My husband and I make every attempt to rise early enough in the morning to spend some time together reading the Bible and praying. Spending this time is foundational to our relationship and the climate of our home. It brings us back from the day to day of life and drives us to focus on the One we live for. It also sparks us to spur one another on in our relationships with the Lord and to share our lives with one another even more. These times have also brought about many sweet times of prayer where we share ways we can be praying for each other and pray for other’s requests as well.
This year, we are reading through a 1 year Bible reading plan that takes a portion of Scripture from the Old Testament, the New Testament and a portion of a Psalm and a verse or two from Proverbs each day. We really enjoy the diversity of this plan. Today, for our New Testament reading, we are in Philippians. I was quite struck by the passage this morning.
Just before Philippians 3:7-11 Paul recites his “credentials”. He lists his birthrights, his education and his practice of pious living. He doesn’t do this for the sake of pride or use it as an opportunity to brag, but instead, he gives us this glimpse into his life to show us that even with all of these worldly virtues, he would rather have Jesus. He counts them as rubbish in order to gain Christ.
In Philippians 3:7-11, he writes:
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet, indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
What was gain for him, he has counted loss. Why? “For the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” What a simple, yet profound, answer. He hasn’t counted these things as loss for notoriety, or earthly health or wealth. He didn’t state that it was for peace in this life, though, in Christ there is peace for the Christian. He didn’t state that it was for comfort, or to be driven by purpose or even for the American dream. His purpose, as stated here in this passage is again, “For the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
This does not sound much like American Christianity. It seems that often, the Jesus that is proclaimed is the one that will fix our problems or our lifestyles, or perhaps help us pay our bills or get along with others, not the Jesus that Paul says is worth counting everything, even the “good things” as loss for knowing Him. Paul says here that it is not about what He can do for us, but about the fact that He is so worthy of knowing that all else pales in comparison. When we see how glorious He is, nothing else matters. We long to know Him personally, to love Him, to believe Him, to obey Him, by faith. In the study notes for Phil 3:8, The MacArthur Study Bible states:
To “know’ Christ is not simply to have intellectual knowledge about Him; Paul used the Greek verb that means to know “experientially” or “personally” (cf. John 10:27; 17:3; 2 Cor. 4:6; 1 John 5:20). It is equivalent to a shared life with Christ. It also corresponds to a Hebrew word used of God’s knowledge of His people (Amos 3:2) and their knowledge of Him in love and obedience (Jer. 31:34; Hos 6:3, 8:2).
Also present in this passage is the wonderful truth that Jesus can be known! He gives us His Word where He proclaims Himself. He gives us His righteousness in exchange for our unrighteousness! We can know Him, “the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
This passage reminds me that it is not about adding Jesus to my dreams and desires. It reminds me that life is about the “excellence of knowing Him.” Praise be to our God and Father for sending His precious Son that we might be redeemed! May we press on toward the Excellence of knowing Him each and every day! Let’s proclaim the Jesus that is SO beautiful, SO amazing, SO glorious, and SO trustworthy that one cannot help but leave all of this world’s cheap substitutes to follow Him. Let us live lives that bring Him the glory that He deserves.
