Mari Ikeda
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Just Keep Going Forward With Jesus!
(Philippians 3:1-14)
A. Timothy, Paul and the Philippians (1-7)
1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh― 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
B. Life now and in the future: Living to boast in Jesus
1) Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus (7-11)
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ―the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ―yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
2) We just keep going forward while we remain imperfect (12-14)
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Summary
We tend to boast in our own abilities, social status or morality. However, by knowing Jesus and His love on the Cross we came to understand that boasting in such human things would never save us, but rather interrupts us. What we can do is just to keep going forward with the joy of being loved and made alive by Jesus, even though we remain imperfect.
For Discussion
1) What goal do we keep going toward?
2) What shall we do when we feel absolutely unable to move forward?