The Ultimate Resolution - Philippians 3:12-14

Introduction - New Year’s Resolutions

Resolve to Strive for the Resurrection, to live our lives for the glory of Christ.

1. Forget the Past

Does not mean to forget where we’ve come from or what God has done for us.

God has given us ways to remember the past and His faithfulness.

God has blessed our family and taught me so much in our time in Midland, I would lose much of what God has done for me if I simply forgot the past in that way.

What does Paul mean by forgetting the Past?

A. Forget your past accomplishments and don’t rest upon your successes. (v. 4-6). We cannot simply think we have arrived when we think we’ve succeeded at the Christian life. This is also what Paul is saying when he says he hasn’t obtained this resurrection. He isn’t calling into question the assurance of salvation through Christ’s finished work on the cross. But he knows the salvation Christ is giving to him is not simply a one time moment in his life. It is an ongoing process of making him more like Christ. We do not simply accomplish this goal in one day and then coast the rest of our lives. It is a daily pursuit of Christ’s righteousness, even as we know Christ has already secured salvation and righteousness for us.

Ex. - The Tortoise and the Hare

B. It also means not allowing our past failures to define who we are and cause us to quit pursuing Christ.

We see that Christ came to die for us even as we were enemies, how much more will He continue to love us even as we fall and stumble in our pursuit of Him? This shouldn’t cause a “don’t care” attitude towards our sin, but it does cause us to see God’s grace to help us get back up after we have fallen. Admit your failures, repent and confess to the LORD, and then ask for His help to get back up and keep pressing on.

Too often with our resolutions, we give up because once we stumble and fail in our goals we figure that’s all we can do until the New Year comes around again. Guess what, you and I aren’t going to be perfect this side of heaven so lets not quit simply because we slipped two hours in. However, just because we will not be perfect on this side of heaven is not an excuse not to strive for this perfection on this side of heaven. Each day Christ calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him. What Paul is saying, let’s not get complacent in our accomplishments nor discouraged in our failures. Don’t look back. Keep looking forward to what God has right in front of you. Christ has overcome your failures on the cross and through the cross He has shown He is greater than your successes, so you are now freed up to follow and run hard after Him without looking back at what you’ve done.

Ex. Driving, what would happen if all you looked at was the rearview mirror? It’s there to help you see what’s around you, but you are not meant to focus on that mirror. You will quickly get yourself hurt if you do not focus on what’s right ahead.

2. Focus on What’s Ahead

So now that we are forgetting what lies behind, we are freed to focus on what’s ahead. How do we focus on what’s ahead? We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, see where He is working and join Him there. This is the one of the major points of Henry Blackaby’s study Experiencing God. If we are to press on in this race called the Christian life we have to keep following Jesus.

Jesus would put it this way, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) This is what discipleship is. It is a commitment to pay the cost of obedience to follow Christ wherever He might take us. This is Paul’s resolution. He does not consider his life his own, but rather it now belongs to Jesus (v. 12).

He is striving to obtain this perfection because he knows Christ Jesus has already made Paul his own.

If we have been bought by the precious, priceless blood of Christ, we should have no other option than to see there is no cost so great as to give our lives to Christ.

Whether that is simply getting out of our comfort zone to share what we know about Christ with a coworker or if that’s leaving our home to move somewhere else to follow Christ where he would lead, or even if that should be to lay down our life for the cause of Christ or anything in between.

Maybe its also giving up good things in our lives that might be distracting us from treasuring Christ above all else. While Christ may not call everyone to sell all their possessions to give to the poor, He does call everyone of us to lay down anything that gets in the way of us truly worshipping Him. That is part of what it means to press on ahead. It is not easy, but in the end, we know it is worth it.

If we are people who are followers of Jesus, there should be no cost too high to follow Him since we know He offers us something infinitely greater than what we are giving up.

Mark 10:28-30

Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

Paul knows the prize that awaits him at the end of the race will be far more valuable than anything he is giving up as he strives after Christ.

Let us count the cost of following Christ and pushing on and know that the cost does not even compare to the prize that awaits us. We should gladly give up our lives, our dreams, our pleasures, whatever it is that is keeping us from living the life of obedience to Christ in order to press on towards the goal that God has set in front of us. Let us join God in what He is doing instead of expecting God to join us in what we are doing.

3. Press on for the Right Prize

The reason why Paul is striving forward on this race is for this prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

What is this prize he is pressing towards? Well, he does say he wants to attain the resurrection from the dead. We might say that we are pressing on for eternal life or for God’s forgiveness. But are those the prizes we are really striving for?

The question we have to ask ourselves is, why do we want resurrection from the dead or forgiveness of sin? Is it just to escape Hell? Is it to see our friends and loved ones again? While these are not bad things in and of themselves, I do not believe Paul has this in mind when he is talking about this prize.

What did we lose when sin entered into the world? What did we lose when death took hold in this creation? We lost being in the presence of God Himself. But know, Christ has come to be God with us. And Paul knows the prize of following Christ is getting to know Him.

Philippians 3:8-10

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 fa 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,

Paul wants to know Christ Himself. The power of His resurrection is gaining the new life that comes from being in His presence, not just an eternal life that goes on for me to live however I please, but the true life that is lived to the honor and glory of God. So do we want resurrection and forgiveness? Yes, but not for those gifts themselves, but for what they represent, being in perfect relationship with God in Christ.

Ex. Guys, you know those times when you do something that just wasn’t smart that upsets your wife? So you go out and get her flowers. Why? So she will forgive you. Why do you want her forgiveness? Simply so she’ll leave you alone about how you messed up? Not if you truly loved her. You would want her forgiveness so your relationship with her can be made right again. It is your wife you are pursuing, not simply the idea of forgiveness. Forgiveness is simply the means by which your relationship can be made right.

What is your resolution this year?

My prayer for us as a church and us as individuals, myself included is that we will forget our past achievements so we will not rest on those, but rather rest on Christ’s work on the cross. But I also pray we will strive ahead seeking to repent of our sin and seeking a life of discipleship and obedience to Christ knowing that Christ Himself is better than anything this world can give to us. Let this be our ultimate resolution to seek and strive after Christ so we can know Him and to make Him known to those around us!

But in order for us to strive after Christ, we have to first know that we belong to Him. Remember, Paul says he seeks to make this his own because Christ Jesus has already made him His own. Paul would not be able to strive after Christ in His own strength. Again, he already tried that and realized it failed. What gave him the strength to press on was

As believers, we must resolve to live our lives to strive hard after Christ seeking to trust Him each day and to pick up our cross willing to die to ourselves knowing the prize to know Christ is worth it.

If you have never put your faith in Christ, today can be more than just the start of a new year, it can be the start of a new life for you as you begin this new journey with Christ.