The Prize
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The Prize
'I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.'
'But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” ' This is Jesus speaking.
As Christians, we value salvation, restoration, forgiveness, redemption, being born again, and being filled with the Spirit of God. We evangelize, witness, and share the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But why do we do this?
What is the prize? That may sound like a very narcissistic question, considering the subject matter, salvation and forgiveness, and Christianity. However, Jesus starts His ministry with this. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
Jesus begins His ministry by talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. He never really stops talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus instructs His disciples to start with the Kingdom of God.
'And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ '
Salvation, Restoration, or Forgiveness
The end goal of the Gospel is not salvation, restoration, or forgiveness. The end goal of the Gospel is the Kingdom of God. The destination, the whole intent of Christianity, is not a better life. The goal, the prize, is our citizenship into the Kingdom of God. All that we sing about and all that we preach about is or should be intended to point us to the prize. If Jesus spoke and emphasized the Kingdom of God, should we not be doing the same?
As a species or people, we will flounder aimlessly without a destination. We will go off on tangents when we lose focus of the prize. How many people have gone off on their own tangents when they begin to think that they have a better answer, a better way? It is in abundant evidence all around us. Our government is in shambles because it thinks it has a better destination than God has offered. Our government, as well as other governments, have tried to supplant God's plan for man-made plans to arrive at a better destination. Only to end up in search of a better option.
Christians are attracted to the amazing benefits of Christianity. We look at the past miracles and teachings of Christ. We celebrate what Jesus has done and what He is doing. We look forward to the promise of His life and teaching. We love and accept His salvation, restoration, redemption, justification, sanctification, and the other wonderful benefits of His Kingdom. We look forward to His present and future involvement in our lives. We live expectantly believing in all of the benefits His Godhead makes available to us in this life and in the continued life in His Kingdom.
A Human Need
Salvation is a human need. Every movie begins and ends with some type of salvation, restoration, forgiveness, miracle, or redemptive love. Every story has to have a salvation theme. Virtually all stories have been written with the ultimate goal of the protagonist being the savior or being saved.
We all love the idea of redemption, of being redeemed of our past sins and failures. Christian or not, we want to live lives of value that are a blessing to those we love. We must be redeemed to accomplish that because we know that with our redemption, we can’t be what we want to be for others.
Forgiveness, what a need. We yearn for forgiveness not just from others but from ourselves. If we learned to forgive others, we would be spared so much personal damage. If we understood the prison that is created by unforgiveness, most of the world's wars would never happen.
Benefits of Christianity
All of the benefits of Christianity are not the destination of Christianity. They are what open the door to the destination of being in the presence of God. All of the benefits of Christianity must begin in our lives before we are even ready to approach the doorway of our destination. Let's not get so enamored with the benefits of Christianity that we lose sight of the destination.
As Christians, we emphasize and preach that we should be an example of the love of God. We try to be representatives of the love of God. We are commanded to love our God and our neighbors. Our feeble attempts at showing God’s love will never show the depths, the vastness, the intensity, and the permanence of the love of God. I am not saying we should not try to show others love; I am saying we need to recognize the limits of our ability to communicate the extent of God's love. In our desire to show others the love of God, should we not show them the destination? Should we not give them a glimpse of the destination God has planned for them? Maybe we need to take a closer look at the destination.
All the benefits of Christianity, salvation, restoration, forgiveness, the Spirit of God in us, and everything promised for us will come to fruition and completeness in the presence of God. All of the promises of Christianity will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. Everything we are looking forward to will not come to completion and into complete reality until we enter into the presence of God in His kingdom.
The Prize
I think that we should begin every day not expecting the benefits of Christianity but with the expectant prize of the Kingdom of God.
'If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. ' This is Jesus’ speaking.
'Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
In the Kingdom of God, “God Himself will be among them”
The prize is being with God in His kingdom for eternity. That is a prize worth talking about.