Paul’s One Thing / Part 3 / The Prize of the Upward Call

Rick McNally / September 6, 2025

Philippians 3:13-16 / Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

We have spoken of “forgetting what lies behind.”  The putting out of our head what has happened in the past.  The damaging history of our own sin, or the things that have been done to us by others.

We have spoken of “straining forward,” of “pressing on” and putting extreme effort toward the most important things in life.  That being the Lord himself.

And now we speak of the goal and of the prize with more detail.

What is this prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?  What does it look like?

Hearing The Call

The calling he speaks of is one that is not just his, nor just of the Apostles, but one that is extended by God to all who would believe.  We see it here in this passage, in Hebrews 3:1, in 2 Timothy 1:9, in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, in Ephesians 4:1 as well as many other places.

The call is God’s invitation, the good news has gone out and the invitation has been sent.  Whosoever will is the address label.  The banquet invites are out and for some reason the proud will not answer, but some will.

God is calling us, some of us will answer that call.  I pray that you will, that you see its vast importance.  I pray that you hear it, and that you answer.

I’ve heard people in more prominent positions, people who think much of themselves, speak of the call of God.  This is all well and good, but those people need to understand that the call of God is for all of us — the call goes out to anyone who “will.”  The call you feel for your own work or ministry is the same kind of call that the people around you that you serve have been given.  And a bit more humility is probably to be swallowed when we learn that God didn’t choose to call the bright, wise, powerful, or those of noble birth, but he chose to call the “foolish” and the “weak” to serve him (1 Corinthians 1:26-27).  God did these things on purpose. Let us not diminish the call of others by trying to elevate ours.

So let us take the call of God and respect it.  It is God calling us and wooing us and moving us toward him.  It is to be respected in every individual. 

God is calling us toward something not of earth, but upward.

Upward as a Direction and Focus

This word anō speaks of a goal or a location that is up.  Jesus contrasts this word or idea with the concept of “the world.”  Jesus is from above, the Pharisees are of this world.  

Paul tells us in Colossians: 

Colossians 3:1-4 / If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

If you have trusted Christ, you have been raised with him.  This is upward.

If you have trusted Christ, you are called to “seek the things above.”  The things of this earth are sometimes base and sometimes dynamic.  There is much to put your mind to here.  We are being called to ignore some bad things and some dynamic things in favor of something greater, something up.

All things in all the creation have value because God created them and called them good.  There are some things above the rest of the created order.

The word for “above” we have been looking at in Scripture is the XXXX.  But Paul speaks of Jesus Christ as being hyper “anō.”  The word hyper in Greek gives the idea of “over,” or “beyond,” or even “stratospheric.”

Jesus is not just from above; his is “of superior status, suggesting an additional factor of degree” as Louw Nida tells us.  

Ephesians 1:20-23 / that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

As he put it later in the same epistle:

Ephesians 4:10 / He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

When we seek to know, understand, and love Jesus, we seek the greatest single entity in the entire created order.

There is no higher calling.  Listen to the call.  Seek him who is above.  Seek him who is far, far above.