Inductive Bible Study – August 5, 2013
Philippians 3:8
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.
Interpretation
As in introduction to this verse it’s helpful to look at the
life of Paul and what he considered loss. Verses 4-6 of this chapter list off a
number of things that Paul had going for him that one of the world might look
at Paul (formerly Saul) and say, “this man has it all together”. We read that
Saul was ‘circumcised on the eighth day,
of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to
the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteous
under the law, blameless’. Looking from the outside in, from the world’s
point of view, Saul had it all together. We read of the account of the stoning
of Stephen in Acts chapter 8 where the witnesses laid down their garments at
the feet of Saul as a sign of respect; signifying the authority Saul had even
as a ‘young man’. We know that Saul was raised under the council of Gamaliel,
one of the most respected rabbis during this time whom we see his wisdom
displayed in the quenching of the threat of a mob with a convincing speech in
Acts chapter 5. Saul, in the Jewish culture was zealous for God, persecuting
the church in what he and his fellow Jews believed was devotion to God; trying
to wipe out what they believed was a cult and a threat to Judaism. He even had
the authority to receive letters to persecute the church in Damascus. His whole
world changed though when he experienced the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus as Lord.
Once Paul experienced Jesus and began to minister to the
lost sheep he began to count all the things of the world as loss… because of
the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.
For you, what does this mean? Well imagine yourself in the
perfect earthly scenario. Imagine yourself in 10 years from now in the most ideal
home you can imagine, with the perfect job, perfect spouse, perfect children, a
Mercedes in the garage, respect from your peers, and a life that is all falling
together; the American dream. Even in the most perfect scenario that we can
imagine on this earth, knowing Jesus Christ as Lord is of surpassing worth than
all these things. You know what dreams, hopes, aspirations, and goals you have
for your life. Whether it be making $100k+ a year in your ‘dream job’, whether
it be finding companionship that is real and will last, whether it be respect
from your friends and peers. None of these things in and of themselves is
wrong. But are you willing to consider these things as loss because of the
surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord?
To know Christ Jesus as Lord is the greatest thing we can do
on this earth. All other things will pass away but to know Christ; that is
eternal; that will last. I personally don’t want to get to the end of my life
and look back with regret with the life that I’ve lived; knowing that I lived
to serve self; that I lived to serve my dreams, hopes, goals, and aspirations.
I want to come to the end of my life knowing that I laid these things down
before the foot of the cross of Jesus and considered them as rubbish in order that
I may know Christ. Maybe the Lord will still use these goals and aspirations.
Just because the Lord asks you to lay something down on the altar doesn’t mean
that it’s going to be sacrificed. Abraham was willing to offer up Isaac on the
altar, his only son whom the promise of the nation of Israel was to go through,
but God didn’t want Abraham to lose Isaac, He only wanted to see if knowing God
was of surpassing worth to Abraham than all other things. And that’s what he
wants to do with you as well. He wants to see if knowing Jesus is of surpassing
worth to you than anything that you hold dearly in your heart. Some things He
may ask you to lay aside, other things He will test you to see if you are
willing to lay it aside so that if you surrender that thing in your heart it
can be used for God’s glory.
Let’s go back to Paul’s life. Take a minute to read Acts
20:17-38. Paul is finishing up his 2nd missionary journey and is on
his way back to Jerusalem by the will of God, trying to get there before the
Pentecost. On his voyage to Jerusalem by sea he stops at Miletus near Ephesus
and calls the elders of the church that he planted to encourage them and to say
goodbye as this very well may be the last time that he meets with them. The
elders and Paul know of the danger that lies ahead of him in Jerusalem where
very possibly he will be imprisoned or martyred for his zeal for Christ. But
Paul responds to this in verse 24, “But I
do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may
finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to
testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Paul was willing to lay aside
his own life and his own safety because of the surpassing worth of knowing
Christ. If you could label Paul’s life with one sentence, you could use his
famous words from Philippians 1:21, “For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
In your life are you able to say that? Are you able to say
that I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself? Can you
say that for me to live is Christ and to die is gain? What brought Paul to this
point of what we would call ‘radical faith’? Simply this, Paul was willing to
‘count all things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus as Lord’.
Search your heart for your dreams, hopes, goals, and
aspirations. Have you laid them down at the foot of the cross? Is there sin in
your life that is not dealt with? Anger, lust, unforgiveness, bitterness,
resentment, gossip? You can’t hear what God is asking us to lay down clearly if
there is sin in your heart. But the grace of Jesus is stronger than any sin
that you may be harboring, even if it’s something you have been struggling with
for years. The only reason we continue to
struggle with the same sin over and over is because we get in the way of the
grace of Christ which is more powerful than any addiction.
When we consider what Christ laid down for us we should be
motivated to lay down our carnal aspirations and sin.
Take a moment and consider this illustration: Imagine an ant
hill in the middle of the property. There are millions of ants doing what ants
do best on this ant hill. But then the owner of the property decides to build a
house right where the ant hill is perched and he gives the order to the bulldozer
operator to destroy it. Imagine, however, that you are filled with compassion
for the ants, and you run over the ant hill and warn them that death and wrath
await them if they don’t run from their home, their fortress which they hold
dear, to their salvation. No matter how loud you yell or what language you
speak the ants will not comprehend what you are saying and will continue doing
what they do best until wrath comes. However, imagine that you have the ability
to become an ant, to leave your human body and become a millimeter long insect.
Then you would be able to go to the ant hill and warn them in ant language of
the wrath that awaits them if they continue to cling to the ant hill. Some ants
will ignore you and hold dear to the ant hill, but others will listen to your
warning and escape to their salvation.
Isn’t this what Christ did for us though? Just like in the
illustration you jumped the gap from a human-being to an ant to save the ants,
so Jesus jumped the gap from His glorious and unfathomably magnificent throne
in heaven to a human-being. And the distance between us and ants is not nearly
as far as the distance between the heavenly throne and us. Not only did Christ become
a human to warn us, but He became the lowest of humans. He was born of a woman
who was believed, except by a handful of people, to have been impregnated by
another man outside of wedlock. He was born in an animal trough in a cave
because there was no room for our Savior to be born in the inn. He was raised
in the village of Nazareth which was a despised village as we remember
Nathaniel said “can any good thing come
out of Nazareth (John 1:46)?” But Jesus walked on this earth and taught of
the way of salvation. He then made the way of salvation on his journey to the
cross and to His resurrection. He endured the beatings that preceded the cross.
He endured the scourging, a whip with leather straps fastened to it with pieces
of metal and bone attached to the end that was designed to imbed in the flesh
of the victims back and sides and then rip out the flesh. The very people that
He created and loved and came to die for were mocking Him; were spitting in His
face. The very people He came to die for drove a crown of thorns into his
skull. The very people He came to save drove nails through His wrists and his
feet. And on top of all this he carried the unfathomable weight of your sin, of
my sin, and of the sin of all humankind. This weight was so intense that even
before the physical beatings that Jesus received He perspired drops of blood
from his face in the garden of Gethsemane. In an instant Jesus could have snapped his
fingers and be delivered from all this torment to go back to His heavenly
throne of magnificence where He would be ministered and worshiped by angels,
seraphim, and cherubim. But Jesus counted
all things as loss so that He might know you.
Consider this indescribable act of mercy that Christ
displayed so that He may know you. When you consider it what then is holding
you back from laying down your earthly goals, hopes, ambitions, and dreams at
the foot of the cross? What is holding you back from surrendering the areas of
your hearts that you have been holding onto for years at the foot of the cross?
What is holding us back from laying our sin down at the foot of His cross where
His mercy and forgiveness await? The Lord said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness.” You can struggle for years to lay down
our earthly desires and sin aside in your flesh. But when you come forward weak
and humble before the cross of Calvary there is grace waiting to cleanse your
heart; grace that is sufficient to cleanse you right now; grace that can change
your heart to say, ‘Indeed, I count
everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord’.
