A New Outlook - Philippians 3

A new year can be a nostalgic experience. You begin to look back at all that happened in the last year, good or bad, and examine yourself. It is also a time where a lot of new memories are made with friends and loved ones, and a time of celebration for another year that you have been given. For some it is a time of partying, and for others, a time of grieving. For many, it is a time of change. New years’ resolutions are set and others are re-established. This is the sort of approach I usually take on a new year.

I happened to read Philippians 3 and it was one of those instances where you sit down to read from the Bible not quite knowing what you need, but then you read something and it all clicks. I admit that I actually didn’t really feel like reading. I was tired and cranky, but I also had a stirring inside me telling me that I really needed to read tonight. So, after doing a little flipping I came to Philippians. I read the first two chapters, but when I got to chapter 3, things sort of came alive on the page. This in itself was sort of my “nostalgic” experience that I needed.

Verses 1-11 of this chapter are Paul writing to the church in Philippi and it is his warning against putting any confidence in the flesh. It wasn’t until I stopped to seriously consider this aspect that I realized this is one of my biggest flaws, and one of the main things I need to work on in the New Year. I am a man, and as I man I struggle with pride. When I approach God, I tend to come to Him with a sense that I have actually earned something – that I am actually something worthy of His time and love. I tend to only focus on the “good” things that “I” have done, and not the times I have seriously messed things up (I put “I” in quotations for a reason, because I tend to forget that there is no good in me whatsoever – if any good is done, it comes from Christ!).

As a man – err, a human – I try to always think of myself as more than I really am, because the fact is, no matter how good I ever really am it’s still never going to be good enough. For here is Paul who is 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; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. (vv. 5-6). Paul had the resume of all resumes. If anyone should ever have any confidence in approaching God, it would have been Paul. However, he realizes in his maturity that all of that is absolutely nothing! In the very next verse, he calls every thing about him a “loss”, and not a “profit”. These are the things the Jewish people strived for, and some never would attain – yet Paul says it doesn’t even matter! He says it’s void, nothing at all. Why would he say that?

Paul was mature at the time of writing this, and he had finally found a way to put all of his self-righteous pride aside and to simply realize that he cannot save himself. He finally came to the conclusion that no matter how “good” he appeared to everyone else on the outside, inside he was still simply a vile sinner that needed a Savior. He realized that no matter how the world perceived him, God saw (with regards to Paul Harvey) the “rest of the story”, and there was no way to hide it. Paul finally seen that there was no hiding the fact that he was a sinner just because of his wonderful list of achievements. God, while being the very essence of Love, is still a just God. If He weren’t, He wouldn’t be God. And because He is Just, Paul finally came to the realization that his amazing list of achievements and good works would never cover up the amount of sin that he had personally dealt out. He realized that the only thing he could put confidence in was Christ Jesus.

This is the road I find myself at as the new year rolls over. Yes, I have done some good works; I think we can all pretty much say that. But, to that I ask myself, “So what?”, because my list of “not-so-good-works” is a heck of a whole lot longer! As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t have to look very far back at all to see the last time I added to that second list. So where does this leave me? Spiritually bankrupt, yet spiritually excited. It leaves me bankrupt in the sense that it opens my eyes to who I really am – a sinner. It leaves me excited in the same sense, because it also opens my eyes to who I really am – a sinner saved by grace. It helps me reestablish within myself that I am absolutely nothing. This is a sobering, humbling thought. If it were not for Christ, I would be spiritually dead. If it were not for Christ, my sins would have to be paid for by myself. If it were not for Christ, I would be nothing. Because of Christ, I am spiritually alive. Because of Christ, my sins are paid-in-full. Because of Christ, I can stand before Father God in the confidence that all my sins are gone and that He sees me as covered in Christ Blood’s Coat of Confidence.

This is a great thing, but it also leaves me with another feeling: regret. As I look back on 2008, I realize really how little I did for God. While I may have done a few things here and a few things here, when it is calculated against how much I did for myself, I would be ashamed to see the results. If there is one printout I would not want to read, it would be one of how many moments God gives me to advance His kingdom and I fall through. That would not be a pretty thing to read. However, I believe Paul realized that we would come to this state of mind after reading the first eleven verses. Because of that, he follows it up with a very famous passage of scripture.

“12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, 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, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

What Paul is saying is, “Look, I’m not saying I am perfect. I am human. I have flaws and struggles just like you do. Don’t give me the excuse that just because you are not an apostle of Jesus Christ that you can’t really live this life that God has called you to, because the truth is, I go through the exact same things you do. Just because I am an apostle of Christ does not mean God has made me perfect. I am as imperfect as the next guy – just ask those that travel with me! However, I don’t let this stop me. I know I am a sinner, and God knows that I am a sinner. I know I’m not perfect, and God knows I’m not perfect. So, why should I let it stop me from striving for Godly perfection? Because Jesus Christ made it to where I can stand before Father God, I am going to keep striving with everything I have toward this life that God wants me to live. Am I going to mess up? Of course! Daily, probably. Am I going to let it stop me? Not at all. When I mess up, I get back up, wipe off the dust, and keep striving toward God. You don’t think I’m going to let the Enemy win me over that easy, do you? I am going to fight against him with everything I have, and win he does win a battle against me, I rest in the confidence that I belong to Jesus Christ and no matter what the Enemy puts me through, he can never take that away. I am going to daily forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Paul realized he was no perfect. He realized he was going to always be fighting against Satan and against himself, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him. He forgot about what has already happened and strain toward the future. What’s already in the past is history, and there is no sense in letting it keep you down. There is no reason to dwell on the past that you can’t change instead of letting it help you do what is right in the ever-changing future. The past is gone, the future is not. Don’t keep your mind on all the times that you really messed things up. Keep your mind on the fact that Christ has forgiven you of all of those things and that all He wants you to do is focus on today and what you can do to help His kingdom now. If your eyes are on the screaming skeletons of the past, you aren’t able to see the grave in front of you that will finally put those skeletons to rest.

This is the life God wants for us, and it is going to be my personal New Year’s Resolution. I am going to realize I have no reason to boast. I am nothing. God is everything. I have to point heavenward and come to terms with the fact that all good things come from Christ, not me. This next year is going to be about what God can do, not what Brandon can do. Sometimes I think I look like Stewie from MadTV. I am always yelling at God to “look what I can do”, when in reality all I’m doing is just jumping the air and a miniscule height, twisting around and really getting nothing accomplished. I think God sometimes answers with simply a roll of the eyes. I have to take a hold of this fact and simply rest in Christ. Jesus said to come to him all who are weak and burdened, trying to become righteous on their own. This is what I want this year to be about. I am going to lay all of that at His feet in the realization that it is all about Him and I am going to rest in that. But with that, I have to forget the past. I can’t change any of it. I simply have to try and learn from it and make every day about that day. I have to focus on my walk with Christ a day at a time and not let the skeletons of the past haunt my future. I have to put them to rest once and for all, and simply let them be a memory to me so that I can learn from them and use them for God’s glory, and not for Satan’s tool. I have messed up. I’m human. I’m probably going to mess up again. But I can use the mess ups of the past to try and keep me from messing up so bad in the future. This is my goal.

I pray this year be about God and Him only, not about me. I pray that I forget about the last year, both good and bad things. I want to forget about the good in a sense that I realize I had nothing to do with the good works achieved through me but they all came from Christ and to give Him the just credit He deserves, and to forget about the bad in the sense that I don’t let my slip ups keep me from walking with Christ. They are forgiven and because of that I can move on. This is my plan for 2009, and hopefully this year you focus on your personal walk with Christ as well.