Knowing Jesus Christ

Chuckle: When our neighbor's young son was asked how his soccer game went one morning, he said, "Really good. If we had just scored four more goals, we would have beat them by one point." --Cindy Moore

Quote: "It's easier to acquire a good reputation than to lose a bad one." –Unknown Source 

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. . . . As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead" (Philippians 3:8-9a, 10a NLT).

It may seem strange that the Paul would be striving to know Jesus. After all, he was miraculously saved on the Damascus road and had been faithful for years as God's messenger to the gentiles. He had been shipwrecked, beaten, ostracized, and generally persecuted for his faithfulness. Even after all that, he recognized he did not yet know Christ in the fullness he desired.

There's a big difference between knowing Jesus as Savior and knowing him intimately as Lord of your life. Knowing him as Savior involves repentance, forgiveness, and saving faith in him. Knowing Jesus in the way Paul desired involves a personal intimate companionship with him. It is this kind relationship with his Lord that gave Paul extreme incomparable joy.

If you want to get to know someone, you must spend time with that person; and the more time you invest the better you will come to know him or her. The same is true with our knowing Jesus. You may know him as Savior, but infatuation with worldly things may have caused you to lose your desire to draw closer to him by spending time with him in prayer and Bible study in the power of the Holy Spirit. Your desire to know Christ more completely may have waned and your spiritual growth may be stunted as a result.

There is a danger that we may substitute other "good" things instead of knowing Christ as the Lord of our lives and intimate companion. For example, you may have Scripture memorized; you may work hard in your church; you may teach a Bible class, etc., but still not know Jesus in the way Paul is describing. You can become so involved in doing the Lord's work that you neglect your personal relationship with the Lord himself. It takes a conscious desire to make progress toward knowing him. No amount of Christian activity can ever replace your love relationship with Jesus.

After Paul had evaluated everything he had accomplished in his life, he considered it all worthless when compared with the great blessing of knowing Christ. What an absolutely profound statement about values. As we prayerfully read this passage, it should cause each of us to examine our value system. Do you place other things above your relationship with Christ? If your priorities are out of whack, how will you reorder them? It was only when Paul became one with Christ that he began to experience God's power in his life. Listen to the words of this hymn by Andy Park:

"In the secret, in the quiet place, In the stillness You are there. In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait -- only for You, -- 'Cause I want to know You more. (Chorus) I want to know You, -- I want to hear Your voice; I want to know You more. I want to touch You, I want to see Your face; I want to know You more."

Love, Jerry & Dotse