Memorize: Yearning to know Christ
Key Verses: 2, 5, 8, 10, 14, 17, 20
Paul pulls no punches when he deals with those who would try to pull the freedom found in Christ out from under his feet. He used to live his life in the futile attempt to earn God’s favor through obedience to the Law. He now lives in the freedom that Jesus’ death and resurrection brings. His thinking has been radicalized. He now views something he used to think was essential as mutilation, because it accomplishes absolutely nothing! It would be as though a Muslim came to believe that becoming a suicide bomber didn’t earn him his 70 virgins! What a waste!
Paul goes on to outline what used to be his boasts. Take a few moments and write a list of the things you count as accomplishments. Of the things on your list, what did you accomplish totally on your own, without any help from anybody? Even if you earned a PhD, someone taught you, wrote the textbooks, built the university, and discovered things long before you arrived at school. You didn’t do it by yourself. Paul came to value his list of boasts, his accomplishments, as garbage compared to the value of discovering Jesus.
Paul has traded all his old goals for one new goal: knowing Jesus’ power, suffering, death and resurrection. This is Paul’s goal. He wants to fully participate in every aspect of Jesus. He has not finished his quest or arrived at his goal, but he continues to press toward that goal, like a runner leaning forward to break the tape at the finish line. He must forget the past and move forward, not expending energy on the “what if”s and “if only”s. They are forgiven in Christ. If we are focused on the past we are not looking forward and upward to Christ. We must focus on the one goal, not the many non-goals.
Sometimes it is easier to live for Christ when there are people around you to whom you can look who are examples of the walk of faith. We need mentors and models. Some of us didn’t grow up in homes worth emulating. In fact, we vowed to not become like our parents. So we don’t even know what godly living looks like, because we have never seen it lived out. Find someone whose faith-walk you respect and follow them as they follow Christ.
We are only temporary residents of earth, now that we have become Jesus-followers. We have been transferred to the kingdom of Light. Our citizenship is in heaven, our permanent and rightful home because of Jesus’ work on our behalf. Even our bodies will be changed to match our new citizenship. If I lived in Hawaii, my new clothing options would not include a parka or warm wool hat. Instead, I would buy lots of shorts and cool shirts. Our new body fits the realm of heaven.
Review: Galatians & Ephesians
The Arnold Journey 