THE VALUE OF KNOWING CHRIST
"Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ." - Philippians 3:8
American Christians tend to overvalue
earthly riches and vastly undervalue the blessing of knowing Christ. It is ironic that while Americans emphasize
profitability and wealth, we have been blind to the real value of eternal
matters. All the wealth of this world
is temporary. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet
and Donald Trump are only temporarily wealthy.
The most important thing is to be eternally rich.
From a worldly perspective, the Apostle
Paul went from being a great success to being the worst of failures. All of this happened when one thing happened
in his life: he met Jesus Christ. Those who teach a "prosperity
gospel," need to look again at Paul's life. From a worldly point of view, Paul went from power to poverty
because of his faith in Christ. Yet Paul
didn't see it that way. While others
viewed him as being a failure because of his conversion, Paul felt it was the
greatest turnaround of his life. He
felt that he went from loss to gain; from spiritual bankruptcy to spiritual
abundance; from the shadows to the light; from death to life. On the road to Damascus, his eyes were
blinded temporarily. There in his
blindness, he began to see everything clearly.
The restoration of his eyesight did not dim his newfound spiritual
vision. He now lived with an eternal
perspective.
Notice how Paul evaluated his
situation: "Yea doubtless, and I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord." Paul counted ALL things
but loss. He may have lost all his
earthly things, but he didn't consider them to be of any value compared to
"... the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." Paul felt that knowing Christ was of
incalculable value compared to the junk of this world. Do you feel the same way?
Paul did not sugarcoat his worldly loss. He continued, "... for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." He had lost "all things." That wouldn't be a proud statement to make a
class reunion, would it? Yet Paul
concluded by stating that the things he lost he counted as dung compared to
knowing Jesus. Dung is a strong word to
use in denouncing worldly prestige, power and profit, yet Paul emphatically
used it. Paul, writing from his own
personal experience, said that the world and all it has to offer is nothing
more than a trash heap, rubbish, and compost.
What a graphic way of putting it.
I don't know very many people who agree with Paul --- at least to this
degree. That is because most people do
not know Jesus like Paul did. Most only
have a dose of American religion. They
have never been transformed by a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.
While reading this, you may not be
convinced that Paul was accurate in his assessment of this world. I believe eternity will reveal how accurate
he really was. When Wall Street has
long faded away, saints who have riches in glory will be enjoying themselves
immensely.
We need to view riches from an eternal
perspective. More importantly, we need
to appreciate the value of knowing Jesus personally. When money becomes ashes, Jesus will still be wonderful, glorious
and loving. He will still be the lily
of the valley & the bright and morning star. He will still be fair above all.
He will still be in control, sitting on the throne. His grace and mercy will be admired and
appreciated by those impacted by them --- and angels will stand in awe to
behold it all. Believers will be
enraptured by His presence eternally.
We'll bask in His love forever.
We'll worship the One who sacrificed everything so we could enjoy heaven
forever with Him.
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