Press On
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Today, I want to tell you about a man who had everything and lost it all.
His name is Paul. You may have heard of him before. The apostle Paul was a man who thought he had everything. In his life before Christ, he was known as a very spiritual person. He was regarded highly by his peers, and everyone thought of him as a model citizen.
But then he lost it all. And it was kind of a self-inflicted wound, in a way, because he realized he had been living for the wrong thing. Paul was anti-Christian. He hated the church, hated the movement of Jesus, and sought to make it his mission to exterminate early Christians.
And then he had a powerful encounter with God that changed his life forever. He was blinded on a road, and Jesus appeared to him saying, “why are you persecuting me?” Paul immediately recognized him as Lord, and repented then and there of his persecuting the church. In that repentance, Paul gave up everything: social status, his job, his livelihood. And he was completely at the mercy of God and the church. There he was, in total surrender before the Lord.
And later in life, as he’s reflecting on this moment, he had this to say…
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
Paul came to a realization that his Supreme Treasure, his goal in life was to be close to Christ, his Lord. All the stuff he had? Rubbish. Trash. Stuff that is only meant to be thrown out and disposed of. What is his great purpose? Christ and Christ alone.
He says “Surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.” THAT is what’s worth losing everything. Simply knowing and relating to the God of the universe. I gave it all up that I might have a friend in Jesus.
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—
Then, he says, the former life of living to find righteousness in the Law, that doesn’t cut it anymore. I ask you, folks, what is your plan for eternity? Do you plan on standing before the judgment seat of God with a plan to say, “Well, Lord, I wasn’t as bad as so-and-so…”? This will not work. Paul, who lived his life as righteously as possible according to the Law, knew that he could not achieve a righteousness that would earn a spot in Heaven over Hell. His righteousness before God is based in Christ.
Our righteousness, the scriptures tell us, are a disgusting sight before the Lord. We cannot be good enough before God, our sin is too repulsive to Him. Why? Because He’s perfect. And a perfect God must have perfection in Heaven. Sound like impossible expectations to meet? They are.
But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
And this righteousness depends on faith. Have faith in God.
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. 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.
Then Paul talks about the fact that he presses on to make the resurrection his own. Being like Christ in death and therefore like him in resurrection.
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.
So in salvation, we forget what is behind us and continually press forward to what is ahead. So if, today, you are a Christian, your call in Christ is to continually cast off the life before Christ, to cast off sin, and to continually press on toward Jesus.