The Great Apostle Paul wasn’t a
neutral person. He was anti- Christian. He both physically and verbally opposed
them. He took and dragged people to jail. He was aggressively anti- Christian.
Acts 22:4-9 is the testimony of
Paul. An amazing work happened on his way to Damascus. Paul was persecuting the
church and Jesus asked him why he was persecuting him. The church is the body of Christ and causing harm to the body is
directly causing harm to Jesus. Paul was there when Steven was put to death.
In verse 10, the transformation happens when Paul says, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ Paul was born again! He gave his
life over to the proclamation of the gospel.
In addition to
the suffering, there was much glory in his life as well. In 2 Corinthian 12:1-4 Paul talks about
the amazing encounters with God. He had visions and revelations, he had great
experiences. Yet, he had many things that we have- he is a new creation, he has
salvation, right standing with God, etc.
Paul is a
great Christian. Last week we looked at 5 things that Paul wanted: knowing God,
righteousness of Christ, the power of Christ, the fellowship of sharing in his
suffering and the resurrection body on the second coming of Jesus.
Phil 3:12- Paul says, “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.” He says I’m
not perfect. That is so different from so many Christians
Q. Are we complacent and content with what we
have?
We have all
things God has given us. Is that all? No. There is something for us to do. As
long as there is breath in us.
1 Corinthians 9:24-25- Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets
the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone
who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will
not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever”. The Christian
life is like a race. We are not running for heaven, salvation, forgiveness,
etc. We already have all those things. The process of running is our
sanctification. The goal of our life is to be like Jesus. It doesn’t happen
automatically.
Verse 26-27: Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not
fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I
strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified for the prize
We have
received so much but it is not everything. Romans
8:29- For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the first-born among many brothers and
sisters. That’s the
goal of our life- there is a fighting that is involved. The
perseverance we need is by the grace of God.
Abhinav Bindra
is a rifle shooter and won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. Now, did he just
wake up one morning and go shooting at the Olympics? No. He does everything it
takes to get the accuracy in shooting. He has given his life to that. And he has
achieved it. Now these medals don’t last, but our actions have eternal
significance. Let’s make every effort to
become like Jesus. We are not perfect and we need to put in effort to
become more like Jesus, and we do it with the grace of God.
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