The Goal of Knowing Christ

This morning we are looking at the Goal of Knowing Christ. If you were here last week or perhaps listened online you know that we talked about forming habits for following Jesus. We talked about how easy it is to get into the routines of life and soon run out of time for Jesus in our busy lives. We saw how 7 of Jesus’ closest disciples forgot what Jesus voice sounded like just a few weeks after his death and resurrection on the cross.

This week we are going to look at a portion of the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. He will give us some good applications for how we should be working towards a perfect relationship with Jesus and what they may look like.

Before we get there though I want to sort of set the stage with a little background on the book of Philippians.

Paul wrote the letter or book of Philippians while in prison in Rome. He certainly had a lot of time on his hands to write but he also had a lot of time to think, to be concerned and to worry, and that is exactly what he did was worry and be concerned. Prior to his imprisonment he had traveled on his third missionary journey and come from Corinth. This would have been a painful visit for Paul due to a lot of issues with the believers in Corinth. Things would not have been the way Paul wanted them in Corinth and it seems to spill over to his writing this letter to the Philippians.

Philippians 3:10–11 “10 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, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”

Paul hasn’t lost any of the zeal he displayed pre-Damascus road, he has just re-directed the focus to Jesus. So, that helps to explain some of the language and tone that we read in our passage this morning. This letter really is a joyful letter but it has some undertones that we will explore this morning.

If a perfect relationship with God is something Christ has already taken hold of for us, what is one area of your life where you are still trying to earn it instead of trusting Him to perfect you?

Prayer

Philippians 3:12–21 NLT

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. 17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Perfect Relationship

I wonder this morning if anyone here is in a relationship with someone else and if you would refer to that relationship as a “Perfect Relationship”?

Maybe there is a husband and wife this morning that you would honestly say that your relationship is perfect. No issues, always loving, always agreeing with your spouse? Maybe a parent child relationship this morning that is perfect? Mom or dad supply everything the child could ever want, the child obeys mom and dad all the time?

A "perfect" relationship isn't flawless but is a healthy, fulfilling partnership built on mutual respect, trust, open communication, and support, where both individuals feel safe, valued, and free to grow while maintaining their independence and shared goals. It involves navigating conflicts constructively, respecting boundaries, and consistently putting in effort and compromise, rather than an absence of problems.

I think perhaps you would agree with me that a perfect relationship is something that is difficult to have would you not? Certainly I would say that there are many here this morning that would admit they have a very good, strong, healthy relationship with someone but if we are honest that relationship comes with some hard work.

I think for all of us while we desire to have a perfect relationship with God there are times in our lives when its not so perfect. There are times when we feel like we know better than God and so we go off and we try something on our own. We are human and we have been born into sin. In order for us to understand what that perfect relationship with God would look like we have to go back to when it was perfect and for that very short period of time before sin.

Genesis 1:26–31 “26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. 31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.”

Notice how God says that he looked over all he had made and saw that it was very good? Up to this point in the creation story we read that “God saw that it was good”. Here at the end of his 6 days of work God says it is very good. It is just like he had planned it, everything was in perfect harmony with one another.

Paul says that he has not reached perfection, that he is still pressing on toward that goal. In the first 11 verses of chapter 3 Paul tells us that nothing compares to the knowledge of Christ. He talks boldly about that and even uses some harsh words and phrases to make his point. He talks about the ever present topic of circumcision and he warns them to watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators. There was a common theme among many of the “educated” religious leaders in that time that thought they had to follow the laws of the Tora to the extent of the law. Circumcision was one of those that often got abused and the people performing these circumcisions were literally mutilating the boys and men but they were doing so because they felt it earned them favor.

Paul goes on to state his upbringing and his education and he says in verse 8

Philippians 3:8 “8 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”

The NIV says its all garbage. The education that Paul received, the status as a pharisee all of it was garbage and worthless when compared to the infinite value of knowing Christ.

He says that he presses on to possess that perfection or that perfect relationship with Jesus. The one the Jesus first possessed me. The NIV says to take hold of that which Christ first took hold of me.

If it wasn’t for what Jesus did on that road to Damascus Paul would still be persecuting the church. See it was Christ who took hold of Paul first, set him on the right path and gave him a purpose. Ever since that moment Jesus has been perfecting his relationship with Paul.

You see its nothing that we can do but it starts with God. If we look back at the creation story and finish with Adam we will see that Adam was formed from the dust of the earth right? There was no special mixture of water and flour that created Adam but it was every day dust from the earth that gave Adam the form and structure. Then it was God’s gift of breath that brought that dust form to life.

Genesis 2:7 “7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”

Adam didn’t do a thing to come to life but it was the breath of God that made man become a living person. Same is for you and I today, same was for the disciples and Paul. Nothing in our doings but all in God’s timing and plan. God has initiated the desire to have a perfect relations with us but its the sin of the world that is causing us grief.

When we become his children we are declared not guilty and thus righteous because of what Christ did on the cross. We are perfect because of our eternal union with the infinitely perfect Christ.

Perfect Progress

We can continue to grow and mature spiritually as we continue to trust in Jesus, learning more about him, drawing closer to him and obeying him.

The thing about perfect progress is that its an evolving trait. I can remember my days in school. I will have to admit that I was not a good student in much of my time in school. I was actually so bad that I even would intercept the mail if I saw something come from the school addressed to my parents. I would not want them to see my progress report because there was never much good in that report.

I am not proud of my results in school but I can not change the that and so I simply need to move forward and do better.

Paul says he focuses on one thing and that is forgetting the past and looking at what lies ahead. Some think that what Paul is saying is that he wants to forget the days before his conversion, that he wants to forget and leave behind those traits he talks about earlier in

Philippians 3:5–6 “5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.”

but I don’t think its that he wants to forget them necessarily. They are part of his past but they also serve as a reminder of where he was and how far he has come. He is able to see the progress he has made since the days of persecuting the church. Just like for me while I am not happy of my past failures in school its a reminder of the progress I have made.

NT Wright says this in his book on Paul

He is not saying, “I’ve decided to move from my old house to a nicer one down the road.” He is saying that his own home has been taken over by the architect who built it in the first place and that it is now being rebuilt around him.

Jesus, the one that took ahold of him on the road to Damascus is changing the life of Paul, he is molding the new Paul into the person he was intended to be and so Paul is able to see that progress in his life.

If you think about a runner, either a sprinter or long distant runner they never look back because by turning your head or your upper body will slow you down, it may cause your eyes to be looking at something else and miss what lies ahead.

In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth Paul says:

1 Corinthians 9:24–26 “24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.”

Press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Jesus Christ is calling you to.

This “calling” that Paul is talking about is the same calling that we read about in the Old Testament when God called to Israel to be his people. Its the same calling that God gave to Abraham when he called him into service and made a covenant with him to bless him and that his descendants would be more numerous that the sand on the sea shore.

He is calling us into fellowship with Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:9 “9 God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

and he is calling us into His kingdom.

1 Thessalonians 2:12 “12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.”

Our progress is changeable because it depends on our daily walk. We mature more during some seasons of life than others. Its not the good deeds that we do that perfect us, rather as God perfects us we do good deeds for him.

Paul says that we must hold on to the progress we have already made. He says let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. The Greek translation for spiritually mature means perfect. So Paul just a few verses early says he has not reached perfection but not he puts himself into the same category of the spiritually mature or the perfect. He is however not talking about perfection in the ultimate sense but instead have gained the maturity necessary to distinguish wisdom of God from the wisdom of the world.

Paul would write in his first letter to the Corinthians that:

1 Corinthians 2:6 “6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten.”

The wisdom of this world is going against Jesus today even harder than it was in Paul’s day. You dont have to look very deep in the news to see that. What use to be things you read about in distant countries is now taking place in our backyards. This past week we have seen this take shape both in Minneapolis and in Portland. We see it daily in our governments all across the country. The fighting and bitterness that is on display is heart-breaking and very tough to see. For many of us its a full-time job just to know what you read or see on the news is real and not AI generated.

Colossians 1:28 “28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.”

Here again Paul uses the word perfect to mean mature in their relationship to Christ. If we dont know Christ then how are we able to tell others about him?

As you press on and strive to achieve perfection Paul says to imitate him, to pattern your life after his and learn from those who follow our example. Throughout his letter he gives direction to follow not only him but Christ.

Philippians 2:5 “5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

Again in order for us to have the same attitude of Christ Jesus we need to know him first.

He closes the chapter looking forward to the day of our complete perfection.

Complete Perfection

When Christ returns to take us into his eternal kingdom, we will be glorified and made completely perfect.

Paul says in:

Philippians 3:20–21 “20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”

With this ending statement he is reminding the Philippians of three truths.

First that as long as we are still in our mortal bodies that we have not been made to complete perfection and that Paul and the Philippians and you and I will stand one day before the Christ to give an account of ourselves. Paul hopes that we will stand before the Savior pure and blameless.

Philippians 1:10 “10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.”

Second that we have not yet arrived at our ultimate goal. We have not fully apprehended Christ’s resurrection power and that we must wait patiently but also eagerly for Christs appearance and full conformity to His resurrection body.

Third verse 21 echoes the description of Christ’s humiliation and exaltation, that Christ humbled himself, became obedient unto death on the cross and was exalted as a result.

Philippians 2:6–11 “6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one of love and affection. Its clear that Paul loved the people while at the same time he wanted to make certain that they knew who Jesus was because:

Knowing Jesus helps us understand everything else in our life.

Its so easy as we saw last week to get into a routine of life and forget who Jesus is. We saw how just a few short days after Jesus was crucified on a cross and raised from the dead that 7 of His closest disciples had gone back to their pre-Jesus lives and were not able to recognize the voice of their saviour.

So that is why its so important for us today to stay grounded in scripture. To maintain habits of knowing Jesus. That is why every time that I sit down to read and study scripture I ask God to shine his light on the words that he wants me to read. It seems that so often I read a passage or section of the bible multiple times and each time I can glean a new understanding. I then ask Jesus to grant me knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge to know who Jesus is and wisdom to share with others. Then I ask the Holy Spirit to guard my mind. If your like me my mind can wander away pretty easily. To much stuff in your mind can cloud you from hearing from God.

We can learn a lot by studying Paul. He told the Philippians to follow him as their example and that can be true of us today. We need to have or to develop a habit of following Jesus and when we follow Him its through Him that he works in our lives to bring us into a perfect relationship with God the Father. So that on that day of judgement when we all stand before the throne we can hear that Jesus’ blood shed on the cross covers our sins.

When we truly know that truth then we are called to

Matthew 28:19–20 “19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Philippians 4:8–9 “8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Amen