"I Want to Know Christ"
Dr. Steven P. Eason
Philippians 3:4b-14
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If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
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It has been a difficult week here at the church. One of our members lost her father. Another lost her older sister. One of our members lost her mother and many of our members are fighting battles against some serious disease.
On Thursday, a memorial service was held here for fourteen-year-old Sloan Chambers, a beautiful young girl in every way, the daughter of Labron and Kate. It’s been a tough week.
Stephen Covey wrote the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, (1989). One of those habits he identified as, “beginning with the end in mind.” (p. 95) When you come to the end of your life, can you look back and say that you lived a rich full life? Did you use your time wisely? Did you give your heart and soul to the right things? Did you live a life of faith and trust in God? Did you love people outside the boundaries of your own comfort zone? Did you live in the kingdom, the culture, of God?
What is the goal of life? When you get to the end and look back, what was the meaning and purpose of it all? Why were you here? What did you accomplish and what was the goal?
The Apostle Paul experienced a shift in his life. He started out thinking the goal of life was one thing and then had his heart and mind changed.
He started out, like most of us, thinking the goal of life was to achieve, to acquire the brass ring, to climb the ladder of success. Paul writes,
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh (in other words, in the things of this world.), I have more; (and then he goes into a list of his accomplishments)…circumcised on the eight day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:4b-6)
How would you list your accomplishments? What’s your list of credentials, your pedigree, your education, social standing, professional achievements? That’s what Paul is listing here for us. That’s what he thought was the goal of life. As if these things were the end and not the means to the end. His life was all about him. It was self-serving, self-centered, self-governed. So, when you get to the end of your life and look back on it, is that the way you’d want to have spent it? Is that the only legacy you would leave behind?
Perhaps the best news that Paul gives us here is that it is possible to make a shift in life. It’s possible to change, to go in a different direction. It’s possible to change the goal in midstream. Paul had accomplished all these things. He was a thoroughbred in the Jewish community. All he had to do is stay the course and he was destined for great things. So what happened?
He encountered Jesus Christ. He never met Jesus in the flesh, but he encountered Christ through the Holy Spirit. That’s how it happens for you and me.
When Christ gets a hold of a person’s life, their goals change. What they thought were treasures become what Paul calls, “rubbish.” (3:8) None of the things Paul mentioned are evil. There’s nothing wrong with being born in a certain culture or receiving an excellent education. There’s nothing evil about that, but when Christ got a hold of Paul’s life, he realized those things were not the end, but the means to an end. The goal became something else. His self-righteous life became empty to him.
Perhaps the most powerful statement Paul makes is when he writes,
I want to know Christ… (3:10a)
What if you prayed that every morning as a prayer?
‘I want to know Christ…,I want Christ to be revealed to me. I want to know him.’
That’s a life-changing prayer.
That’s the new goal! That’s the new life. That’s the shift that was made in Paul’s life and that can be made in your life in my life, too. He writes,
…this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (3:13-14)
If Paul would have continued on his quest for success, he would have been buried and nobody would be talking about him today. When Christ became the goal of his life, the ripple-effect of Paul’s life continues to this day. His grave was not the end of his life, but the beginning of it. He traded in his “rubbish” for the “prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Therein lies the hope of the Christian faith for you and for me.
As we come to the Table of Christ on this World Communion Sunday, we are reminded that the unifying factor for the world is the grace of God poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins. At this Table we are reconciled to a new goal. We trade in the “rubbish” for “the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What an incredible gift! Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Congregation: Amen
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