But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3: 7-11, NIV.
Dear God, we want to know You, not superficially, but intimately. We know that this is possible in Christ Jesus our Lord. So please come divinely close and help us to attain unto this knowledge. We ask this in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Perhaps this is one of the most discussed topics on this website: Getting to know Jesus. I believe that I have discussed it from several point of views. I do not believe that we can talk about this topic too much. And I truly believe that in Christian circles we do not talk about it enough! Let us see if today, we can discover something new on this topic of such great importance. We will divide the passage into at least four parts: What was, and what is, now; My number one priority; Exchanging My Robe For His, and, Resembling Him in death, that I might be like Him in the resurrection.
What was, and what is now. Paul begins this passage of Scripture speaking of his change of heart, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” You will remember that yesterday i made mention of the Pharisees’ self-sufficient view concerning salvation. Here Paul makes it clear that he does not see things the way he used to. There has been a one hundred and eighty degree change in the way he sees things. The things that used to be of greatest importance is of no importance at all! He counts them all as useless, when compared to Christ! This brings us to our next point:
My number one priority. What is your number one priority in life? Perhaps for some the the real question is, who is your number one priority in life? Who are you willing to give up everything for? Who, or what, are you living for? Who, or what, are you willing to die for? Who are we spending quality time with? These are some of the issues that are contemplated before we make someone, or some cause our number one priority. Before coming to know Jesus as his Savior, Paul knew about Jesus. But you will agree with me that, knowing about someone is not the same as knowing them.
We know a lot (if all that we know is true) about some great celebrities of our day, and of the past. But we could not say we actually know them. The process of knowing, usually begins by making an acquaintance, which could evolve into getting to know the person. The apostle expressed his desire to know Christ with these heartfelt words: “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish.” After making His acquaintance, Christ became Paul’s number one priority!
Exchanging My Robe For His. When rebuking the behavior of the Pharisees, among other things, Jesus had the following to say: ” ‘ “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long ” ‘ ” (Matthew 23: 5c). When we get to know Jesus, all of a sudden our robe does not seem so “cool.” The phylacteries, leather cases containing certain portions of Scripture, were worn on their foreheads and on the inside of their left arm, close to the heart. Instead of physically carrying these Scriptures around to be seen by all, they should have been internalized (the mind, the heart) and lived out in the life.
Many of us today are not wearing physical robes, but our spiritual robes are just as adorned as were the physical garments of the Pharisees. On them we announce all our virtues. I wonder when Jesus looks at us, if He does not shake His head in sorrow while saying, “But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (23). May God help us to know Him, then all of the former, will be given their right place!
What a privilege is ours, to know Jesus! We will continue.