Towards The Finish Line
SUNDAY Worship Service: SEPTEMBER 8, 2024
Towards The Finish Line
Rev. Jason Noh
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 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, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Opening: We have to know the finish line in order to run the race properly.
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (v.14)
Paul’s finish line – Sanctification, Glorification (Resurrection), Church
Sanctification: Shifting from ‘I’ to ‘Christ’
“You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you.” (Augustine of Hippo)
Paul’s credentials
Flesh, Zeal, Righteousness
“Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (v.5-6)
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (v.7-8)
Glorification (Resurrection): Shifting from ‘Present Suffering’ to ‘Future Glory’
“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (v.10-11)
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)
Church: Shifting from ‘Me’ to ‘We’
“Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” (v.15)
Closing: True change takes place when I turn upside down first.