The Worth of Knowing Christ Jesus

Michael Allen

Living as Citizens of Heaven pt. 8/ Philippians 3:1–14

Paul has so far pointed the Philippians to find joy:

1. In the progress of the gospel
2. In Paul’s final salvation
3. In Paul’s potential freedom from prison, or in his death for the cause of Christ
4. In the potential of a visit from Timothy AND
5. In the recovery and return of Epaphroditus

Now the 6th time to rejoice in Christ.

Prayer from Middelburg Liturgy

Almighty God, and most merciful Father, we humbly submit ourselves, and fall down before your Majesty, asking you from the bottom of our hearts, that this seed of your Word now sown among us, may take such deep root, that neither the burning heat of persecution cause it to wither, nor the thorny cares of this life choke it. But that, as seed sown in good ground, it may bring forth thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold, as your heavenly wisdom has appointed. Amen.

Philippians 3:1–14 NIV

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Your value and identity are not based on what you do, look like, sound like, or anything other than the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.

1 Samuel 16:6 NIV

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Your bodies are blessings created to point those around you to the great creator, not to be the things that we worship. 

Do you know the person of God himself who came to dwell physically among us and has sent his Spirit to live in the people of his church?

Paul is making a comparison, not declaring ontological value.

Paul gives brief summaries on three core doctrines of the Christian faith:

1. Justification (v. 9)
2. Sanctification (v. 10)
3. Glorification (v. 11)