Know Christ and Make Him Known

Paul writes from prison near the end of his life, yet he does not say that he has arrived. Paul had preached Christ across the Roman world, planted churches, suffered for the gospel, and carried an impressive religious resume, but he still says, “I want to know Christ.” Paul’s desire shows the difference between knowing about Jesus and personally knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Paul counts every earthly gain as loss beside “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” His ancestry, training, zeal, accomplishments, possessions, and even good gifts all find their proper place when Christ becomes the greatest treasure. The image of having nothing but Jesus does not describe poverty of soul. Christ’s presence makes all the difference, even when everything else is stripped away.

Paul longs to be found in Christ with a righteousness that comes through faith, not a righteousness built on personal effort or religious achievement. Christ gives the righteousness that sinners cannot earn. Paul also longs to know the power of Christ’s resurrection, not only as an Easter truth but as God’s life-giving power in everyday life. The resurrection brings hope out of despair, reconciliation out of conflict, courage out of fear, and new beginnings out of painful endings.

Christ’s resurrection power is joined to the fellowship of his sufferings. Paul does not separate the risen Christ from the crucified Christ. Christ chose a cross instead of a crown, and Christlike living takes the form of sacrificial love, forgiveness, listening, giving up preferences, crossing barriers, entering another person’s pain, and caring more about another’s good than personal comfort.

Paul presses on toward the goal because Christ Jesus has made him his own. The race image calls believers to stop living backward. The past can teach, warn, and remind people of God’s faithfulness, but regret and nostalgia cannot become a place to live. God is not finished with his people, and Christ calls them forward rather than merely calling them to preserve yesterday.

Christ also sends those who know him to make him known. The church gathers to worship Christ, but Christ sends his people into the world to represent him. A life marked by compassion, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love should create questions for which the gospel is the answer. The goal is not for a community merely to know about a church, but to know the Lord Jesus Christ through the church’s presence, witness, and service.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ is worth more than everything [12:17] Paul does not deny that family, work, memories, possessions, and accomplishments may be good gifts. Paul insists that none of those gifts can bear the weight of being ultimate. Christ alone remains when everything else is lost, and Christ alone gives every other good thing its proper value. [12:17]
• 2. Resurrection power meets present need [14:34] Christ’s resurrection is not limited to one Sunday each year or reserved only for the future. Christ brings life where sin, grief, fear, conflict, and spiritual weariness have brought death. The risen Lord can give fresh strength to a discouraged believer and fresh vision to a church that has lost its way. [14:34]
• 3. The cross shapes Christlike living [16:21] Christ’s power cannot be separated from Christ’s sacrificial love. The fellowship of his sufferings appears in costly forgiveness, patient listening, surrendered preferences, and a willingness to enter another person’s pain. Christlike maturity is not merely knowing right doctrine, but taking up the pattern of the crucified Lord. [16:21]
• 4. Press on, do not live backward [20:32] Paul remembers the past without allowing it to control the future. Regret can become a chain, and nostalgia can become an excuse for refusing God’s next call. Christ invites his people to strain forward, trusting that God has not finished his work in their lives or in his church. [20:32]
• 5. Lives should point people to Jesus [24:22] Christ sends believers into a watching world where actions often speak before words do. Compassion toward the hurting, grace toward opponents, and forgiveness in conflict can create questions that only the gospel can answer. The aim is not personal recognition or church maintenance, but making Christ known.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [03:34] - Knowing About Jesus or Knowing Christ
• [04:53] - Paul’s Desire Near the End
• [08:00] - Valuing Christ Above Everything
• [09:03] - Paul’s Religious Resume
• [10:39] - Nothing but Jesus
• [13:01] - Found in Christ by Faith
• [14:05] - Resurrection Power for Everyday Life
• [15:29] - Sharing Christ’s Sufferings
• [17:12] - Pressing On Toward the Goal
• [19:16] - Leaving Regret and Nostalgia Behind
• [21:34] - Making Christ Known
• [24:08] - Lives That Create Gospel Questions
• [25:03] - Robert Reed’s Faithful Witness
• [28:52] - The Clear Calling: Know Christ
• [29:40] - Invitation to Press On

Bible Reading

Philippians 3:7-14
“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. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [01:10]

John 11:25-26
“Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [15:11]

Philippians 3:4-6
“Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 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 righteousness under the law, blameless.” [09:03]

Observation questions

1. What parts of Paul’s background and religious record are listed in Philippians 3:4–6, and how does he later evaluate those former sources of confidence? [09:03]
2. In Philippians 3:7–11, what does Paul want instead of a righteousness based on his own effort, and what two aspects of Christ’s life does he especially desire to know? [13:01]
3. What images does Paul use in Philippians 3:12–14 to describe the Christian life, and what do those images show about his attitude toward spiritual growth? [18:21]
4. What examples are given of ways believers can make Christ known through their conduct toward other people? [23:51]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul had much more religious experience and accomplishment than most people, yet he still wanted to know Christ more deeply. What does this show about the difference between knowing facts about Jesus and having a living relationship with him? [06:35]
2. Paul does not say that family, possessions, accomplishments, or traditions are automatically bad. Why must even good gifts remain secondary to knowing Christ as Savior and Lord? [11:27]
3. Paul connects the power of Christ’s resurrection with sharing in Christ’s sufferings. Why is it important not to seek Christ’s power while avoiding his pattern of sacrificial love? [15:29]
4. Paul speaks of forgetting what lies behind while pressing toward what lies ahead. How can believers learn from past failures and celebrate God’s past faithfulness without becoming trapped by regret or nostalgia? [19:50]

Application questions

1. What are some good gifts in your life—such as family, work, possessions, accomplishments, routines, or church traditions—that could quietly become more important to you than Christ? What might it look like to put them back in their proper place? [11:21]
2. Where do you most need Christ’s resurrection power right now: discouragement, fear, conflict, grief, spiritual weariness, or a painful ending? What would it mean to bring that situation honestly to the risen Christ? [14:31]
3. Is there a relationship in which Christ may be calling you to take the costly step of forgiveness, patient listening, or giving up a preference for someone else’s good? What could be one faithful next step? [16:26]
4. Is a regret, failure, disappointment, or conflict from the past keeping you from moving forward with Christ? How can the group encourage you to remember God’s grace without continuing to live backward? [30:03]
5. Where might pressing on mean trying something new in your faith—serving, repairing a relationship, building a friendship across generations, or speaking with a neighbor about Jesus? [20:50]
6. Think about the people who regularly observe your life. What might they learn about Jesus from the way you handle disagreement, disappointment, forgiveness, and compassion? What is one way your life could more clearly create a question for which the gospel is the answer? [24:15]