Encouragement

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Paul said in Phil. 3:8, "I have lost all things...for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord." KJV. I wonder how much it has cost us today to know Jesus, and what we have given up for Him? Perhaps we given up certain friends, entertainment or personal habits for Christ the Messiah. Paul had been taught by the great leader Gamiliel and he could have been an honored leader in Israel if he had followed in the teachings of the Pharisees. Instead he chose to obey God, and he was a homeless disciple, persecuted from city to city. It cost Paul everything to have Jesus. The apostle went on to say, "I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ." (Verse 8, last part) Rubbish...humans spend their lives, their energy and their abilities to try and gain wealth, fame and success, but Paul called it all rubbish. What can you compare with eternity...what can compare with Christ and the excellency of knowing Him?

In our day Christianity is popular and crosses are honored, but it wasn't that way in Paul's day. A person's life expectancy was shortened considerably by a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And in the middle ages millions were killed for their scriptural belief in Christ. In many counties of the world, even today, a Christian's belief can cost everything. Nothing carries the shame and degradation of the cross - a gallows, the electric chair, lethal injection - it's just not the same. To be stripped, beaten and die a slow death in public was the ultimate stigma. The prejudice of saying the Savior of the world belonged to a small, exclusive race of people in subjection to the mighty Roman Empire was a real barrier.

All Jesus had going for Him was His character - unselfish, kind, compassionate and generous. He was God on earth, friend of sinners using His divine power to bless the common classes of humanity. All this attracted the masses to Christ. "In every human being He discerned infinite possibilities. He saw humans as they might be, transfigured by His grace - in the beauty of the Lord our God. Looking upon them with hope He inspired hope. Meeting them with confidence, He inspired trust. Revealing in Himself man's true ideal, He awakened for it's attainment both desire and faith."i "He possessed a majesty and kingliness that words cannot describe. Yet He was humble and approachable...His heart was a wellspring of life; wherever He went, He carried rest and peace, joy and gladness."ii

"That I may know Him." (Phil. 3: 10) Paul was just another Pharisee busy with the things that people do when they are apart from God. But when he saw Jesus, everything was different - he was never the same after that. Peter, James, John and Judas all followed Christ for over 3 years, yet they didn't see the Christ Paul saw. They were busy trying to make Jesus into the kind of Messiah they wanted. They sought a king and a miracle worker with handouts and important positions for His followers. They wanted the "rubbish!" We marvel that the disciples were with Jesus for 3 years and yet didn't know Him. The disciples left their homes and work to follow Jesus - they gave up everything - yet they had not yet seen the Christ Paul knew. The tragedy of Judas was that after being around Christ for over 3 years, his Master was only worth the price of a slave. He saw no value in Jesus. Judas was not very impressed by the goodness, compassion and unselfish love of Jesus.

But some of us have been around the Lord a long time - how well do we know Him? We have 66 books in our Bibles, with dozens of translations in books, on DVD and CD. We have religion on the radio, TV, cable and the internet. We have seminars and retreats. We may have held church offices and been pillars of the church. Yet we know so little of God and His ways...we know about athletes, movie stars, soap operas and the latest fashions. We know about the stock market, trends in society, what's happening at work and with our friends. We know about our favorite teams - their strengths and weaknesses.

What about Jesus? The purpose of religion and doctrines is to bring us to Jesus. If our religion hasn't brought us to Christ, it has failed. We have the Jesus of the Old Testament, the Jesus of the New Testament, Jesus of prophesy and Jesus of the resurrection. Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born from above to see the Kingdom of God. We must have a change in our values, principle and goals. We must "see" the glory of Christ that Paul saw. The "good news" is that Jesus offers to be our personal Friend and share the peace, joy and excitement of being an over-comer.

What about us? What have we gotten out of our spiritual relationship week after week? Have we really seen Christ yet? Is He the center of all that we do? Do we plan our days and our free time so that we can know Him? Do we use our talents and ability to get closer to Him? How much time do we spend on "rubbish?" Would we trust Him with our lives? We have done certain things to be called a believer, but do we know Jesus yet? Or are we only church goers - part way to Christ? Paul said, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him..." (Phil. 3:8 NIV)

i Education, page 80, E. White.
ii Steps to Christ, page 12, 120 E. White

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