I
Want To Know Christ
Finally,
my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.
To write
the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard.
Beware
of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, because of
those who mutilate the flesh! For it is we who are the circumcision, who
worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence
in the flesh - even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.
If
anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised
on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor
of the church; as to righteousness under the under the law, blameless.
Yet
whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as
loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of
the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have
suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I
may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the
righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his
death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:1-11
Paul had
words for the Philippians when he indicated that the wonderful hope of dying
kept him going. He was not looking for relief from his suffering. Paul's hope
was rooted in Christ, who died on the cross for sinners. Jesus rose from the
grave that first Easter morning, is alive in heaven today, and took Paul into
His presence. We too will be taken into His presence.
The hope
of seeing Christ, either at death or when He returned, kept Paul going. The
hope gave meaning to every moment of his life. It gave him a reason to live on
behalf of Christ. It gave him incentive to focus on others who needed his
encouragement. Paul had come to know Christ as his very life.
Father, thank You for the risen Christ
- our
reason for living.
Those who are prepared to die
are
most prepared to live.
Our Daily Bread -