Description
Fighting the Good Fight
This episode reflects on Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 4:7—“I have fought the good fight, I have fi… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Do you ever think about how you’d like to be remembered when you are gone, what you’d like as an epitaph? The Apostle Paul, nearing the end of his life, wrote this to Timothy. Two Timothy chapter four, verse seven. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.
We get a sense, don’t we, that this is Paul saying this is what my life’s work has all been about. If people are going to remember me at all, I hope they remember this. In our new longer format meditation videos, we’re going to use three questions to help us meditate on this passage. So the first question: How does this passage reflect Jesus? What do we see about Jesus in what Paul expresses? I mean, simply we can say, could it be said of Jesus Christ that he fought the good fight, that he finished the race, that he kept the faith.
I mean, clearly, this is Jesus all over. And Paul, of course, modelled himself on Jesus. He wanted to be like him. He knew he was being transformed to become more like him by the working of the Holy Spirit.
So, yes, Jesus fought the good fight, but he fought it in a way that people at the time didn’t recognise. He didn’t come with spears and shields. He came with words of truth. He came showing the way of love. He came explaining what justice and righteousness were like. He came revealing the kingdom of God around us and within us.
And Jesus finished his earthly race, didn’t he, in a more complete way than we can ever hope. He went to the cross and then he rose again, conquering death.
And for sure jesus kept the faith. He was the faith. He gives us faith in him.
Our next question. How does this then affect my faith? Do we view our faith, our journey as a race, as a fight?
When I reflect on what my life has been like, there have certainly been periods that felt like they were a great struggle or a test of endurance, and we’ve just had to keep going. My wife and I, especially in recent years.
And I think for us Christians, the only way that we can do this with anything that we might wish to call success is by keeping our faith, by remaining as close as we possibly can to God. Because in the difficulties of life, we only make them harder if we walk away from God. Anybody who has walked away from God and then returned will tell you this to be true.
My friends, let us fight the good fight. Not the fight that comes from our own selfish desires. No, the fight that is the one to which God directs us. The fight for souls, the fight for the advance of the kingdom of God.
My friends, let us keep the faith. Let us hold fast to the things that we read in God’s word, to the things that the Holy Spirit reveals to us, to the things that you and I are meditating on together.
The third question: What do I need to confess? Well, this will be different for you compared to me, but I imagine it will go something like this:
Lord God, I do not always fight the good fight. I am not always running this race. I am not always faithful to you. Thank you that you remain faithful to me at all times. Thank you that you help me in the fight. Thank you that when I fall over in this race, you pick me up. You run alongside me, you carry me.
Forgive me, but the times when I fail you, God. But thank you that your forgiveness is absolute. For everything that I have done and everything I’ve yet to do, the work of Christ completely covers it all. I am forgiven. So I confess to you, my God, my weakness, but I thank you for your strength.
Please help me to fight the good fight, to finish this race, and to keep the faith. Amen.
