Growing up I played a lot of baseball, but I also participate in other sports. One of those sports was boxing. Now I didn’t have a lot of fights, in fact there was just two about a year apart from each other. They were both a part of a youth boxing exhibition event that was held in Stockton, California.
The event was put on by a local boxer in in the city who wanted to create a place for boys and girls to go and be mentored. Stockton had and still has a growing problem of teenage drug abuse and crime, and so this boxer wanted to do something about it. Well, my dad had been a boxer for a number of years, and I decided to try my hand at it. I trained a lot for the fights and both times I won by TKO, or technical knockout. What’s funny about those wins, is that it happened the exact same way. See I was a tall kid for my age, and with my weight I was put with a lot of shorter stockier guys. That gave me an advantage on my reach, and where my punches would be coming down at an angle. In both fights my opponent received a bloody nose in the second round and couldn’t go any further.
Now these weren’t really anything in the grand scheme of things, I didn’t go on to golden gloves or anything like that, but the time I spent with my dad training really meant a lot to me. And it’s this idea of training which brings us into our sixth and final week of our Beyond series, where we’re going to bring this all together with some final thoughts and encouragements. We’ll start bringing this to an end by looking, first in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24-27, and then we’ll switch over to the book of Hebrews chapter 12 for our conclusion.
Now as we open together to 1st Corinthians 9:24, let’s recap what we have talked about in this series.
In our first week we talked about how, if we have put our trust into Jesus as our Savior, then we are a new creation. Since we are a new creation the old self is dead, and we are to live our lives in the newness that we are have been saved to live. It was here that we talked about trust; trusting God with our plans. We discussed that making plans is fine as long as we are willing to allow those plans to be changed by God. If we say that we trust him, the simplest way that we can tell if we actually do or not, is with those things that we want to control.
Then in our second week, we looked at living in grace-filled relationships. Relationships that reflect what we have in Christ. Relationships that do not require people to meet a certain criteria or standard before we will love them, but relationships that reflect Jesus. Who, loved us and died for us, while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). Correction, discipline, and standing for godly truth doesn’t cease in grace-filled relationships, but the goal of these relationships is to bring about full restoration and fellowship with others.
Following that, in our third week, we looked at how we carry out lives trusting God and based in grace-filled relationships. We focused on the abiding life that Jesus calls us into in John15. A life that embraces God’s discipline, that relies on him for our very being, and that puts into practice his Word. This is the application of living it the new creation.
Then in our fourth, we talked about when we fail to do the things God has called us to do. We talked about the thoughts that we have that question God’s full salvation gift. The thoughts of us not being good enough for him, and the thoughts that say just walk away. We talked about how we can be assured of our salvation by seeing even the small steps away from sin that we take, and the sorrow over sin when we commit it. These can give us an assurance that our salvation is real, and we are indeed walking with the God in his full salvation work.
Finally last week, we looked at making sure that we were not trying to do this new creation living in our own strength. We looked at the example that Jesus laid out for us in Matthew 4. Jesus, being fully God, did not use his divinity to carry out his mission, but rather relied both on the Holy Spirit and the revealed Word of God. Jesus did this to show us, that this is what we are to do as well. Reliance on the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will of God, and standing firm on the Scriptures so that we cannot be swayed.
Today, we are going to wrap it all up, and through this I hope you are encouraged to continue moving beyond the trappings of sin in this life, though we will continue to struggle as God roots out the sin in our lives, which will bring us closer into conformity with the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
Now let’s open up together to 1 Corinthians 9, starting in verse 24.
24 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. 25 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. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 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.
I love the imagery here, because it brings to mind the hard work athletes put into to compete in their sports. For example, people spend years of their lives tirelessly working to reach the Olympics. US gymnast Simone Biles said she trained for 32 hours a week with one day off. Another gymnast said she trained from 8am to noon, then took a lunch break, and then went back to training until dinner every day. Michael Phelps said he practiced every day in the pool for 3-6 hours and then did separate exercises on dry land at least four days a week. It is said that it can take four to eight years just to make the Olympic team, and an average of 10,000 practice hours before an athlete can compete (https://hellogiggles.com/awards-events/olympics/how-many-hours-do-olympic-athletes-practice/). And for what? It is a great accomplishment to make it to the Olympic Games. We honor our athletes for the hard work they endure and we celebrate them when they win their events.
Those athletes have earned the praise of their peers and their nations, and those that win medals have a treasure for the rest of their lives. Yet, in the view of eternity, their prize isn’t even a blip on the timeline. Paul calls it as “…crown that will not last.” But the eternal prize of eternity with God, far outweighs any Olympic medal that could be won.
Gigi Martin, who played for the US women’s hockey team, was competing in her third Olympics when she said, “I’m back on the ice, proudly wearing the ‘USA’ across my sweater and representing my country…But my mission is more than winning another medal or championship. It’s about sharing Christ and leading others to Him. (https://lifewayresearch.com/2018/02/16/10-olympic-athletes-looking-gold-pointing-god/)”
The prize set before any athlete, though important, isn’t nearly as important as the prize of salvation in Jesus Christ. So as we live in the beyond, as we live in the newness of Christ, we must strive to continue forward. As an athlete works for their prizes, we must seek to live for that glorious day when we will see Jesus in his fullness. Not, because we have to work for our salvation, but because we want to do the will of our Heavenly Father to simply please him.
So how do we do this? How do we run the race of our lives, doing the will of God, and pleasing him? Let’s turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Here we are going to look at a several verses pretty quickly. A few weeks back we looked at chapter 11, though the first two verses of 12, and now we are going to look at four verses on how we can run our race.
Starting in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 3 we read, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
The first way we run this race is by considering Jesus.The Greek word used for consider (analogizomai [an-al-og-id’-zom-ahee)]), sounds a lot ike analyze, and carries with it the thought of, thinking through something and adding things up. The Hebrew writer is telling us to think on Jesus example and add up his life.
Paul in Philippians 2:5 takes this approach when he writes, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…” In other words, how did Jesus run the race of this life? What was his example for us. How can we follow his words and actions in our own lives. We showed how to do this last week when we looked at how Jesus dealt with satan. We looked at how Jesus overcame temptation by relying on the Holy Spirit and standing on the revealed Word of God. Jesus is our example and we must consider all that he did.
Let’s drop down a few verses to verse 7. There we read, “7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?”
The second way we run the race is that we endure hardships. These hardships carry with it the idea of training and education. The endurance carries with it standing our ground. And so, we stand our ground with the mindset that we are being trained and educated through the things that come against us.
James writes this in the opening to his letter, “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (1:2-4).” When we read this, we can understand that the hard things in our lives are meant for our training and education, to bring us closer into conformity to Jesus as sons and daughters of God. Therefore, the hardships that God allows into our lives, are not meant to bring us down, but to help us better rely on him, as he saved us to do.
Next, let’s drop down to verse 14. Here we read, “14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
Our third way to run the race, is to live in holiness. We must not think that being bookworms of the Bible is what we are only called to do. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day read the Hebrew Scriptures, yet missed Jesus. Why? Because they sought their own righteousness apart from God’s. We must not make that same mistake. We are called to holy lives, because our God is a holy God.
In 1st Peter 1:15-17, we’re told, “15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” Here Peter gives us an application for how holy lives are to look. He writes, “…live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” The two images of foreigners and reverent fear carry with this the idea of separating ourselves from the things that are against God from this world. Foreigners is clear, like Paul’s words in Philippians 3:20, it reminds us that we are citizen’s of heaven, and merely passing through this world, since we have trusted in Jesus. The word fear carries with it the idea of running from danger. In other words, we are foreigners in this world who run from anything not of God. This is what it means to be holy.
Finally, our last way to run the race comes from a comparison in verses 18 and 22. Here we read, “18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm…22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly…”
Our final way to run the race is to seek the unlimited forgiveness of God. The imagery of the passage, reaches back into Israelite history with two mountains. The First is Sinai, the mountain where anyone who touched it was to be put to death. It was foreboding, ominous, scary. This eerie mountain is where the law was given. That law that carried with it the understanding that humanity fell short of God’s perfection and broke his commands in rebellion. Death, destruction, punishment, and separation from God are all seen in the first mountain.
But the mountain of Zion, with the beauty of the temple, and which housed the mercy seat of God, speaks of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is a place of mercy, grace, and joy. So much so that the Psalmist writes in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” There at Mt. Zion forgiveness is found for all who seek it. When we falter, when we stumble, forgiveness is there for us, bought with the blood of Jesus. Not based on anything we have done, but on everything he has done for us, and so as we run this race in the new creation, we are to rest in the unlimited forgiveness of God. Always turning towards him when we stumble on the path.
You and I are called, through the work of Jesus on the cross, to a new creation life in Christ. Grace pours over us to accomplish all that God sets out for us. We are called to look to Jesus as our example, enduring hardships as he has, living in the holiness that he lived, and being recipients of God’s forgiveness through his work. The new creation life calls us to live beyond our sinful desires and inclinations; it is rooted in the work of Jesus and it is lived out in the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in all who have put their trust into Jesus as their Savior.
As Paul states in Ephesians 2:9 that this done, “…so that no one can boast.” As we live in the new creation life, as we experience going beyond the old self, beyond sin’s grip on us, we can proclaim with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
This week I want to challenge you to take each one of these ways, in which we are to run this race of new creation living, and seek to apply one per day.
On Monday, seek to carry out considering Jesus. Take a piece of Scripture from the Gospels and spend the day thinking about how Jesus lived out his work in that moment. A couple of examples might be John 4:1-38, or Matthew 26:36-46.
Then on Tuesday, seek to find joy in the hardships of that day, knowing that God is allowing them to happen to educate and bringing you closer to him.
Wednesday move to holiness and seek God to help you run from the things of this world, and only embrace what he has for you.
Then on Thursday bask in the unlimited forgiveness of God. If there are things that need to be confessed do that, then praise and worship God for his unlimited forgiveness.
Then out of those four, take the next two days to wrestle with the ones that are the hardest for you to embrace. Trusting, as Jesus did, in the Holy Spirit to accomplish all things.
I want to end with the final two verses of Hebrews, “28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our 'God is a consuming fire.’”
Let us be consumed by the God who is consuming. Worshiping in the reverence and awe he is deserving of, because he has brought us out of death to life, by the work of Jesus on the cross, and it is a free gift to anyone who would accept it, because he is good. Amen.
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