Knowing Christ Better
Philippians 3:4–14
The Sermon
This morning, as I often do when we have a memorial roll service, I would like to speak to the families who are missing their loved ones so much. First, I want you to know we haven’t forgotten your loss. We are still praying for God’s comfort to surround you. But we also want you to know that the closer you get to Jesus, the more comfort will come to your soul. And so this morning, I want to direct our attention to another one of Paul’s greatest hits that speaks about knowing Jesus. It is found in Philippians 3:8. It says this: “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.” Now let’s look at the rest of this passage so we can learn how to know Jesus better. We will begin in the second part of verse 4 and read down to verse 14.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 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; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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 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 on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead 12 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. 13 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, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Who is the most famous person you know personally? They actually know your name. They have your number in their phone. Who is the most connected person in our church?
Paul, before he came to Christ, was a pretty big deal. He wasn’t some religious failure desperately searching for a second chance. He was very successful and well connected. When Paul walked down the street as a young man, people knew who he was. He had the right family. He had the right education. He belonged to the strictest religious group. He studied under Gamaliel, one of the most respected Jewish teachers of his day. Paul, in another place, tells us that he was advancing faster than many of the young men around him. If they handed out awards for being religious, Paul’s trophy case would have been full. He probably knew many famous people personally in his day.
And then Paul met Jesus. And suddenly all the people we knew and everything he had spent his life trying to attain was no longer that important. His one desire and focus was to get to know Christ better. And as someone has said, Jesus is the most famous person that we can personally know. And here is the kicker, He actually knows us by name. And Jesus wants us to get to know him even better than we know Him now.
So my second question is, “What are the best ways to get to know Jesus better?” Now some of the answers are obvious like pray, read your Bible and come to church. But besides those, what are other ways we can know our Lord better?
One of the best ways to get to know Christ better is to make it your first priority. When it is the most important relationship we have then we will always continue to grow closer to Jesus. The problem is like all relationships, it is very easy to get complacent. It’s easy to take our Lord for granted. It’s easy to get busy with other things and allow our relationship with Jesus to suffer and take a backseat. Is your relationship with Jesus your first priority?
It certainly was Paul’s. Look at the famous verse 8 that we highlight. “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.” When Paul came to Christ, it cost him something. First was his promising career as a Pharisee. These religious leaders were honored at special festivals and ceremonies. They were well respected in the town. But when Jesus stopped him on his way to Damascus, he had to turn in his religious garb with the long and impressive tassels or at least put them in the closet never to be worn again. Paul probably lost many of his friends. The people Paul hung out with could not stand Jesus and his followers. They thought they were some cult that was trying to lead others astray. And there is a chance, Paul’s family disowned him. Since they had such a decorated heritage, they probably couldn’t understand why Paul would follow Jesus. When Jesus is our first priority, it might cost us something but it is worth it to know Christ.
When Jesus is our first priority, we will also make some people uncomfortable. Paul states in verse 9 that “he had received a righteousness from God”. Paul had spent his whole life trying to prove how righteous he was. Then he discovered something incredible: the righteousness he needed wasn’t something he could achieve—it was something God would give him through faith in Christ.
For us, this righteousness is going to enable us to do the right thing. There is no cheating, no more lying, no more gossiping, no more cursing and no more sleeping around . This righteousness from God changes everything. Some of our friends are going to be uncomfortable with the changes. But it will be worth it as we get to know Jesus better.
Paul also reveals another way we can know Jesus better and that is by never being satisfied with our relationship with Jesus. Paul has been a Christian for decades. He has preached Christ across the Roman world. He’s planted churches. He’s suffered for Christ. He’s experienced visions and revelations. He’s written letters that became Scripture. And yet in verse 10, Paul says: “I want to know Christ.” He doesn’t say, “I know Christ.” His attitude is essentially: “After all these years, there is still more of Jesus for me to know.” Is that our attitude? Or are we comfortable with how well we know Christ?
Paul was specific in how he wanted to know Christ. First, he wanted to know the power of the resurrection. The power of the resurrection is Jesus’ superpower. Paul doesn’t merely want to believe historically that Jesus was raised from the dead. He wants to experience the power that flows from the reality of the resurrection.
The resurrection power isn’t only something we’re waiting to experience after we die. It transformed us when we came to Christ. It is so vast and so deep that we can never know the full extent of impact. It is the power of the resurrection that comforts us when our loved one dies. But it can also energize us every day. It can be the strength that enables us to share our faith and do something special. Paul wants to know Christ better so he can tap into that power.
But then Paul says something surprising. You’d almost expect him to stop at “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection”. Who doesn’t want that? But then he says, “and participation in his sufferings.” Now Paul is not saying he has some crazy martyrdom complex where he gets joy from suffering. He is not going out and picking fights with the religious leaders so they will throw him in jail and beat him. But what he is saying, if it takes me going through some hard times that I may know Jesus better, then I welcome them. I’m not going looking for suffering. But if following Jesus takes me through suffering, I won’t run away from Jesus to avoid it. He believed that his suffering drew him closer to his Lord and Savior. In other words, Paul isn’t saying: “Jesus, I want your power but I don’t want Your pain.” He’s saying: “I want Jesus so completely that if knowing Him includes suffering with Him, I welcome that too.” A few Sundays ago, we talked about how suffering in Paul’s eyes was a privilege.
Paul says in verse 11 that the result of wanting to know the power and the pain of Jesus is that we would become like Jesus in His death and thus attain the resurrection from the dead. Paul knows where this pursuit ultimately leads. The Jesus he wants to know more deeply today is the same Jesus who will raise us from the dead someday. Are you satisfied?
This leads us to our last question. “Where and when did Jesus take hold of you?” Was it an odd place? Is there anyone here who had Jesus take hold of them in the 1950’s?
For Paul, it was on that Damascus road, Jesus apprehended him. He literally knocked him down and rendered him blind. That is a powerful way to be taken hold of. Probably none of us had such a dramatic conversion experience. But all of us were taken hold of when Jesus came into our lives.
The third way we can know Christ better is by pressing on to take hold of that which God has taken hold of us. I realize that is kind of confusing, but let me use a superhero analogy. Bruce Banner kept trying to figure out how he became the Hulk and stop it from ever happening again. But Paul in this passage states he was leaning into this glorious transformation so he could become all that God had intended him to be.
Most of us just thank Jesus for making me a new creation but we don’t pursue all that transformation. Paul wants this dynamic grace to repeat itself within him. He wasn’t settling for a one-time powerful display of God’s grace. He wanted God to do it again. Make me the Hulk.
That is why he says he forgets about his past. Paul’s accomplishments and his failures could have kept him from experiencing God’s power anew. His successes could have easily made him comfortable. I have done a lot for the Lord. I can take it easy. His failures could also paralyze him from seeking all that God wants to do in his life. Paul already struggled with the guilt of his past calling himself the least of the apostles. He wouldn’t allow it to stop his pursuit.
We should not allow our successes or our failures to hinder us from experiencing that transformation grace again. We can’t allow our trophies or our regrets keep us from asking God to do it again. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18 how he desired to be “transformed from glory to glory by the Spirit of God”. The Lord doesn’t want His transforming work in our lives to be a one-time experience. He desires it to fuel our continual pursuit to be made like Christ. I love what happened to me back in 1980, but I am thrilled that God is still changing me as I attempt to take hold of what he took hold of me.
Paul then turns to an athletic image to convey his passion to take hold of that for which Jesus took hold of him. He says he “strains” forward. It is like a runner nearing the finish line and he’s leaning forward. His eyes are ahead. His chest is extended. His arms are working. Everything about him is directed toward the finish. That’s Paul’s picture of taking hold of that which took hold of him. It requires laser focus on what is important.
The biggest obstacles to experiencing this transformation over and over again are distractions. Whether it is our favorite hobbies, our family commitments, our future, nothing should distract us from becoming all that God wants us to be. As Paul writes in verse 14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” What an exciting future we have when our conversion isn’t merely something we memorialize from the past, but the beginning of a transforming work of grace that continues making us like Christ.
This morning, do you know Jesus? He knows your name! He wants to have a personal relationship with you. One of the greatest statements we can make is “I know Jesus”. I know the One who created everything we see. I know the One who is all powerful and all knowing. I know the One who someday will return to this earth and set everything straight. If you don’t know Jesus, please allow Him to take hold of you this morning. You will never regret it.
But for those of us who know Jesus, how well do you know him? Are you satisfied? Because if you are, you really are missing out. Let’s get to know him even better. Let’s make him our first priority. He should be more important than anything else in our lives. Let’s not just know Jesus, but let’s never be satisfied with our relationship with Him. Let’s get to know the power of the resurrection and if that means we must suffer, that’s okay as well. Let’s not just know Jesus, let’s become everything He took hold of us to be. When we are pursuing Jesus like this, there will be comfort for our hearts and grace to move forward with our lives. Because the better we know Jesus here, the more confidence we have about where this journey ends: in His presence, in resurrection, and in life forevermore. Let’s stand.
