his invitation — our goal

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his invitation — our goal

Philippians 3:9-14

Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ – the righteousness from God based on faith.
Philippians 3:10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the partnership of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,
Philippians 3:11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already complete, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,
Philippians 3:14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s high invitation in Christ Jesus.

his invitation — our goal

God’s high invitation is not an invitation to heaven. Lots of people think that is the goal of the Christian life, but it was not Paul’s goal. He told the Philippians that his goal was a personal relationship with Christ, even sharing in his sufferings, so that he might reach the final stage of that partnership — sharing in his resurrection from among the dead.

Some teach that all Christians already share in that resurrection — that it is a spiritual resurrection which ensures that we will survive death. Paul would have none of that foolishness. He admitted that he had not already reached the goal.

God calls each one of us to a journey, and the ultimate destination of that journey is not a life in the clouds. It is a permanent life. That life will begin not when this one ends, but when Christ returns to raise us from the dead.

Lord, we have responded to your heavenly invitation. We make it our goal know you and the power of your resurrection.