TEXT: Philippians 3:8-11 (NLT)
"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!"
DO YOU KNOW JESUS?
The Apostles knew Jesus. They lived with him, walked with him, ate with him, worked with him and suffered with him. They were intimately entwined with him and his ministry. They were there when he was crucified, when he resurrected from the dead and when he ascended to heaven. They witnessed the powerful healing and miracles he performed. They experienced the power of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost and demonstrated the power of God by witnessing Jesus with signs and wonders following them. "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Heb 2:4).
Do you know Jesus?
KNOWING JESUS
Like Apostle Paul, every believer should have that great hunger of knowing Jesus. We should not be content with just reading about Jesus but digging deeper and experiencing the power of the gospel. To know Jesus so intimately, we must 'unknow' self. There is a price to pay. Phil 3:8 says, "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ." There is nothing as valuable in this world as truly knowing Jesus experientially, the value is infinite and eternal. Apostle Paul discarded everything to gain Jesus. Christ gave up everything to save mankind, we must give up everything to gain Christ.
Do you know Jesus?
To know Jesus; we must live in him and he must live in us, we must walk with him on the narrow road of righteousness, we must eat the unleavened bread and drink his blood in holy communion, we must work with him as a co-labourer in the fathers vineyard to reconcile men back to God. Knowing Jesus entails bearing our cross daily and looking on to him for all our needs. To know Jesus is shedding our own righteousness and depending on his righteousness by faith. It is declaring like Paul did, "For in him we live and move and exist..."
(Acts 17:28). To know Jesus is to die and be reborn with a lifestyle of holiness. "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). To know Jesus is to become an active member of his family - the church. Do you know Jesus?
The process starts by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. John 1:12 tells us, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." The Holy Spirit will then come and dwell in you, imparting you with power to live a holy life. As you daily crucify your flesh and live for him, the power and glory of Christ will begin to manifest in your life.
PRAYER:
Father, help me to seek you more and more, to experience the infinite value of knowing Jesus in Jesus name.
CONFESSION:
In Jesus I move, live and have my being.
God bless you. Shalom.
