I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).
Following Paul’s example in Philippians 3:13, we are commonly advised to forget the past and reach forth unto those things which are ahead. But what are the things we are to ultimately press on for? Paul summed it in the verse following: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). This wasn’t just a personal goal for Paul but for all as we read in the verse that immediately follows: “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect (mature), have this attitude…” (Philippians 3:15). That is, not having the attitude of forgetting the past and pressing on for the prize of the high calling of God is to be immature. And the immature never comes into their full inheritance in Christ (cf. Galatians 4:1-2). Even so, how could we reach forth for the prize of the high calling if we do not know what the high calling of God is?
The word translated high is the Greek Word “ano”, which means upward or on the top. Therefore, the high calling of God is also God’s top or top-most call to us. What is this top-most call? Romans 8:29-30 reads, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son….and these whom He predestined, He also called…” These Scriptures teach that God knew us even before He created us, and gave us a destiny even before we had any consciousness of our existence. This destiny is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. It is based on this destiny that He called us. We are called to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This is God’s first call to us, and we shall find as we study the Scriptures that all other callings are only callings to fulfill this ultimate, and thus topmost call to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. If this is our topmost call, how much of it have you followed?
God has pre-destined and called us. Whether we fulfill this high calling is totally up to us. The degree of the image of Christ we shall conform to for all eternity is also entirely up to us. The Scriptures outline stages we go through to come to the full measure of the stature of Christ. We shall examine these in the weeks to come.
To be continued…
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
(c) June 11, 2017.