The Reason We Live.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Good morning church!
We are half way through our study
of Paul’s letter to the Philippian Christians.
We spent a lot of time on Chapter 2
because we wanted to take our time
mining the spiritual riches
and revelations found there.
But you may be happy to know
that we are now moving on to chapter 3.
We are going to focus on Paul’s discussion
of KNOWING Christ.
So this week
I am going to talk about spiritual elevation
and transformation.
I’m going start in the middle of the chapter-
but don’t let this confuse you.
We’ll get back to the first few verses next week
when we talk about Joy-
so stay tuned and come back next week
for the other half of this exciting message.
Be Transformed
Be Transformed
I will never forget the day I came to truly KNOW Jesus
(Share testimony with emphasis on Jesus’ transformation with the following ending)
My friend ran into me as I was leaving the sanctuary
and he stopped,
looked at me,
then joyfully exclaimed,
“Kimo Baker
you just got saved didn’t you?!”
He could see it in my face.
Coming to know Jesus-
to encounter his transforming power,
had a visual effect on me.
Over and over again throughout Scripture
we see how encountering God
impacts people.
In Exodus 34
we find the story of Israel’s great leader
Moses
ascending Mount Sini
to receive a message from God.
While there,
Moses gets a tiny glimpse of God’s glory,
just a split-second impression
and yet that encounter
was transformative.
When Moses came down from the mountain
his face literally glowed.
It shone so much
that the people were actually afraid.
When the prophet Ezekiel encountered God in a vision,
His glory so overwhelmed Ezekiel
that he fell on his face.
The disciples,
Peter, James, and John
on the mount of transfiguration
encountered the glorified Christ.
They were so overwhelmed
that they fell face down on the ground.
The disciple John had a vision of the glorified Christ
and he fell at Jesus’ feet
as if dead.
And Paul on the road to Damascus
had a vision of the resurrected Jesus,
he fell on his face
and when he arose to his feet-
he was a changed man.
In Philippians 3:4-6,
Paul gives us a look at what his life was like
before he encountered Jesus.
I love how the paraphrase version of these verses
gives a fresh interpretation
of this powerful passage.
Let’s look at it together. Philippians 3:4-6 (MSG)
even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Ben-jamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.
Before coming to KNOW Jesus, Paul thought he had it all.
But when Paul had a vision of Jesus
on the road to Damascus
everything changed.
Basically in these verses
Paul says
I am no longer a “fan” of Paul.
Nope- not a fan.
But I am a fan of Jesus IN Paul.
As Paul declares in verses
Philippians 3:7-9
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.
This passage and all of Philippians 3
revolves around the ideal
of
Knowing Christ.
Knowing Christ.
Thus, point one this morning is:
1. Knowing Christ leads to spiritual elevation.
Read with me Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV),
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Friends,
God is calling you heavenward.
Earlier in verse 8
Paul tells us that knowing Christ
is the highest privilege.
Church,
the greatest thing in life
is to know God.
And the amazing thing is,
knowing Christ
helps us realize our own spiritual potential.
If you are struggling with your spiritual growth,
Christ wants to energize you this morning.
If you push in to know Him better,
His Holy Spirit will elevate you
to a whole new level.
Pastor and author TD Jakes explains,
“Jesus has the secret to my potential.
And He has hid it in His person.
And I had to chase Him
to find out who I really was.
He had the key to the mystery of me
and I had no chance
of unlocking the door to myself
without getting to the key.
and He took the key
and hid it in His garments
and started up the mountain.
And told me,
‘You’ll never know if you don’t chase me.’
So I had to go outside my comfort
to catch Him.
I had to reach beyond my selfish appetites
to reach Him.
I had to overcome my fear
to chase Him.
I had to fight off my inner reservations
and my timidity
because He kept going higher and higher
And many times I wanted to go back
but I reminded myself
that He has got the key in His garment,
the key to me
to who I am,
to why I am,
to what I can be.
I had to chase Him…
to where the air was thin
and the climate was cold
but it is up there,
on the top of the mountain,
where transfiguration takes place.
I had to go-
to not only see who Jesus is,
in all His power,
but to see who I truly am.”
That leads us to the second point this morning.
2. The Secret to spiritual elevation is transformation.
In Philippians 3:10-11
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
He wants to KNOW Christ.
The word used here in the Greek
is gnōnai
it speaks of more than just head knowledge
it means
“to know especially through personal experience.”
Paul wants to personally experience
the power that raised Christ from the dead.
That kind of spiritual experience
is on a whole new level.
You can get all kinds of head knowledge about Jesus
but it is a whole other level
to experience the kind of power
that raised Christ form the dead.
That kind of elevation
made Moses’ face glow.
When John encountered that kind of power
he fell to his face as if dead.
That kind of spiritual elevation
is like the view from the top of the mountain.
I want to experience that.
I want it so bad I can taste it.
How about you church?
Are you like Paul?
Do you want to experience more of Christ?
Before you answer
remember Paul’s next assertion.
He says,
Wait for it…
“I want to participate in His suffering.”
Wait…
What..?
What did he say?
Why in the world would Paul want that?
Because he knows
that we cannot truly know Jesus
until we know His love
and His love led Him to a Roman cross.
Another meaning
for the Greek word for suffering in this verse
is passion.
You want to know the power of Christ’s resurrection?
You have to experience His passion first.
You have to be consumed by His love.
Not just His love for you
but His love for others.
Paul isn’t talking about any kind of suffering here.
He isn’t a sadist.
He doesn’t enjoy pain.
No,
what he is talking about here
is personally experiencing
Christ’s all-consuming passion and love
for others
so much so
that there is nothing you are not willing to endure
so that you can share Christ’s amazing love
with the hurting people around you.
When you know-
when you personally experience
that kind of passion,
that kind of love-
than you become like Jesus in his death-
you willingly take up your cross daily
to follow Him-
all the while sacrificially loving others
and telling of the good news of Jesus.
That leads to our third point this morning:
3. Transformation is a process.
One of the most difficult
New Testament truths to understand
is that transformation
is a now but not yet promise.
The moment you gave your life to Jesus.
You are His.
You are in Christ.
Let’s re-read Philippians 3:14 (NIV):
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenward
in Christ Jesus.”
Take note of the phrase
“in Christ Jesus.”
So often
we think about our relationship with God
in terms of
“how can I get right with Him.”
That produces a transactional kind of relationship.
“If I do x
then I can get right with God.”
“If I stop doing x
then I can get right with God.”
If I go to church or attend mass
or if I stop smoking or stop swearing
or go to confession or do this
or stop that-
then I can get right with God.
Friends,
you are NOT a transaction to God.
You are His beloved.
He loves you.
He loves you so much
that He sent Jesus
to come and pay the transactional price.
In other words,
Jesus died to take sin
out of the equation.
There is nothing you can ever do
to make yourself
and keep yourself
right with God.
Because Jesus
has already made you right with Him.
And if you have put your faith
and trust in Jesus
then it’s a done deal
you are IN Christ Jesus.
Now that you are in Christ-
NOTHING can separate you from Him.
There is no situation or circumstance
that can separate you from His love.
No word or action from people
that can ever separate you from His love.
As Romans 8:38-39
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
declares, (NLT)
“And I am convinced
that nothing can ever separate us
from God’s love.
Neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today
nor our worries about tomorrow—
not even the powers of hell
can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above
or in the earth below—
indeed, nothing in all creation
will ever be able to separate us
from the love of God
that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Speaker Graham Cooke shares,
“God has put Christ in you
and then He put you into Him
so that He could love you
in the same way that He loves Jesus.
His grace, His goodness,
His power, His overwhelming love for you
is new every day.
It won’t run out,
you don’t have to ration it,
it is new every single day.
Fresh every day is the faithfulness of God…
You can try to run,
you can try to push God away
but absolutely nothing can separate you
from His love for you.
He will come after you with His lavish love.
You have to continue being loved.
Nothing separates you from it.
Welcome to the rest of your life.” End Quote
If you are a Christian,
than in many ways
you have already been transformed.
When God looks at you,
He no longer sees your old sinful self.
Instead
He sees Jesus in you.
That is the now part of the promise.
We are children of God.
We are His beloved.
However,
as we talked about last Sunday,
no one is perfect.
Even though we are Christians,
we still make mistakes and we still sin.
The process of transformation began
when you gave your life to Christ
but you have not yet received
the fullness of that promise.
Take a look at Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV),
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Heaven is where we will see
the completion of the promise
where the transformation will be complete.
But we don’t have to just wait till then.
Transformation is a process.
Friends,
God introduces important information
during a church service
but the real training happens out there.
God trains you
in the circumstance of your everyday living.
Consequently,
there is not a situation or circumstance in your life
through which God cannot reveal more of Himself to you.
He wants to transform you.
He wants to elevate you to access more
of the Holy Spirit’s power
that is at work in and through you.
The Greek word for transformation
is metamórfosi.
It is where we get our word
metamorphosis.
T.D. Jakes explains,
“Transformed-
metamorphosis-
to go from the silk worm
to the butterfly…
(use your hand to demonstrate the twisting up of the silk worm in his cocoon)
It is the change in me…
Same DNA but different presentation.
Some people may try to stop you
in the middle of your metamorphosis
and try to prevent you from completing your change.
People meet you as you turn,
they tend to define you by the twist,
but they don’t understand.
You say don’t judge me yet
because I’m still spinning.
I’m still spinning.
I’m still spinning.
I’m coming out of my grave clothes,
I’m still wrestling with where I came from.
I’m still becoming what He called me to.
I’m still spinning…
I’m 40 and I’m still spinning.
I’m 70 and I’m still spinning.
I thought it would be over by now
but I am still spinning.
I am coming out of my cocoon.
Finding my wings,
figuring out I can fly in this dimension-
where I crawled in that dimension.
I am becoming.
I have not fully become.” End Quote
(Phil. 3:12-14, NIV)
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Transformation is a process
It started the very moment
you gave your life to Christ
and will be complete in heaven.
In the meantime,
Paul tells us that we must press on.
The process of transformation
is like climbing a mountain.
The climb may be difficult
but press on
because I promise you
The view from the top is worth it!
The process of transformation
is also like running a race.
Hebrews 12:1 encourages us,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
VIDEO
God is transforming you.
As you come to know Him more
He will elevate you
and you will see Him do the unthinkable in your life.
Let us pray.
