In the Shadow of the Cross

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“But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord; for whose sake I lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that come from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith”
(Phil 3:87-10 NIV)

This is so contrary to what we see in today’s materialist mentality, where wealth, possessions and prestige are the aspiration. We saw much of this mentality in the not-to-distant past, where homes, cars and everything else was being purchased by folks who could not afford them, but rather placing the plastic or the mortgage out for a spin.

Money, we see much of that subject these days. Magazines are named after it, television networks emphasize it; newspapers are flooded with the topic of money. Money is necessary, yes, but the love of money and material wealth, idolizing and worshipping it is one of the major sins we as Americans have.

Paul in this above passage had found that Christ is greater than all of it. That makes sense from the standpoint that He created it all. Paul came to the conclusion that knowing Christ and coming to Him in humility is the ultimate treasure. Wealth and possessions are empty and in fact, he considered them rubbish in comparison to his knowledge of Christ. It goes without saying, but this knowledge that Paul speaks of is not just pure
academic knowledge of Christ, but rather a deep intimacy with Christ as his Savior and Lord. Demons know Christ as the Son of God, but yet they remain demons. So knowledge isn’t the catalyst here, intimacy is.

I believe Paul was referring to an intimacy with Christ, anchored with an acknowledgment of Christ being God in human form, with an acceptance and belief of His righteousness being the true means of salvation. Where did this acknowledgment come from? Aside from the Damascus road experience, it could be from his deep meditation of who Christ was and is. A deep examination of His life, His death and His resurrection and all that it means for those who believe. So, one way to deepen your intimate relationship with Christ is to meditate and think about Him. Paul had to know Christ before he could meditate on Him. How can we know Him? Pick up a bible and get to know Him. Read the scriptures and reflect on them. Pray for wisdom and understanding. God knows who you are. He knows your thoughts and motives. "And you my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive the thoughts. If you seek Him earnestly He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever”
(1 Chronicles 28: 9 NIV)
God knows you, because He made you. He designed one model of you, and then broke the mold. He made you unique, but in His image to serve Him.
Now that you know this, what are you going to do with this information? Notice in this passage of Chronicles above, that forsaking God would be extremely detrimental to you, as He will reject you.

So what is the opposite of rejection? Acceptance. Is there no better thing to possess than Christ’s acceptance? Paul came to that conclusion! He walked with Christ, talked with Christ, wanted to obey Christ, led many people to Christ. He suffered hardship, shipwreck, stoning, warmth, cold, feast and famine, all for the sake of Christ. Did Christ accept him? Judging by the amount of the New Testament is written by the Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit, I would venture to say; Yes, he was accepted by Christ.

I hear you now saying to yourself. ‘There is no way I can compare to Paul the apostle, he was an apostle, I’m just a regular person.’ Well, before Paul was an apostle, he was Saul the Pharisee. He persecuted and murdered Christians, and was an accomplice in Stephen’s death. (Act Chapter 8) In fact, Paul calls himself the chief of all sinners. So, if the chief of all sinners can be intimate and love Christ, and be accepted, not rejected, so can we be as well, but it begins with an acknowledgement of Christ as our Savior, our Lord, our God in human form. Building for there takes a serious desire, a thirst for His word. His bible is a wonderful gift. We take it for granted in America. We have leather bound, we have zippered cases, we have indexed versions, and multiple translations, we have large lettered, we have red-lettered, we have kid’s versions, we have paraphrases, we have them in all sizes and colors, but do we read them?! Do we really read them, and study them and drink in every word written? Anything less would be a shame, or a better yet—a large, very large mistake.

Okay, after you realize that the bible on your shelf is not there just to collect dust, and you read it, a foundation is being built. With that foundation, now meditate on Him. Get to know him by thinking about Him. Jesus is the complete and total reflection of radiance of the Holy Father God. Jesus is God. One of the Trinity, and as such is glorified when His Son is glorified, honored and praised. Think about what Jesus gave up to be human, die a horrible death – not before being misunderstood, rejected, ridiculed, spat upon, slapped, kicked, beaten, whipped to an inch of His life, laughed at, mocked, stripped, and given a death that is one of the most inhumane forms of torture imaginable. And He foreknew these events before the world began, and took it upon Himself to die that way for our behalf. If you have trouble with that, think about it from the standpoint that He did that solely and specifically for you, personalize His death for your sole behalf. When one personalizes His death, it tends to amplify its significance. The words on this page simply cannot portray and describe the enormity of His sacrifice! Stop here for several minutes and think about it… really meditate on it! How does not ignite a fire inside you? How does not hit you right between your eyes, and move you?

Prayer, which is basically communication, is a byproduct of your deepening understanding of His Word, studying and meditating on it, and having a desire to gain more insight, again not for knowledge sake, but in order to increase obedience, enhance our dependence on Jesus, and to praise and honor Him all the more. Remember what you just meditated on? Good, now also remember that we declared righteous not because of our merit, but because of Jesus, who He is, what He did. That in itself is a good starting point for developing and nurturing a intimate relationship with our loving Lord Jesus, rejecting the temporal and material possessions of this world, and holding on tightly, obediently and in awe of our Lord Jesus.

The world and all it has to offer is - to put in Paul’s words- rubbish compared to the greatness of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. As a Christian is your life bent towards that intimacy with Christ?

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