Knowing Christ

KNOWING CHRIST
PHILIPPAINS 3: 8-11

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— [10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

In the name of Jesus:

A few years ago there was a true story about a man in New York City who was kidnapped. His kidnappers called his wife and asked for $100,000 ransom. She talked them down to $30,000.
The story had a happy ending: the man returned home unharmed, the money was recovered, and the kidnappers were caught and sent to jail. But, don't you wonder what happened when the man got home and found that his wife got him back for a discount? The writer of this story imagined out loud what the negotiations must have been like: "$100,000 for that old guy? You have got to be crazy. Just look at him! Look at that gut! You want $100,000 for that? You've got to be kidding. Give me a break here. $30,000 is my top offer."
Now I imagine that there are some of you who can relate to this story. I can, in that I would hope that my wife would pay top dollar to get me back, but perhaps she might seek to use a coupon! Seriously, though, I think that each of us would hope and think that if we were in a similar situation, that the ones we love would spare no expense to get us back. They wouldn't haggle over the price. They wouldn't say, 'Well, let me think about it.' I like to think that they would say, 'We'll do anything for you.'"
Well, this is exactly what Paul says that God has said and done for you! You see, the Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Each of us, from birth, has been disconnected to God and from God. Martin Luther put it this way: we are in bondage to sin and we can’t free ourselves. And it is true, look around and that is why you see sin rearing its head in many forms: in hatred, prejudice, gossip, sickness, and death, just to name a few symptoms of this sickness that we all have. And this sin sickness ends in death, ultimately. We all die. That is our end. We can deny it, but we can’t escape it. We can think that it won’t happen to us, but it will. God says that the soul that sins will most certainly die. We die because we are sinful, we are sinners. We are alienated from God, and we need God’s help!
And help is what we have! Listen to the Word of God through the pen of Paul: “, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” that is to say, we have been made right with God and this is not of our own doing. This right standing with God is given as a free gift of His love. The human race is fallen race. We have fallen and we cannot right ourselves, we cannot pick ourselves up. But God can. And He has. He came down from heaven in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, has become our Substitute in life and death. In life, Jesus lived the perfect life and kept God’s Ten Commandments because we can’t. It then pleased God to offer up His only Son in death so that by the shed blood of Jesus Christ sinners would be forgiven. Mankind has been bought with a price, not with money, but with the blood of Jesus. We were not God’s people at birth because of our sinfulness, but He has made us His people by the blood of Jesus. We deserve God’s wrath and punishment, but we have received God’s mercy and love in Christ. You have been saved, as a free gift of God in Jesus Christ.
Salvation, what a wonderful gift, to know for certain, that you will be with the Lord, and with all who are the Lord’s, on that Last Day. On that Last Day, the Bible says that there will be a resurrection, that is, the dead will come to life again. To those who have believed in Christ in this life, theirs will be eternal life with Christ. To those who have rejected God’s offer of grace, they will die eternally.
Now I would like you consider, for a moment, the possibility of living forever, of being in heavenly bliss forever. It is difficult to imagine that in this lie, after all, we are confined by space and time. Our lives are limited, our knowledge, even time here on earth is limited. The old saying that all good things must come to an end is true. Our lives will end; the question is where will you spend eternity? If you could spend an eternity without pain, without stress, no fears, no worries, no sickness and death, hey that sounds like a pretty good deal, doesn’t it? That is the offer God has for you and the world we live in. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. This life is yours in Christ. To know Christ, which is to believe in Him, accepts God’s offer of forgiveness, life and salvation. This is what Paul means in our text: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” It is possible to live forever, and God makes this possibility a reality for all who believe in Jesus.
Let me be frank and a little bit personal here, if I may. The Davidson family knows the realities of life. Being a pastor and minister’s family doesn’t make us immune. We have our share of burdens. Last summer I flew to Florida to be with my dad as he died. I don’t share this with you for pity. I don’t want your pity; I just want you to understand that we live in a fallen world. Sin affects us all. Family and friends get sick, and will eventually die. Our comfort and hope is in knowing and believing in Christ. You see, I know that I will see my sainted mom and dad again, because they knew Christ and believed in Him. And we know as a family that when our loved ones die in the Lord that we will see them again, only in glory, perfected by Christ in the resurrection, because they in this life knew Jesus and believed in Him as their Lord and Savior.
Speaking for myself and for the members of Redeemer, I want, we want, you to have that assurance as well. This is why we have a pre school program, to tell little children about Jesus so that they will know and believe in Him. That is why we support and are active in mission work, simply to tell others about Jesus so that by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus, many more will be saved. That is why we are here today, to tell you about Jesus, so that you will know Jesus and His love, His help for you in time of need, His peace, His forgiveness, His assurance of eternal life.
And so this is why we invite you to believe in Christ. We can’t force you to believe, only offer and ask you to believe. We don’t try to coerce you only invite you to believe in Jesus. Jesus never once forced people to follow Him, but He always invited. That is why He says: I stand at the door and knock. Jesus knocks and asks you to believe and follow Him, so that by knowing and believing in Him, you will have eternal life. My greatest desire today is that you believe in Jesus, your children and other members of your family believe in Jesus, so that by believing in Jesus you will have life in His name.
I want to be clear; today we are not asking you to become a member of Redeemer Lutheran Church. Most certainly, we would love to have you as a member, but membership isn’t what this is about. I WANT TO SAY CLEARLY THAT IF YOU HAVE A CHURCH HOME, BE A FAITHUL MEMBER OF THAT CHURCH. ATTEND SERVICES THERE, BE ACTIVE. WE AREN’T LOOKING TO STEAL MEMBERS. BUT WE DO WANT TO OFFER TO YOU THE INVITATION TO, IF YOU HAVE NO CHURCH HOME, TO MAKE REDEEMER YOUR CHURCH HOME. Here you will hear the grace of God in Jesus. Here you will learn more about Jesus and His love for you. Our purpose, my purpose and mission as a pastor, is that I help you know Jesus so well in this life, so that you will recognize Him on the other side.
And so, I conclude with the words of the Apostle Paul: Come and be God’s friend, for he, Jesus, who knew no sin became sin for you, that by believing, you will have life in His name.
In Jesus’ name.

Amen