OUR TRUE GOAL IS TO KNOW CHRIST
PHILIPPIANS 3:8-10
Introduction:
“The true goal of the Christian life is heaven; nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.” This statement appeared in a Christian journal and was challenged by a Baptist pastor.
Our true goal is not heaven, but to know Christ. That is what the Apostle Paul is teaching in this passage.
I. PAUL WAS DETERMINED NOT TO KNOW ANYTHING EXCEPT JESUS CHRIST
A. Paul was determined to preach no other thing except Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
“Any one that heard Paul preach found him to harp so continually on this string that he would say he knew nothing but Christ and him crucified.” —Matthew Henry
B. Paul considered the knowledge of Christ worth the loss of everything, v. 8, “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,”
1. Outside of Christ there was no profit, Matthew 16:26, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
2. Outside of the knowledge of Christ there was only loss, v. 7, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”
II. THE LOVE OF CHRIST PASSES KNOWLEDGE
A. To know the love of Christ is to be filled with the knowledge of God, Ephesians 3:19, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
1. The workers of iniquity have no knowledge of God, Psalm 53:4, “Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.”
2. They do not have the beginning of knowledge, Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
3. They hated knowledge, Proverbs 1:29-30, “For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.”
B. This knowledge is eternal life, John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
1. To know Jesus is to know the Father, John 14:8-10, “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”
2. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, 1 Timothy 6:14-15, “That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;”
a. Blessed are those who are admitted to dwell with this great and blessed Potentate, 1 Kings 10:8, “Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.”
b. For He only is holy, Revelation 15:4, “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.”
3. To know Christ is to rejoice in Him, 1 Peter 4:13, “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
a. To rest satisfied in the trust you have in him, Psalm 34:22, “The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.”
b. To rest satisfied in the benefits you have in him, Psalm 103:2-5, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 5Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
CONCLUSION
2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Thank the Lord for His goodness to us. He has allowed us to know Him as our Savior. There is so much more to know about our Lord that our life time will be spent before we fully know all there is to know.