Knowing Christ

1 Kings 13-14; 2 Chronicles 12; Philippians 3 

“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, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:10

For Paul, knowing Christ meant more than meeting him on the road to Damascus Road. For Paul, to knowing Christ meant, becoming like Christ in his death and resurrection – not just at the point of his physical death, but in his spiritual death and new birth at conversion. More than that, the cycle of death to self and resurrection life and empowerment was a key to daily living as Jesus lived. The only way Paul, or any of us, can know Christ in this way is if his Spirit daily empowers us to obey Jesus and deny ourselves. Jesus called this the mark of his disciples. Knowing Christ without obeying him, without “living up to what we have already attained”, means we don’t actually know Christ, only about Christ. Paul had the humility to acknowledge that the pursuit of knowing Christ was a journey with daily choices if he was to finish well.

Do we want to know Christ, really know him?

“Lord Jesus, I desire to know you this day in surrender, obedience, and faith, for your glory.”