🤔 What Does It Mean to KNOW Jesus? (It’s NOT What You Think!)

“I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3:8

WOW …. just wow! That’s all I can say today friends. That’s the feeling I get when I think about Jesus and all of this has me thinking about WHAT exactly it means to know him?? 🤔

Well, what’s your answer? Knowing Jesus means ________.

I’m thinking about this because of Paul’s MIND-BLOWING statement that he considered literally EVERYTHING a loss in comparison to KNOWING Jesus.

He goes on to explain that for Jesus’ sake he had “lost all things” and even considered them “trash!” 🤯 🤯 🤯

That’s a pretty strong statement.

For Paul, to know Jesus meant that he ENTERED INTO Jesus’ story, you know, the whole death to resurrection thing. Clearly Paul LONGED for his resurrection and KNEW that he would face a MARTYR’s death – which is also pretty CRAZY when you think about it 😬

Yet for him, this process (death to resurrection), was ALSO a cycle he went through in THIS LIFE, you heard me right! No, NOT reincarnation, but a GOSPEL life!

That’s why he also said THIS 👉 👉 in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of DEATH. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who RAISES the dead.”

So, what does it mean to know Jesus?? Well, in short it means you SUFFER, maybe DIE (for him) but ALSO it means to be raised from death to NEW LIFE!! And that’s the good news … from God’s perspective you’re not dead. You’re RIPE, ripe for resurrection! Think about that this week friends while you faithfully serve him with hope, passion and power!

In Christ,

Pastor AJ

Application:

Define what it means to know Jesus in your own words.

Can you relate with Paul when he says everything is TRASH in comparison to knowing Christ?

How might God’s Spirit be speaking to you about taking your relationship with Jesus to the NEXT LEVEL?