I want....
Philip. 3:7-11 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, 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 [9] 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 and is by faith. [10] I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
These are powerful words, and they echo Paul’s sentiment in chapter 1 – to live is Christ, and to die is gain. It is more powerful for where it comes in the letter, just after Paul’s description of his attempts to make himself right with God through obedience to the law. But now, after having experienced Grace, Paul says that his former life just does not compare to the one he has now, serving Jesus and experiencing his presence in his life day by day.
It’s Paul’s plea, that day by day he experiences Jesus in his life.
He wants to experience this by sharing in Christ’s sufferings – that is by taking part in God’s mission, his plan for the redemption of mankind. Because this is the big story, and for anyone who has met Jesus it is the only story worth getting involved in! The truth is that Paul acknowledges that this is not easy – there will be opposition and hardship when we take up the cause of the Gospel in our situations every day. People will laugh at us, ignore us and turn against us. Yet by doing this we share in Christ’s work. And when we do it we discover this – that we become dependent on Jesus. We realise that we cannot do the work by ourselves, but can only accomplish it by experiencing the outworking of the Holy Spirit in our lives and situations. By depending on Jesus and letting him work, following his lead, not our own, we experience God’s power working in our lives, and through that we grow closer to him.
Wouldn’t it be incredible if every person in every church spoke as Paul did, and asked to experience the every day presence of Jesus in our lives….
These are powerful words, and they echo Paul’s sentiment in chapter 1 – to live is Christ, and to die is gain. It is more powerful for where it comes in the letter, just after Paul’s description of his attempts to make himself right with God through obedience to the law. But now, after having experienced Grace, Paul says that his former life just does not compare to the one he has now, serving Jesus and experiencing his presence in his life day by day.
It’s Paul’s plea, that day by day he experiences Jesus in his life.
He wants to experience this by sharing in Christ’s sufferings – that is by taking part in God’s mission, his plan for the redemption of mankind. Because this is the big story, and for anyone who has met Jesus it is the only story worth getting involved in! The truth is that Paul acknowledges that this is not easy – there will be opposition and hardship when we take up the cause of the Gospel in our situations every day. People will laugh at us, ignore us and turn against us. Yet by doing this we share in Christ’s work. And when we do it we discover this – that we become dependent on Jesus. We realise that we cannot do the work by ourselves, but can only accomplish it by experiencing the outworking of the Holy Spirit in our lives and situations. By depending on Jesus and letting him work, following his lead, not our own, we experience God’s power working in our lives, and through that we grow closer to him.
Wouldn’t it be incredible if every person in every church spoke as Paul did, and asked to experience the every day presence of Jesus in our lives….
posted by Gordon at
2:08 pm
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