The worth of knowing Christ

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! Philippians 3:8-11

For the Apostle Paul, nothing matters in this world than to know Christ his Lord and Savior. To know Christ as Lord and Savior means that you experience Him, His working in and through your life. You cannot just have a second hand experience of who God is by just listening to testimonies from others of their walk with the Lord. You have your own unique experience of God’s working in your life. In fact, this is what Jesus prayed for at the Garden of Gethsemane. “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” (John 17:3). This is His desire for every believer, that each one will have their own experience of who God is as revealed from His word. You could experience God the way Paul experienced God’s mighty power working through Him. He realized that God will sustain him during times of trials. He also believed that times of sufferings because of his faith in God are opportunities to manifest God’s power. Because of this resolve, no matter what life would bring to him, he will experience the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). It is God’s purpose that you as His child will experience fully who He is in your daily living. This is so you could constantly rely and trust in Him. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

Blessings,

Noel De Guzman Westside Baptist Church Los Angeles, CA