challenged to keep our eyes on Christ and trust him to show us the way to go . . . It is our faith in Christ that will get us across the finish line. Faith, combined with good training and the support of our fellow runners along the way, will propel us over the finish line called resurrection life.

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