With tears Paul tells of many who walk as enemies of the cross. They have their minds set on earthly things. But, he says, our citizenship is in heaven. It may be to our surprise that Paul then says that we await Jesus from the heavens (which is in the plural, though followed by ‘it’ in the singular), instead of us waiting to go to heaven. We are much more focussed on ‘going to heaven’ than Paul is. Indeed, his ‘desire is to depart and be with Christ’, but that is not what he means by ‘pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’. ‘Going to heaven’ after we die and ‘the upward call’ are two different things. The gospel is an empty grave, as far as Jesus is concerned and as far as we ourselves are concerned. After we have died and ‘have gone to be with the Lord’ the grave is not empty yet! The glorious transformation has yet to take place so that we will be like Him. And that will also happen to those who are alive when He comes.
Still, God’s call in Christ Jesus is upwards, heavenwards, for the very reason that the call is in Christ Jesus. The metaphor of running a race Paul uses here reflects his view of life as a task that needs to be fulfilled. It is purpose that he has in mind, not place. Hence Paul writes that he runs ‘for’ – as is the original rendering – the prize rather than a directional ‘unto’ the prize. The prize is his motivation. The life that has been granted to him in Christ now is a responsibility.
This is meant to be an encouragement for many of us who experience life as plodding on, working hard almost every day of the week, to pay the bills, a never ending routine, it seems. Now we can see our lives in the light of eternity. We live for God.