Pressing On Toward Our Heavenly Goal

Paul begins with the end in mind: the Christian life has a goal, and that goal is to rise from the dead and dwell with Jesus in glory forever. Christ Jesus took hold of sinners first, because no one can reach that goal by personal effort, moral behavior, family care, career success, or academic accomplishment. Jesus took on flesh, lived the perfect life sinners could not live, and laid down that life on the cross so that sin would be taken away. God now sees those who trust in Christ as holy and perfect because of Jesus.

Paul therefore calls Christians to press on toward the goal, not as people trying to earn heaven, but as people already taken hold of by Christ. The past includes sins that have been forgiven and paid for, so those sins do not need to be carried around any longer. The past also includes every false source of confidence besides Jesus. Good things can become dangerous things when they are made into the thing that is supposed to get a person to heaven.

Paul describes a godly dissatisfaction that recognizes how far life still falls short of the holiness God calls for. God has made his people holy, and yet daily life still needs to catch up to that holy status. The goal is not perfection by tomorrow morning, because perfection will not come until heaven. The call is to keep pressing on, striving each day to live up to what God has already given.

God also gives examples for the road. The saints who have gone before, faithful pastors and teachers, parents and grandparents, and brothers and sisters who suffer well can all encourage faithfulness. Their lives do not replace Christ, but they show what it looks like to cling to Christ through persecution, tragedy, opposition, and suffering.

Paul also gives a warning with tears. Enemies of the cross set their minds on earthly things, make a god out of appetite, and glory in what should bring shame. Earthly blessings can sidetrack Christians too when comfort, possessions, and the concerns of this world become more important than the goal.

Citizenship in heaven gives Christians something far better to look toward. Jesus will return with power and transform lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. Age, injury, illness, weakness, and every frustration in the flesh will not last forever. Christ will make everything just right, and until that day his people press on toward the prize for which he first took hold of them.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ took hold of sinners first Christ does not wait for sinners to climb their way up to heaven. Jesus became one of them, lived perfectly for them, and died to take their sin away. Pressing on is therefore not a desperate attempt to earn a place with God, but a response to the Savior who has already taken hold. [35:48]
• 2. Leave forgiven sins in the past Forgiven sin should not become a permanent identity or a burden repeatedly dragged back into the present. Jesus has paid for it, taken it away, and removed the basis for condemnation. The forward look is not denial of sin's seriousness, but confidence in Christ's full forgiveness. [37:09]
• 3. Good things cannot replace Jesus Moral behavior, family care, career success, and academic accomplishment may all be good gifts. None of them can make a sinner fit to stand before God. Confidence in anything besides Jesus quietly turns a gift into a rival savior. [38:50]
• 4. Earthly things can sidetrack the heart Earthly blessings become spiritually dangerous when they capture the mind and push heaven out of view. Paul’s warning is not that material things exist, but that appetite and comfort can become a god. Citizenship in heaven gives Christians a truer center for life in this world. [46:11]
• 5. Jesus will make lowly bodies glorious Resurrection hope is wonderfully physical: Jesus will not leave his people as disembodied spirits, but will transform their bodies. Age, illness, injury, and insecurity do not get the final word. Christ’s glorious body is the pattern and promise for the bodies of his people.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [21:16] - Pressing On Toward the Goal
• [33:02] - Beginning With the End in Mind
• [34:23] - The Goal of the Christian Life
• [35:15] - Christ Took Hold of Us
• [36:28] - Forgetting What Is Behind
• [39:15] - A Godly Dissatisfaction
• [40:45] - Examples of Faithfulness
• [44:20] - Enemies of the Cross
• [46:11] - Citizenship in Heaven
• [47:23] - The Promise of Glorious Bodies
• [50:10] - Pressing On Until Christ Brings Us Home

Bible Reading

Philippians 3:12-14
“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. 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.” [20:47]

Philippians 3:20-21
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” [21:48]

Philippians 3:18-19
“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” [21:32]

Observation questions

1. In Philippians 3:12–14, what words show that Paul has not reached the goal yet, and what does he continue to do instead? [36:39]
2. What does Paul identify as the goal toward which Christians are pressing on, both now and at the resurrection? [34:36]
3. According to Philippians 3:18–19, what marks the people Paul calls “enemies of the cross,” and where are their minds set? [44:26]
4. In Philippians 3:20–21, what future actions of Jesus give Christians reason to eagerly wait for him? [46:35]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul says that Christ Jesus took hold of him before he presses on toward the goal. How does that order protect Christians from treating obedience and spiritual growth as a way to earn heaven? [35:37]
2. What does “forgetting what is behind” mean for forgiven sins, and why is this different from pretending those sins never happened? [37:22]
3. Why can good gifts such as moral behavior, caring for family, career success, or academic achievement become false sources of confidence before God? [38:36]
4. Paul speaks with tears about people whose minds are set on earthly things. Why does this warning need to be taken seriously even by Christians who enjoy many good earthly blessings? [45:43]

Application questions

1. Is there a past sin, failure, or regret that still feels like a defining part of personal identity? What would it look like to leave that forgiven sin behind and look again to Christ’s full forgiveness? [37:05]
2. Which good thing is most tempting to treat as proof of being acceptable before God—being moral, successful, needed by family, educated, productive, or something else? How can confidence be redirected to Jesus alone? [38:53]
3. Where is there a healthy dissatisfaction with sin or spiritual weakness, and where might that dissatisfaction be turning into discouragement? What is one faithful next step in living up to the holy status God has already given? [39:47]
4. Who is a Christian example worth watching more closely—a parent, grandparent, pastor, teacher, friend, or someone who has suffered faithfully? What part of that person’s faith could be imitated this week? [43:17]
5. What earthly comfort, possession, appetite, worry, or goal most easily takes over attention and pushes heaven out of view? What could help keep that good gift from becoming a god? [46:02]
6. How does the promise that Jesus will transform lowly bodies speak into present struggles with aging, illness, injury, weakness, or dissatisfaction with appearance? [49:30]