Intro Video: A Greater Need (available for download from Sermon Central)
Do we really want to know Him?
If Jesus is all the Bible claims Him to be, Son of God, taking the penalty of my sins, shedding His blood for me, as my Savior, I want to know Him.
Philippians 3:7–11 (NKJV) 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 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 9 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; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
In the Greek there are two words we translate meaning “to know”
gnosis - to know by learning, by the senses, investigation, Book learning, is this type of knowledge.
ginosko? – to have understanding. To perceive, to have intimacy, to relate from personal experience.
Opening Illustration. When I first met my wife, Ellen, I learned a few things about her. She was from Ohio, was Veterinarian, went to The Ohio State Univ. She lived in Valparaiso and she had a boat. She had boat, a 19’ chaparral, inboard/outboard Mercury engine, and no way to pull it. She drove a Camaro. I had a Ford Bronco 4x4 with a towing package. I do believe we were a match made in heaven!
Contrary to popular belief, the boat was not the prize, for in three years we sold/got rid of the boat. The real prize was Ellen. I wanted to know her more. I knew things about her. I had gnosis type knowledge about her.
I realize that I wanted to know her more. So I began to spend time with her (I asked her out). I wanted to have ginosko knowledge about her. I wanted to know what she thought, how she felt, and I wanted her to have ginosko knowledge about me.
Wanting to know each other and coming to know each other is called forming a relationship. I was completely taken up with wanting to know her more and more that I knew it would take a lifetime to really ginosko know her, so I asked her to marry me. And to my wonderment, she said, “Yes.”
Now 26 years later I am still getting to ginosko know her more every day. I still don’t have her all figured out, but I experience great joy in this process of knowing her more and more every day and realizing deeper and deeper what a wonderful woman that she truly is. (she had me figured out a long time ago, and she consented to keep me anyway!)
Do we really want to to ginosko know Jesus?
There was a day in my life I knew that I failed miserably to measure up to God’s standard and I was doomed to hell. It was hard to comprehend what the church was teaching. I did not understand how I should love a God I did not see, moreover, it was inconceivable that God who sees me fully, inside and out, would choose to still love me.
I knew (gnosis) the Bible stories and I knew about Jesus, but I really did not know (ginosko) Jesus. Then I began to understand the gospel; I began to comprehend what Jesus was all about. I began to know(ginosko) Jesus.
I realized that my salvation did not depend upon how good I am; it was fully dependent on how good God is.
This God, through His son Jesus, was someone I had to get to know. Life itself, depended on it. Knowing Jesus is everything.
John 17:3 (NKJV) And this is eternal life, that they may KNOW You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
That they may KNOW - ginosko to know intimately, to know with understanding.
To really know Jesus, to have that relationship, means life itself. Why is it that we have to have things in our lives more important than life? More important than to ginosko knowing Jesus. Paul understood that.
Philippians 3:7–8 (NKJV) But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 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
All that Paul was, all that he had gained, he counts as loss, he calls rubbish. What was it that Paul was?
Philippians 3:4–6 (NKJV) 4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Paul had it all. He was on top of his game. Paul was the go-to guy who got things done. Not only that, no one was more religious than he. He spent a life time doing the right things at the right time. Everyone looked up to him. But it paled in comparison to knowing Jesus,
"the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."
knowledge here is gnosis. Book knowledge.
He learned about Jesus. All he had was not worth anything compared to the knowledge of knowing about Jesus. He learned that Jesus died for Him. He learned that despite all that he had done, all his following of the law and the righteousness he had by following the law did not make him righteous in the eyes of God and he was still a sinner in need of salvation.
"that I may gain Christ"
Paul traded it all when he learned that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Paul knew that there was nothing on earth as important as gaining Christ.
Philippians 3:9 (NKJV) 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;
To gain Christ and to be found in Him. Paul knew (gnosis) his righteousness was nothing. The fact is, our righteous is nothing before God.
Isaiah 64:6a (NKJV) But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
Like all that he had achieved, his righteousness was rubbish before God. The only righteousness worth having was that righteousness which was imputed to him from God, obtained through faith in Jesus.
The righteousness was available because of Jesus’ death on a Roman cross. Jesus took all the penalty of Paul’s shortcoming before God (which we will call sin) and paid that penalty by his shed blood on the cross. Paul had a book knowledge of all this, but he wanted more.
Phil 3:10a (NKJV) that I may know Him . . .
Paul wanted to to ginosko know Jesus. Paul was saved but his desire was to know Jesus intimately, to be found in Jesus. Do we really want to know Jesus? Do we desire, do we long for more? King David had that desire:
Psalm 63:1–5 (NKJV)
1 O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
Do we desire the Lord like David? Paul had met the living Lord and his desire was to be with Him and to like Him and to know Him intimately. Paul had been in the presence of Jesus. Paul had seen the glory of the Lord, nothing else compared! Paul knew the peace experienced when in the presence of Jesus. And Paul longed to be with Jesus:
Philippians 1:21–24 (NKJV) For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
Paul knew Jesus had a purpose for him, So while in this life Paul wanted to know Jesus more. To know ginosko Jesus more and more.
Phil 3:10a (NKJV) that I may know Him . . .
But do we today desire to be in the presence of God? According to research by Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman, look at what the average American believes:
84% of All Americans believe “enjoying yourself is the highest goal in life”
86% of all Americans say “pursue the things you desire most.”
91 % affirm “to find yourself, look within yourself”
Most Americans believe the purpose of life is enjoyment that comes from finding yourself within yourself while pursuing whatever brings you happiness. Here is the clincher; most American church-goers, who call themselves Christians believe the same thing.
66% Enjoying yourself is the highest goal in life.
72% say “pursue the things you desire most.”
76 % affirm “to find yourself, look within yourself” (1)
Most American Christians only summon God to help us become whoever WE really want to be. But that is not what Jesus said. That is not what Paul said.
How to know ginosko Jesus? Man was created by God for God. Augustine (4th century theologian and philosopher) said, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find themselves in You. (2)
It is not about us, it is not what we want, is not our ambitions, but what is it that God wants of us? What has He called us to do? It is now and has always been about Jesus. What did Jesus say?
Matthew 10:39 (NKJV) He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say to look within to find yourself. That is the world’s way. We are looking in when we should be looking up. Jesus also said:
Matthew 16:24 (NKJV) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
That doesn’t sound much like pursuing whatever makes you happy? So, where is the desire to be like Jesus? Paul said
Phil 3:10a (NKJV) that I may know Him . . .
You see, Jesus is everything. Jesus said:
John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
To know way to go is to know Jesus. To know truth is to know Jesus. To know life itself, is to know Jesus. To know God is to know Jesus. How do we do that?
Philippians 3:10–11 (NKJV) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Paul knew Jesus. To know Jesus, Paul knew he had to follow and be like Jesus. Paul knew Jesus in His resurrection, and the power of it, why because Paul knew Jesus in his suffering, and Paul endured many great and horrible things for Jesus, even to the point of death. To know Jesus, is to follow Jesus, where ever that may lead. And in death Paul knew Jesus, because like Jesus, Paul too will be resurrected.
Do we really want to know Jesus. To really know ourselves, we must look to Jesus.
To know true joy, we must look to Jesus. To find fulfillment in life, we must look to Jesus. To know Jesus is to follow Jesus. It matter little what the storm may bring, all that matters, are we found in Jesus. It is truly all about Jesus. Nothing else matter.
Do you just know about Jesus, Or do you really want yo know ginosko Jesus?
Know Him personally and intimately?
1 This Is Our Time, Trevin Wax, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, 2017. Pg78-82
2 Ibid, 82
