I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, 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 is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:7-14)
These words from the Apostle Paul were on my mind when I woke up this morning. I think the hardest thing for many of us who were brought from a past where we had no thoughts of God and to coin the hippy phase and moral imperative of Woodstock in 1969 "If it feels Good do it." was our mantra. It's hard for many of us to forgive ourselves.
A past can be riddled with the things of this world. The lust of the flesh and of the mind and acting on those impulses. And the flesh wants to hang on to them. In fact Jesus the Christ said to those who would become His Apostles 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." But may we all be like the Apostle Paul who said he counts all those things dung. Dung???
Now in the original language in which the New Testament was written that word is "skubalon" meaning: any refuse, as the excrement of animals, offscourings, rubbish, dregs, of things worthless and detestable. That is waste material. All our righteous acts like filthy rags for even our good deeds are tainted by that nature inherited from the worlds first parents. Our sinful nature. (Ps. 51:5)
THE POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION: The song says "Jesus paid it all all to him I owe." If Jesus Christ would have never been born there would have been no chance to be forgiven of our sins. Our transgressions against a Holy and Perfectly Righteous God absolute and remain. No Hope and therefore no salvation. All would be condemned. We die in our sin. Not a pretty picture.
Think about this: Jesus the Son of God, the Word who was in the beginning with God and being in very nature God, the Word through whom all things were created (John 1:1-3;Phil 2:5-11) living in perfect harmony with His Father and the Holy Spirit. Perfect Love. Perfect Unity. Perfect Divinity. No Pain. No Sin just everlasting Glory. And to further that Glory, God created all we see today. Why? Because He could. He created for His glory.
And we were created to adore and honor and serve our perfect creator. But sin through the one man's (and woman's) transgression and believing the lie of the evil one, (Has God said....you will not die....you will be like God) came into the world and dashed all hope of that intimate and loving relationship with God. A mediator, an intercessor, a savior was necessary to bridge that gap between God and mankind. Without the Gospel (1 Cor 15:1-8) there is no hope.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Cor 15:20-22)
In Christ all will be made alive. Brought from darkness to light. from death unto life (Is. 9:2; 1 Peter 2:9). Not only today in this existence but also in the life to come. For those who have the Son have life. For He indeed is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No One comes to the Father except through him. No One! Jesus the Christ is the One mediator between God and all the human race. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. From ourselves, from a life separated from the One True God. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5)
This is not something I say but what God Himself says..."this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him. " (Matt. 17:5)
If you have heard His call and responded by grace through faith, repented, confessed, believed, your slate is clean. The debt paid. Perfectly. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord walk in Him rooted and built up in the Him and established in the faith as you have been taught. Forget those things which are behind and strain toward those things which lie ahead. God has work for you to do. So let your light so shine before all people that they may see your good works and glorify our God in heaven. For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. (Col. 2:10;Phil 3:7-14)
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