Philippians 3:10 “That I may know Him…”
From the early days of my youth, I have known the Lord. I was first introduced to Christ through children’s programs in church. My introduction to Christ was through Bible stories of Jesus’ life. I remember pictures of Jesus feeding the multitudes, healing the blind, and raising the dead.
My teachers taught about Jesus walking on the water and speaking to the multitudes. Nothing of Jesus’ life was missed in those Bible stories, not even His death and resurrection. Although I have been tutored and instructed about the life of Christ, I am still in the process of knowing Him.
I have heard His name from the day of my birth, but I am still learning more of the power of His name. I have experienced the great and full joy of His salvation, but I have not exhausted the depth of His mercy and grace. He has demonstrated His power to keep and deliver to me, but I have not known the fullness of Christ’s power. I have witnessed the might of His healing mercy and grace. I have seen many miracles and acts of Christ’s power. He has made the blind see, the lame walk, and the deaf hear. He has done so many miracles of healing that I cannot recount them all. I have recognized the power of His blood when I have combated and gained victory over evil forces of darkness. Countless times I have felt the comforting power of Christ’s presence when the flood of the enemy came in.
When the Apostle Paul was considering Christ, he said Jesus was worth more than anything to him.
Philippians 3:7 NKJV But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
This degree of knowing the Lord assigns greater value or worth to Christ than anything else. This is not referring to a basic knowledge of religion or the Christian faith. This is really knowing Christ.
Have you ever gained something that you thought was of great value? Maybe you got that wedding ring you always wanted. It might have been an achievement or promotion.
The Apostle is saying that Christ is better than anything else.
Philippians 3:8 NKJV Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Look at this.
Can you relate to this deep desire to know Christ Jesus? You can say, “I have gained Christ!”
Think about this!
Gaining Christ is not just gaining His benefits. It is one thing to reap the blessing of His fishes and loaves. He daily loads us down with benefits. We rejoice with exceeding joy over the bondage of our chains being broken and being released into the glorious freedom of new life. We have gained the mercy of His cleansing and salvation and have experienced the bounty of His great grace.
Greater yet is gaining Christ. Gaining Christ is not just the wealth of what He can do for us, it is gaining Him Who is the source of God’s richness, bounty and favor. Gaining Christ is much more than striving to be perfect. It is sharing in the richness of what He is and what He has achieved for us. Gaining Christ is gaining the source of every blessing.
The Epistles often talk about the riches of Christ and our fellowship with Him.
Philippians 3:9 NKJV That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
The language here begins unpacking what it means to gain Christ. We must come to realize what it means to be found in Him, to gain Christ. The text tells us that in Him we do not rely on our own righteousness, but on the righteousness of God that is in Christ.
Think about the depth of what this is saying.
In our own righteousness, we are not able to stand before God in purity without condemnation. However, your new life in Christ is free from condemnation.
Romans 8:1 NKJV There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
God has provided freedom from the condemnation and bondage that was as a result of Adam and Eve’s actions. In Christ Jesus, you can truly experience release and freedom. The bondage of past sins and condemnation is broken in Christ. You should stop and give Him some praise.
Philippians 3:10-11 NKJV That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Now the text shows us four degrees of knowing Him.
It is my belief that we think that we know Christ in many other ways. We have recited and know His name and wonderful works. We have listened to the words, “His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save from sin.” His name is called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We know Him as Shepherd, Healer, Deliverer, and Savior. He is the Rock and Shelter. He is the Strong Defense. He is the ever present Emmanuel. Knowing Him is delving deeply into not only what He can do for us but also experiencing the transformation that comes as a result of having a new life in Christ.
Look at these four areas of knowing Him.
The first degree of knowing Him is in His person or personally.
Much can be learned about Christ from reading what He was and did for other people. By knowing of the Christ that other people have known helps us understand Who He is.
Yet, personal experience is needed to really know Him. We must walk with Him on the water. By faith, we must touch the print of the nail in His hand. We must sit under His training and truly hear His life-changing word. We must lay our head on His breast, abide under His shadow, and be changed by His touch. We must learn to know Him.
The second degree of knowing Him is in the power of His resurrection.
These two are inseparable. Jesus’ person is not just the precious baby in a manger. He is the resurrected and glorious God our Savior. The disciples walked with Jesus and sat under His training, yet in many ways they did not know Him until after His resurrection from the dead. Often they sat with Jesus and asked Him to show them Who He was and to reveal the Father to them. It is amazing that they heard His words, witnessed His miracles and power and still not know Him. Jesus asked them, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me?” (John 14:9)
To really know Him, we must know Him in the power of His resurrection.
The expression, “that I may know Him” is a parallel to “that I may gain Christ.” The power of His resurrection is the victory that Christ gained over death and the grave. That power is not only manifest in Christ’s arising from the dead, but also in the work that is achieved in the life of the believer.
Knowing Christ in the power of His resurrection is revealed in Ephesians 1:17-23.
Ephesians 1:17 NKJV That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
God the Father of glory wants you to have this revelation and knowledge of Christ. When you receive this revelation, you will look at things differently.
Ephesians 1:18-23 NKJV the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection is more than knowing that Christ arose.
It is entering into that new life in Christ. It is no longer being under the dominion, principality, power and might of the enemy, but being under the dominion of Christ’s victory. It is fellowshipping Christ’s resurrection victory and personal entrance into His victory that overcomes the world. It is being joined with Christ in freedom from the power that holds and binds sinners. When Christ arose from the grave, He did this for us so that we may participate in this new life in Him. Knowing Christ in the power of His resurrection is walking in newness of life and being united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection.
The third part of knowing Christ associates us with the power of His cross, blood, and atoning suffering.
Philippians 3:10-11 NKJV That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
The fellowship of His sufferings brings us into the unity of Christ’s bearing our sin, sickness, and shame in His body. The dying of Jesus must be connected with our personal transgressions and needs. If Christ died without addressing our sin, sickness, and fallen estate, it was in vain. He bore our suffering, penalty, sin and shame. We must reckon and know that Jesus suffered for us.
Romans 6:7-8 NKJV For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Romans 6:10-11 NKJV For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It is impossible to separate the death of Christ from His suffering. Likewise, we cannot separate the suffering of Christ from the purpose for the cross. The suffering and the cross are for our benefit. Christ’s suffering is associated with all of our iniquities, transgressions, and need for peace. We must not forget all His benefits. In every aspect of our life, we must fellowship Christ. In our victories and struggles, our lives are associated with Him. Our weaknesses, sicknesses, distresses and dying must be associated with Christ.
It should become impossible for us to live separated from Christ.
“In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) “In every thing by word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,” (Colossians 3:17). The life that we live is an extension of the victory that Christ achieved through His suffering.
Psalm 103:2-5 NKJV Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
“In Christ” is more than a proverb, it is a life experience. We know Christ as our Savior, Healer, and Protector. He is our Joy, Peace, and Life. He is the Lover of our soul.
Philippians 3:10-11 NKJV That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
The fourth degree of knowing Christ is being conformed to His death.
This is more than dying to sin, although that is definitely included. Our focus is no longer on sin but resurrection life and victory over the power of death. If our focus is only on dying to things in our lives, we have not gained this new life of victory in Christ. We are pressing on to lay hold and make our own the perfection for which Christ Jesus has possessed us.
What Jesus achieved on the cross and through His suffering must be realized in new life in us. This perfection can only be realized by knowing Christ. Know Him in the power of His resurrection. Know the benefits of His resurrection. Know His victories over Satan and sin. Know His abundant life and conquering power. Know the power of the Spirit of His resurrection.
The ultimate degree of knowing Christ is in our attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Ultimately, we will know Christ in a way that we cannot know Him now.
1 John 3:1-3 NKJV Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
We have known His salvation, cleansing, and new life. We are looking for the day that we shall know Him in His glory and be transformed and be like Him. What a glorious day that will be!
