“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things (Phil. 3:13-15 NIV). For a long time the meaning of this passage was foggy to me. What is the goal Paul is talking about? And what is the prize in Christ, and is it different from the goal? The answers were important to me because Paul said it was “One thing I do” which meant it was central to Paul’s life. Also, Paul says those “who are mature” should have the same view as Paul! But how can I have the same view as Paul if I don’t know what the prize is that Paul is pressing on towards?
If we are going to become mature, don’t we need to know this prize in Christ that we are running towards? Don’t we have to know the target in order to hit it? The answer is found in the context of this passage, Chapter 3 of Philippians. In verses 10 and 11 Paul talks about his desire to suffer like Jesus so that he would gain the “resurrection from the dead.” Then in verse 12 he says he has not attained this yet, but he presses on. Thus, Paul is still talking about resurrection when he begins his words in verse 13 “One thing I do…”, and then mentions the goal and prize in Christ. Then in verses 19-21 Paul talks about destiny again, how some will be destroyed but we are citizens of heaven. And the last phrase in this whole section, Phil. 3:7-21, explains that Jesus will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” So once again, the resurrection of believers is the focus.
Thus, the prize in Christ that Paul is straining towards is the resurrection from the dead. Why is this so important to Paul? Shouldn’t the prize be the privilege of being with Jesus? Or being on the New Earth with all its blessings? It seems that for Paul the resurrection of our bodies was the key event in a believer’s life. It means that we become completely pure and enjoy perfect inner peace and harmony because our body is like Christ’s. And it is the doorway to all the other eternal blessings from God. Our resurrection is the beginning of our full participation in God’s New Creation. We need to have glorified, Christlike bodies, in order to participate in, or even to be able to handle, the tremendous happiness we will experience.
Thus, it makes sense for Paul to say that those who are mature should think this way. Since Paul thought this way, he was willing to surrender all and sacrifice to build up the Body of Christ. Likewise, our maturity includes “straining” and “pressing” towards the prize of the resurrection of our bodies. This becomes how we think about life. We let the resurrection motivate us to spiritual growth. We sacrifice and serve because of the resurrection. We set our priorities according to the resurrection. We set our desires on the resurrection. We dream about it, rejoicing that God has “called us heavenward” for the resurrection and the New Creation.
How often do you think of your prize in Christ, the resurrection of your body and eternity in God’s community of love on the New Earth? In view of your prize, what would you like to change in your life now?
