The Moment We Should Be Waiting For
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God and Father, what a precious and powerful word you have for us tonight. I pray that I would do nothing to get in the way of You speaking clearly to Your people. Cleanse my heart of evil thoughts or wrong motives. May Christ be lifted high for all to see. May the Holy Spirit convict and change us. Come now and speak, Precious Lord. We ask it that Christ may be glorified in us, Amen. Please turn on your Bible to . Once you have found that place, I would ask you to stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word.
I want to talk to you tonight about the moment we should be waiting for. I don’t know what event or stage in life you may most anticipate and look forward to. But, I know what those of us who are believers should be most looking forward to. I know the moment we should be waiting for. Resurrection Day! Now obviously I’m not talking about the day Christ was raised. That’s past, not future. I’m talking about the day all Christians will be raised to be with Christ forever. That’s the moment we should all be waiting for. And what we’re going to see tonight is that it is also the moment we should be living for.
As we have walked through this chapter Paul has challenged us to pursue Christ, seek to know Him in all His fullness. In our text for tonight he’s going to connect that thought with the reality of what I’m going to refer to as Resurrection Day. We’re going to think specifically about waiting for that day. We are going to notice three things: 1. How to wait for it, 2. How not to wait for it, 3. What we’re waiting for.
I. How to wait for it
I. How to wait for it
There are two commands in verse 17. In the first command Paul says, “Join in following my example.” This means that we are to, at all times, be following the example set by Paul. It’s the example he sets in verses 2-16. We are to count all things loss for the sake of knowing Christ. And we are to press on toward the goal of knowing Him fully and being conformed completely to HIs image. The words “join in” mean that we are to do this together as a body of believers. “Be united in imitating me.” Or, “Imitate me with one accord.”
The second command is to observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. The word “observe” means to pay close attention in order to be prepared to respond appropriately. In :1y it is translated “keep your eye on.” In it is translated “take special note of.” So we are to pay close attention to those who walk, or live, according to the pattern Paul set. So, basically Paul is telling us to follow his example of pursuing Christ. And follow the example of others who are doing the same thing.
The point is that we are not to wait passively for the return of Christ and resurrection day. But we are to pattern our lives after those who have made Christ the supreme pursuit of their lives. Another way to say it would be, “Don’t just sit back and wait for Christ to return. Live in anticipation of that day.” Pursue that which will become full reality on resurrection day. Knowing Christ! Forget what lies behind and press on toward the goal of laying hold of Christ. That’s how we wait for resurrection.
When I was a kid we didn’t see my grandparents on my dad’s side very often. But they came to our house a few times over the years. It was always the same routine. My grandad was a preacher and during those days our house usually had alcohol, beer clocks and stuff like that laying around. So we’d always have to go through the house and get rid of all that stuff. Waiting for Papaw to come visit was not a passive waiting. We were working to be ready when he showed up. It’s kind of like that for Christians. We know the Lord is coming back. We want to be ready. So we spend our time trying to be more like Him and less like the world. We seek to know and understand Him better. We want to be found in a pleasing condition when He returns.
We wait for resurrection day by following the example of those who are chasing after Christ. But now let’s notice how not to wait for it.
II. How not to wait for it
II. How not to wait for it
Verse 18 begins with the word “for.” Paul is giving us the reason why we should follow his example of chasing after Christ. Many people live as enemies of the cross. It breaks Paul’s heart just to think about it, but it’s true. How do you know someone is an enemy of the cross. By their behavior. Paul said they “walk” like enemies of the cross. Notice what Paul says about them in verse 19. “Their god is their appetite/belly.”
For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
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Enemies of the cross worship their appetites. They are slaves to their sinful desires. That means they spend their lives chasing after selfish, sinful pleasures. They most certainly aren’t chasing after Christ. Paul also says that enemies of the cross “glory in their shame.” They are proud of what they should be ashamed of. Conduct which should be considered shameful they boast about. This is like some guy bragging about the dozens of girls he has slept with. Or some girl talking about how drunk she got last night like it was something to be proud of. Or some CEO proud of the way he lied, cheated and manipulated his way to the top.
Enemies of the cross live for their sinful appetites. They are proud of their sin. Why? Because they set their minds on earthly things. This means they constantly, always are thinking about, focused on, the earthly, the material, the temporary. They aren’t living for resurrection day. They live as if this life is all there is. They aren’t concerned with Christ and eternity. They are enemies of the cross because their lives are a total rejection of everything the cross of Christ is all about. They lives say, “I’m not going to answer to God for my life. There is no hell for those who reject Christ. I don’t need Christ or anyone else to die for me. I’m doing just fine.”
The saddest part of all that is what Paul says at the beginning of verse 19. Their end is destruction. This is speaking of eternal destruction.
“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
That’s the destruction Paul is talking about. Enemies of the cross are going to die and spend eternity in hell. Don’t miss what Paul is saying here. Make sure to pattern your life after the lives of those who are chasing after Christ. Because if you pattern it after the lives of those who are chasing after the world, there will be hell to pay. If our hope is to be risen with Christ, the the last thing we need to do while we’re waiting for that day is to spend our time chasing after the world.
It’s like students who know that an exam is coming but they spend all of their time goofing off, playing video games, or on the internet. They appear completely unconcerned about the exam. That is until exam day actually arrives and panic sets in because they aren’t ready. If we spend our days indulging our sinful appetites we aren’t going to be ready when Christ returns. It will not be a joyous day.
We’re talking about the resurrection at the last day. We’ve seen how to wait for it. We’ve seen how not to wait for it. Now let’s notice what we’re waiting for.
III. What we’re waiting for
III. What we’re waiting for
We spend our time waiting in pursuit of Christ because our citizenship is in heaven. Heaven is our real home. And we live our lives in eager expectation of the day Christ will return for us, the bodies of all believers who have died will be raised and joined with their immortal spirits to live forever in our eternal home.
What will happen on that day? Look at verse 21. First, Christ will transform our bodies. The body of our humble state refers to our human body. These bodies are characterized by physical decay, indignity, weakness. And they’re susceptible to death. But on resurrection day Christ will transform our bodies so that they are like His glorious resurrected body. Believers will have bodies that are suitable for life in heaven. They will be imperishable, spiritual, glorious, and powerful. And this isn’t just an outward physical change. It is also a complete change of inward nature.
For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
When that happens we will finally be like Jesus. We will finally be in a condition that we can know Him in all His fullness. Unhindered by sin, we will finally be able to experience fullness of joy in our relationship with Christ. We will forever be in perfect union with the Son of God Himself. No more sin to interrupt our fellowship with Him. No more worldly cares and concerns to turn our thoughts away from Him. Our destiny of being like Christ will have finally arrived.
How will Christ do this? “By the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to Himself.” In It says that God has put all things in subjection under Christ’s feet.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Absolute power and control and authority has been given to Jesus. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And it is by His power as Lord and God that he will transform us to be fully and finally like Himself. What are we waiting for? We’re waiting for the day when we will know Christ and have Christ and be like Christ.
Big Idea: We wait for the resurrection by pursuing the Resurrected One.
Big Idea: We wait for the resurrection by pursuing the Resurrected One.
Imagine a family of four living in a modest home. It's a good home, and it meets their needs, but it's also far from perfect. The pipes are aging. The floors are scratched up. The walls have marks on them. The kitchen is dated. One day "Papa" or grandpa visits and tells them, "I am saving money to do a major renovation of your house. In 10 years I'll redo everything for you—new floors, appliances, wiring, roof, siding, and landscaping. Everything will be redone."
That night they celebrated and talked about their dream house. But after their beloved Papa left, they faced a dilemma: How do they live until the new house is ready? With some sarcasm, the oldest son says, "Who cares how we live? It's all going to get redone, so I say we trash this place and live it up." The daughter says, "We can just live here, but let's spend all of our time and energy dreaming about the house to come." The father says, "Well, I'm not fixing anything else in this house. If it breaks, it will stay broken. I'm not patching holes, I'm not sanding floors, and I'm not fixing doors. As long as the roof does not collapse, I am not touching it."
The family's mom listened quietly before saying, "Here's the thing: It will be wonderful to get a brand new home, but now, even before it comes, we have to live in this home like we are going to live in the brand new one. If we trash this house, we will just learn how to trash houses. We should dream and plan for the new house, but if we only think about the new home, we will miss the goodness that is still here. And if we never fix anything, we'll need to live with more things broken than are necessary. Seeing broken things will only bring sadness." She concluded, "So from now on you need to imagine like we are living in the new house now and live in this house just like we will in our new one."
As Christians, we should live this life in anticipation and preparation for the next life that will begin on resurrection day. How do we do that? We wait for the resurrection by pursuing the Resurrected One.