The End in Mind

…not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:9b-11

Most of us might look at this passage and think that the goal is resurrection, but resurrection to what? To life? To heaven? To perfection? These are all hopes we have beyond this life, but Paul doesn’t have just his destination in mind, he has Jesus in mind.
Notice that the goal is to know Jesus, to be like him as he waits for the day when he can be with him. Paul’s motivating factor is his relationship with his Savior, for which he counts all of his past strivings as rubbish.
His desire to know Jesus affects his daily attitude and actions. He is willing to suffer for the sake of others so they might hear the gospel. In this, he is like Jesus, because that is what Jesus did as he went to the cross, he suffered for the sake of others. This “others” focused decision-making, marks Paul as one who is becoming like Jesus.

Maybe resurrection is your goal, the challenge of Paul is to stop striving to force God to accept you with your right actions and good behavior and instead focus on getting to know Christ. Knowing Jesus is the ultimate end. Live to be like him, to know him better, seeing his resurrection as the promise of your destiny with Him forever.

Our Lord and Savior,
We come asking you to make us more like you. Help us to desire to know you more and to be like you in our interactions with one another. Guide us to represent your good news through all circumstances until we are with you forever. Amen