Gnowing Christ

Knowing Christ

I think I am truly understanding Paul's statement below and accepting it deeply. Until now I only heard it and understood it intellectually, now I've taken it to heart. It is a building block of what I am now. It has become part of me. Intellectually I knew the resurrection and Jesus Christ, it is the first part of this unit that strikes a resounding note now...

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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 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 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.~Philippians 3:7-11

Even now as a believer it has taken time to allow this thought to permeate my being. Like dew can slowly soak into you until you are drenched. This is how this has thoroughly saturated me on a spiritual level. The word knowledge/knowing Christ here is [Greek: gnosis]...this is not an intellectual knowing as I previously understood it. Nor had I acted on it that way. It is a word that comes from "ginosko" which is to know in an experimental way. More specifically "ginosko" is used to translate the Old Testament word ידה [yadah], that word in the Old Testament speaks of a union of love like a child to a parent. It carries the meaning of absolute surrender as a young child does to a parent, "pick me up, I'm all yours". Intimacy. Surrender.

A Similar usage of the word: "I am the good shepherd, and I know [ginosko] My own and My own know [ginosko] Me..." ~John 10:14

Paul in Philippians 3 is referring to a relationship (of give-and-take). It isn't a relationship that needs to mature from His side it is my side that needs work. Relationships for most people take time they do not happen overnight. In my case it took time until my relationship with Him has matured to a point where everything began to pale by comparison. It took time for me to work the world out of the corners of my mind where it had taken up residence like an illegal squatter in my head. Paul also counted everything he had done to the point of writing this letter to the Philippians as a rubbish [Greek: skubalon]: what is thrown to the dogs--dung, feces! Why. Because of the surpassing worth of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

This situation is obviously not God's fault, it is mine. He could do it instantaneously but what would I learn from it. Through his death and Resurrection He has allowed me to again have the relationship that we all were created to have with Him. The type of relationship that we were suppose to have before sin entered the picture and helped ruin man. It isn't like I need help ruining things. As Paul said, even my best was worthless.