I Count All As Loss

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 2^nd 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’.