Philippians 3:7-11 (Acts 9:1-9)
The Point | What you value the most will determine how you live your life. ((Your values determine your direction))
This is, in my opinion, one of the most simple and beautiful pictures in all of scripture that gets to the heart of what our faith is all about.
Paul is an accomplished leader, church planter, and wrote a good portion of the New Testament—he was considered a spiritual giant. He came from an incredible heritage, he had all the religious pedigree (Pharisee actually means “The Separated Ones” because of their level of commitment), and he was the most passionate in his zeal of keeping the law.
But something happened. He actually met Jesus And from that moment forward, everything changed.
The accomplishments, status, and family lineage that used to mean everything didn’t mean so much anymore.
The greek word for “garbage” in this passage that he refers to is actually translated as excrement. There’s not much stronger language for how he actually felt about those things!
Even deeper, the Greek word for loss more accurately describes these things as being damaging.
Now here’s the context: Paul writes this passage of scripture from a prison cell, approximately 30 years after this conversion experience.
During that 30 years, he had experienced much heartache, pain, persecution, prison, and near death experiences. Life wasn’t easy for Paul.
After all he experienced, he reveals what he values most (knowing Jesus).
Here’s the thing, though, to know Jesus is not the same as knowing about Jesus or knowing the content of His teaching. The Greek word used in this passage for know describes intimate, first-hand contact knowledge, similar to the language used to describe the intimacy between husbands and wives. It’s personal, deep, and experiential; the kind of knowing that can only come through devotion and relationship.
Life can feel very complicated sometimes with so many commitments we have - family commitments, hobbies, health, scheduling all the busy demands of life, marriage, kids, church, career or education, personal development, friendships and somehow trying to enjoy life and have fun in the middle of it all.
Paul, cuts through all of it to reveal the highest priority, the ultimate goal - know Christ.
In light of what we have in Christ, nothing compares. Nothing this world has to offer comes even close to the blessing of having a personal relationship with Jesus… NOTHING.
He now realizes what he once considered good, meaningful, and fulfilling was doing him harm.
Whether it’s the work of religion, morality, pleasure-seeking, or living our best life, these things will never bring wholeness, satisfaction, purpose, or meaning.
Instead, they’ll produce an endless, fruitless pursuit of a purpose that will never come and often leaves us feeling emptier than we did before, which will lead to an even deeper feeling of purposelessness and hopelessness.
This creates a vicious cycle where we try to find our purpose and our identity in anything other than Christ.
Everything we could ever hope to have, do, or gain in this world pales in comparison to the eternal, priceless, immeasurable gain that it is to know Jesus, be known by Jesus, and make Jesus known!
When Paul tells us all the riches and glorious things of this world are rubbish compared to Christ, he speaks from experience because he had it all and lost it all for the sake of Christ. He lost his wealth, status, title, friends, family, health, and freedom.
Did you know that we must first know the cross to experience the power of the resurrection?
If you want to live in the power of the resurrection, you have to crucify your flesh.
The victory you want to see in your life comes when you surrender.
