10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. – [philippians 3:10-11]
do you know Christ, or simply know about Christ?
as a cardinals fan who grew up in st. louis, i know an awful lot about ozzie smith. i can recite stats from his career, how he got to town, why we was great, and so forth.
but I don’t actually know ozzie, and he doesn’t know me. there is no relationship there. just a smattering of facts, figures, and trivia which hold no meaning or worth in my daily life.
but we can truly know the Creator of the universe, because he knows us.
paul pens this letter from a prison cell, encouraging the philippians to persevere in their faith regardless of the cost. he explains that even after all he has endured, he has no regrets in following Christ, he has not lost his faith. instead, his faith has grown after beatings, rejection and imprisonment.
the question is – why?
the why is because he knows Jesus. as paul writes elsewhere, “now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (I Corinthians 13:12). even knowing the glory and majesty of Jesus in part is worth the world.
the Christian faith is unique in that it offers nothing of worldly consequence. when you accept Christ, you are accepting pain and persecution. to this day, in many parts of the world, that persecution is severe.
all Christianity has to offer is to forgive and be forgiven. to know and to be known. we know and are known by our fellowship of believers, and by our Lord himself.
this is the gift and the grace that surpasses all else. we can’t earn salvation or resurrection; we just have to know and be known.
the power of his resurrection is the greatest power this planet has ever seen. but that power comes with the sufferings he himself suffered. we will not ever face any pain that was not faced by our Savior himself. no matter what pain may come our way, it only makes us more like him, not less.
when we know him we will become more like him. the more we become like him the less we look like or feel comfortable in the world. and that’s a good thing. for millennia, this tradeoff has brought truth, meaning, and purpose to all those who have trusted him and chosen to know the God who created and knows us all.
~ jason soroski