any journey that you go on will always require three pieces of information. You need to know
where you are. You need to know your starting point. You need to know where you're going. You
need to know the goal, the destination that you're heading to. And lastly, you need to know which road
to tack between those two points. The Christian life is very much a journey. Christians have not
arrived yet. There is more to learn. There is more to come, more to discover. There's room to grow.
And navigating life well as a Christian, navigating the life of following Jesus joyfully,
requires those same three pieces of information. First off, we need to know our starting point.
Paul's call in the first half of chapter three, which is what Jimmy opened up for us last week,
to forsake all else, to consider all else in our lives garbage compared to the treasure of knowing
Jesus, is not just a call, it's a testimony. Paul is sharing his own story of what it was like for him
to begin the journey of following Jesus. It's a description of how his life shifted drastically
when he became a Christian and for the very first time put his trust in the death of Jesus and the
resurrection of Jesus as a means by which he could know God. When somebody becomes a Christian,
what they do is they have their life radically reoriented. This is what Jimmy was talking about.
What used to be really important, what used to take priority, what used to consume energy and
imagination and time is reassessed in the light of the fact that they discover Jesus.
They begin to, for the first time, recognise the majesty and wonder of what Jesus does in giving his life for people.
Paul talks about being found in verse nine that Steve just read out for us, about gaining Jesus and in him
getting a righteousness that is by faith and not from the law.
See, what happens when somebody puts their faith in Jesus,
the starting point when someone becomes a Christian is they discover that God loves them in spite of who they are.
God loves them even though they don't deserve it. That, in fact, what they discover is that the only possible means
for them to be loved by God
is Jesus.
It's his death so that they might be approved by God, that they might find forgiveness
and be washed clean in the cross. And it's not just that they
discover the idea that this is the only way they can be loved.
What happens when somebody becomes a Christian is they actually
experience and encounter that love
for the very first time.
They experience what it is to be loved and adopted while they're at their worst,
while they are completely undeserving.
And because they're loved even at their worst,
they experience what it is to be securely loved.
Because they've already put forward the most unlovable parts of themselves
and found God to love them anyway.
They have a deep security and stability.
God's love for Christians has nothing to do with how good or bad they are.
How good or bad they were, how good or bad they will be.
What the Christian discovers is that God loves because God chooses to love.
God looks at people and makes the decision to love them in spite of their worthiness
or otherwise. It's love that stretches further than people could run.
And so it's a love that gives security and peace.
Because it's not going anywhere.
I remember the night that I decided to become a Christian.
It was almost 20 years ago.
It was late January 1996.
I was on a camp.
And even though I'd heard about Jesus before,
I'd been in churches before,
I'd been around Christians before,
I'd heard the stories before,
I knew how Easter worked.
It was the first time that I looked at Jesus
and the cross and his death
and understood that that was God loving me unconditionally.
That was God offering to accept me
regardless of what I had done
or even what I would do in the future.
It was the first time that I felt unconditionally loved.
And I remember sobbing.
Those of you who know me know that I'm not a big crier.
But I remember that night sobbing in a way that I never had before.
Tears of joy because for the first time,
I felt absolutely securely loved.
Like there was nothing I could have done
to convince God to stop loving me.
And not only was I secure in the love,
the love was bigger and deeper and wider
and more costly than anything I had ever encountered.
I felt no pressure to do or be anything.
I just felt loved.
I desperately wanted other people to know
what I was feeling at that point,
but it was what I wanted.
It wasn't something that I had to do.
I remember that night I felt joy
unlike anything I'd ever known.
It was a life-defining,
life-altering joy.
It's the same kind of joy
that Paul has been talking about here in Philippians.
It's the same kind of joy
that leads him to look at his whole life
before meeting Jesus
and joyfully say,
none of that is worth anything anymore.
In fact, it's garbage
compared to what I've discovered in Jesus.
He doesn't give up his old life begrudgingly.
Joyfully, he says,
this is so much better.
This is so satisfying
that is garbage by comparison.
Even the good, best bits of his life
don't come close.
Paul was so content
from the point that he met Jesus
that he became an impossible opposition
for those who would seek to oppose Christianity.
He was joyful when he suffered.
He was joyful in prison.
He was joyful in persecution.
He was even joyful in death.
Happy to face it
because he knew what waited him on the other side.
To become a Christian
is to have joy unlocked.
It's to encounter joy.
To discover how much God loves you
is to discover joy.
That's the start of the Christian journey.
That's the beginning point.
Joy.
Now,
just as a side point,
I just want to challenge you
that you could be sitting in this room
and feeling like
that is a foreign description for you.
That's not something
that you've ever encountered.
That deep sense of release
and confidence
that God loves you
even though he knows
your deepest, darkest secrets.
It could be that
this is one of the first times
you've ever heard about
that kind of love.
And I want to encourage you
today might be the day
that you encounter that joy
for the first time.
But it could also be
that you've been around church
your whole life
and still
you wouldn't be able to point
to this sort of joy in your life.
Gently,
I want to challenge you.
This is what it looks like
to become a Christian.
to be filled with joy.
To discover that unconditional security
and peace
that is found in the fact
that God's decided to love you
and you can't change his mind.
The Christian journey starts with joy.
That's the first point.
But,
it only increases.
It gets even better
as we look to the end.
The second thing we need to know
on a journey,
having discovered our starting point,
is where we're going.
For all that Christians already have,
Christianity is clearly
a faith that looks forward.
Even as Paul is delighting
in all that he has
in Jesus,
even as he compares
his old life as rubbish,
he's clearly excited
about what's to come.
There's a tangible anticipation.
There's almost like
a sense of Paul
dancing on the spot
as he gives you
these few verses here
because there's something exciting
just beyond his reach.
Look at verse 12.
Having talked about
how amazing it is,
his desire,
he 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 doesn't have
all of the joy.
He doesn't have
all that he wants
in Christ yet.
He's got some.
He's got the joy
that comes at the beginning.
He's got that sense
of being loved and forgiven,
but he's pressing on
towards the destination.
Verse 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,
I press on
toward the goal
to win the prize
for which God
has called me heavenward
in Christ Jesus.
Forgetting the past,
eyes on the prize,
straining forward,
pressing on.
He just wants to reach
the final goal
and win his prize,
but what's the prize?
It's all very exciting language,
but it's kind of vague.
Even heaven
doesn't seem really clear
to kind of wrap it up.
Where are Christians going?
Where does the journey finish?
What's the goal
that Christians aim for?
It's there in verse 20.
Our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await
a saviour from there,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
who by the power
that enables him
to bring everything
under his control,
will transform
our lowly bodies
so that they will be
like his glorious body.
Just read that last bit again.
will transform our lowly bodies
so that they will be
like his glorious body.
Transformation.
That's the final goal.
Christlikeness.
When we reach the end,
we will be fully transformed.
We'll be sinless.
We'll be perfect.
There'll be no sickness.
There'll be no disability.
There'll be no sadness.
There'll be no loneliness.
We will be perfect
and whole and complete.
We'll be in heaven.
That's the goal.
That's what we're aiming for.
When I visit schools
to teach scripture,
I often get asked about heaven.
Lots of people
have different ideas
of what heaven might look like,
what it's supposed to be.
And I remember
that when I was younger,
I was convinced
that heaven would consist
of two main things.
An endless supply
of free McDonald's
and an amazing beach
for me to go surfing at.
Now, it sounds ridiculous,
but my basic premise was
take the things
that I enjoy most in life,
and I can concede
they were slightly shallow joys,
take the things
that I enjoy most in life
and heaven will be that
just kind of turned up
a little bit,
maybe slightly improved.
And I imagine
you probably have
your own version
of what you think
heaven will be like
or maybe what you want
heaven to be like.
And I imagine
that it might be not
that dissimilar to mine,
at least in process.
You take the things
that you enjoy most
in your life
and you imagine
a whole bunch more of that.
Maybe you think heaven,
clouds, halos, whatever.
But in the Bible,
heaven's not a location
in the way
that we sometimes
like to think of it.
The Bible doesn't set about
trying to describe something
that's going to be
a mental picture
of a future physical reality.
heaven is the place
where what's fundamentally
wrong with our world
is fixed.
And the core issue
is not sickness,
it's not injustice,
it's not even sin.
They all matter,
but they're symptoms
of the main issue.
They're evidence
of the core problem.
The main issue
with this creation,
the main issue
with our lives now,
the issue that will be fixed
when Jesus comes back,
the difference between
heaven and earth
is relational.
in this life now,
we live separated
from the source
of life and life.
In this life now,
we live kind of
cut off from God.
People live in ignorance
of the fact
that their life
is sustained
by a God in heaven.
In ignorance of the fact
that God created them
and they owe
all their allegiance to him.
And even Christians
who have been forgiven
by Jesus
and discovered God's love
and have been drawn back
into a relationship
know that
the relationship
they have now
is not what it should be.
It's not what it will be.
Even as they get loved by God,
they know they still
mistreat God.
They know they still fail.
They know that
the experience
of being in a relationship
with God now,
while more satisfying
than anything
that this life has to offer,
is just the smallest fraction
of how good it will be
to know him fully.
In another part
of the New Testament,
Paul describes
the version we have now
as like looking
in a mirror dimly.
But then,
when we get to heaven,
we will know face to face.
Being transformed
in these verses,
being transformed
to be like Christ,
is about being restored
into full relationship
with God.
Sin will be removed,
sickness will be removed,
all those other things
will be dealt with,
so that
we can have
that relationship
with God.
That intimate closeness.
That's the goal.
That's the prize.
That's the finish line
that Paul longs for desperately.
That he would get
God himself.
That he would be
face to face
with the one
who loves him
more than any other.
That he would get
access to the author
of every good thing
he has ever encountered,
access to the creator,
access to the one
who sacrificed his son
and showed greater love
than any other.
Access to him.
Unhindered.
Forever.
That's the finish line
for the Christian.
That's the destination.
It's almost like
we get hold
of the goose
that lays the golden eggs.
The golden eggs
are all the good things
that we enjoy
in this life,
all the great gifts
which unquestionably
come from God,
but heaven will be more
than just an endless supply
of golden eggs.
It'll be access
to the source
of all those good things
we enjoy.
It'll be access
to the one
who actually in love
and in generosity
gives those things.
We get the golden goose.
We get Jesus.
Heaven might not be
exactly what you envisage.
I have a sneaking suspicion
McDonald's won't make the cut.
But I'm confident
that it will be better
than anything
that I have experienced
so far.
I'm confident
that it will be better
than any of our
grandest imaginings.
Because all we have now
is the incredible gifts
that we've been given.
And a relationship
that is just the beginning.
But then we will have
fully.
Then we will have
the one who created
the thing that gives us
our greatest joys now.
The Christian life
is a life where
every day is Christmas Eve.
It's a life of anticipation
and excitement.
It's a life where
you tolerate
the dodgy Christmas Eve dinner
because you know
that the extra effort
is going into
tomorrow's feast.
and so you smile
and you say thank you
for the toasted sandwich.
The excitement
of gifts
and presents.
But this time
you know exactly
what you're getting
and it's everything
you've ever hoped for.
The Christian life
is one of
eager anticipation
for something incredible
that awaits
just around the corner.
There is joy
in this life now
in the anticipation
of the finish line.
Joy substantial enough
to change
even dark situations.
Paul says
in another letter
that
our present sufferings
are not worth
comparing
to the future glory.
That even
our deepest
pains now
will seem
so insignificant
when we encounter
the full joy
of being face to face
with the one
who made us
and loves us.
But if we're honest
even with all that joy
from the beginning
and all that joy
to look forward to
this bit in the middle
can be
kind of hard work.
even with the glorious
hope of heaven
life can be
discouraging.
Heaven can feel
so far away
that it makes
no difference
to what I'm going
through right now.
Maybe you started
your Christian life
with that deep
overflowing sense
of joy
like I did.
But now that you
have responsibility
now that you
have the pressures
of life
now that you've
been at this
for a while
and it's not
going exactly
the way you
wanted it to
it's just
harder to be
joyful.
It's harder
to actively
rejoice each
day.
I remember
when I was
little
I've shared
this with you
before
my mum
used to try
and bribe
me to eat
vegetables.
She would
try every trick
in the book
she'd coat
them in things
she'd tell me
I couldn't
have dessert
all the classics
there'd be
yelling
there'd be
punishments
whatever you
needed
but when all
else failed
she would
tell me
that I
needed
the vegetables
that if I
didn't eat
them I
wouldn't grow
big and
strong
and otherwise
I'd be
small forever.
She'd play
the inadequacy
card between
me and my
two brothers.
Now I was
given permission
at this point
to not enjoy
the vegetables.
I was allowed
to scowl
gag
do whatever
else as long
as at the
end of the
day they
ended up
in my
stomach.
She was just
hoping that the
outcome would
be enough to
push me
through.
Now you
could be
forgiven for
feeling like
that's the
trick I'm
trying to
pull now.
Kind of
feels like I'm
saying if
your life's
difficult and
painful and
you're not
enjoying it
right now
just suck
it up and
there'll be
joy later.
Just kind of
grin and bear
it, it'll all
be okay in
the end.
And while
there's truth
to that, Paul
just said it's
not worth
comparing our
present
sufferings to
our future
glory, that's
not the whole
thing.
The Christian
starting point
is God's
grace in
sending Jesus
to forgive
us, to
die in our
place, to
invite us into
a relationship
with him.
The destination
is heaven.
It's a perfect
relationship with
God himself.
self.
And the
road that we
choose in the
middle is the
hope road.
The road that
is literally
just littered
with joy,
littered with
opportunities to
rejoice, is
the hope road.
When I was
growing up, my
dad taught me
how to surf.
Part of the
process was
teaching me how
to be safe in
the ocean.
He taught me
how to get out
of a rip, how
to see currents,
how to be
aware of what
was going on,
and basically
how to look
after myself.
With five
kids, they
didn't have
much chance
of covering
all of us
all the time.
And one
thing that he
taught me was
how to stay
in one place
when you're
out surfing.
This might
sound like a
really easy
thing to do,
but when you're
sitting on your
surfboard bobbing
around in the
ocean, a fair
way out from
shore, it's
quite difficult
to tell if
you're in the
same place
where you
started.
You can kind
of turn around
and look and
see your
family on the
beach or your
towel or some
marker that
you've picked,
but currents
will sweep you
around, and the
perspective's
different because
when I started, I
was on the
beach, so I
had about this
much distance to
check where I
was.
Now I'm hundreds
of metres away
from my point
of reference, and
very quickly I
can drift down
the beach while
still being able
to see my
point of
reference.
I could be a
hundred metres
away from my
family and still
think I'm in
exactly the right
spot because I
turn around and I
can still see the
towel, I can still
see my mum, I can
still see the thing
that I'm looking at.
You can drift while
still having a clear
line of sight to your
point of reference.
You can be out of
position before you
even realise it.
But there is a
surprisingly easy
solution.
instead of looking
at one point of
reference, my dad
explained I need two
points of reference
and all I need to do
is make sure that I
stay inside those two
points of reference.
As long as I keep
them on either side
of me, I would know
exactly where I am.
Christian hope needs
two points.
By definition, hope
is forward-looking.
It longs for what it
does not yet have.
That's why Paul
strains forward, it's
why he presses on.
Christian hope looks
forward to heaven.
It anticipates, it
gets excited, but
without a second
point, it's possible
to drift away so
that that point
becomes more and
more distant and has
less and less impact
on you right now.
It's possible to move
in the wrong direction
while still being able
to see your point of
hope, the thing that
you're supposed to be
looking forward to.
Christian hope is
future-directed, but
it's founded on what
is past.
It's based on what
has already happened.
It's strengthened and
possible and concrete
because of what God
has already done in
Jesus on the cross.
See, the better we
know and experience the
benefits of what Jesus
has won for us on the
cross, the forgiveness,
forgiveness, the
unconditional love, the
adoption into God's
family, the relationship
with God, the better we
encounter those things,
the more clearly we will
see and long for and
anticipate the glorious
prize at the end.
See, the desire for that
full relationship with God
flows out of an experience
of the beginning relationship
with God that was bought
for us with the blood of
Jesus on the cross.
Our confidence and our
security in what we hope
for is based on what God
has already done.
The two points of
Christian hope strengthen
each other.
See, as we look to the
cross, our excitement for
our future in heaven
grows because that
incredible love will
suddenly be face to
face.
As we anticipate
heaven, our
appreciation of the
cross will grow because
this incredible future
is certain because of
what God has already
done, because of the
love and the
irreversible forgiveness.
As both get stronger,
our hope gets stronger,
our hope gets more
stable.
You've got to remember
who's writing this
letter.
Remember what life
looked like for Paul as
he wrote these words.
As he eagerly got
excited about heaven and
tripped over himself to
share the joy that he
discovered when he became
a Christian.
He's in prison.
Death is likely.
His life is full of
suffering and yet his
hope so transforms his
circumstances that it's
not just a matter for him
of suck it up and it's
going to be good in the
end.
Because of those two
points, he actually has
joy in prison.
in suffering.
I think for a lot of
Christians, the bit
between what Jesus has
done and heaven can
drag.
It is full of pain.
It is full of failure.
It's full of sin and
temptation.
And we all encounter it
differently.
It's what Francis Schaeffer
calls our particular mix of
the fall.
Even though we're loved and
forgiven, we know we're not
perfect yet.
And in this bit in the
middle, we all experience
our own version of what
sin looks like.
We have different points of
struggle and failure.
Some Christians really
struggle with pride.
For others, that's a
non-issue.
Some struggle with greed.
Others don't.
Some struggle with same-sex
attraction.
Others don't.
Some struggle with
judgmentalism.
Others don't.
Some struggle with lying.
Others don't.
The point being that even
though there's differences
in how we struggle,
differences in how well or
how poorly we go, how many
times we fail, how committed
we are, the point is that we
all struggle to honour God.
We all struggle to live in a
way that reflects the fact
that the God of heaven and
earth has purchased us with
the blood of his Son.
And it's easy to get
discouraged and frustrated and
feel like heaven is just so
far away.
None of us is perfect yet.
And with that imperfection comes
discouragement and frustration,
maybe even insecurity.
A whole bunch of things that
aren't going to help you be
joyful.
Hope needs two points.
Because both those points feed
our joy now.
Every step of the journey
between them is an opportunity
to encounter and engage
Jesus as the source of our
joy.
Let's just remember that.
We've said it a few times
this series.
The series is joy for
everyone, but it's Jesus for
everyone because Jesus is where
we find the joy.
At the first point,
what do we encounter?
The forgiveness of Jesus and
the chance for a relationship.
At the end point, what will we
encounter?
That Jesus returning to fully
transform us to be like him so
that we can be face to face
enjoying him.
It's Jesus at both ends and
every step in the middle is
Jesus as well.
Every step is an opportunity to
be excited and joyful in
anticipation of what is ahead
and in thankfulness for what is
before, which guarantees what is
ahead.
We're literally surrounded by joy
in Jesus because of these two
hope anchors.
Regardless of which direction
you look, you have the
opportunity to rejoice in how
much God is loving you.
Christian hope makes every
situation and circumstance you
are in an opportunity to
encounter Jesus.
If you fail as a Christian, if you
fall back into that habit of sin
again and again, encounter Jesus
as your sufficient saviour.
Encounter him as the one who
takes your punishment and loves
you in spite of who you are and
rejoice.
When you grow in godliness, when
you have the victory over the
temptation and struggle, encounter
Jesus as the one who is empowering
you by his spirit to grow more and
more to be like him.
Encounter him as the one who is
bringing towards completion the
work that he begun when he forgave
you at the cross.
And be thankful and rejoice.
When you doubt, encounter Jesus as
the one who guarantees your finish,
not because of how strong your faith
is, but because he has loved you in
the cross.
And rejoice.
In persecution, in suffering,
encounter the risen Jesus who stands at
the finish line and beckons you home
to the room he's prepared for you
and rejoice.
In pain and difficulty, encounter Jesus
as the one who guarantees to never
leave you nor forsake you, but to walk
with you in the dark times, to finish
the work that he begun and to make sure
that you get to the finish line and
rejoice that you are not alone.
Rejoice that you cannot be taken away
from that goal that God has purchased
for you.
When our hope is anchored in these two
points, every step in the middle is an
opportunity to encounter Jesus and
rejoice.
It's not about suck it up.
There'll be pain.
There'll be difficulty.
But there we find a sufficient
saviour.
There we find our Lord on the throne.
And there we are reminded that every step,
good, bad or otherwise, is a step closer
to the finish line that God's prepared
for us.
A step closer to heaven.
Hope motivates.
Hope drives us forward.
It makes us strain for what's ahead.
It enables us to let go of what was
behind because it's begun to taste the
joy of knowing Jesus.
And hope longs for nothing more than the
fullness of that joy when we will see him
face to face.
And so Paul finishes emphatically,
chapter 4, verse 1,
Therefore, because of that two-pointed
hope, because of the joy that God has
built into every day and every situation
and every circumstance,
therefore, my brothers and sisters,
you whom I love and long for, my joy and
my crown, stand firm in the Lord in this
way.
Dear friends, stand firm anchored to the cross
of Christ and your future hope of heaven.
Stand firm anchored in the irreversible,
unconditional love that God has shown you in
Jesus.
Stand firm with eyes open to encounter Jesus
in every situation that God places in front of you.
Stand firm knowing that the destination is
guaranteed.
And rejoice.
Amen.