The Prize: Part II

From Tim's sermon on 5/30/2010: "Self-Control"

1 Corinthians 9:26-27: "Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Tim's Explanation:

But you know what, Paul’s not the only person that talks about life, for us, being a race. In the book of Hebrews it also says life is like a race, but the book of Hebrews gives us the secret for how you can run in such a way that you’re not disqualified, because in Hebrews chapter 12 we read this: "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with endurance the race that is marked out for us."

How? “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorned its shame and sat down at the right hand of the thrown of God."

See what the book of Hebrews is saying? If you want to run well, look to Jesus, because he ran well. Jesus was a runner. Jesus left heaven and came to earth and became a human being and he ran the race of being a human being...

Well, why did he run? For the prize! What was the prize? The joy that’s set before him. What was that? What joy did Jesus Christ have to come to earth to win, that he didn’t already have in heaven? Did he come to earth and he ran for the glory of the father? Yeah, but he already was living for the glory of the father...Was he trying to love the father? Yes, of course when he was on earth he loved the father, but he already had that. What prize did he not have that he could only win if he came to earth and ran the race and went to the cross? What’s the answer?

YOU. And me. You are Jesus’ crown, you are Jesus’ glory, you are the most precious thing.

My Question: It seems to me that the image of the prize serves, at the very least, to tell us that something significant is at stake in the competition. It's the difference between a '5k Fun Run' and an Olympic race, where the whole country is rooting for you to win.

My generation (kids of the baby-boomers) has an entitlement problem: we tend to act/think as if God (and everybody else) owes us something, regardless of our actions.

The truth is, we have to run. It's possible to lose. Something great is at stake.