I Come Too Far

Philippians 3:14 "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus".

 

 Paul counted everything he had learned up until he met Christ as dung. He said he considered these things a loss for the sake of Christ. If Paul lost anything it was the years spent trying to gain God's favor and approval through Zealous works. When Paul expressed his desire to know Christ, he meant more than learning theological facts about Him. Paul desired to know Christ in a personal way, to have an on going relationship with him through which he could experience Jesus working in his life. The word Paul chose for know, expresses the idea of understanding and perceiving an object in an intelligent manner.The word implies personal acquaintance, experience, and familiarity. Paul did not just want to know about Christ, he wanted to experience Him in the fullest way possible. Christians, this is the mark we as believer should also be striving to reach.

But  along with this kind of knowledge comes suffering. Those who oppose God are not going to make the road easy for those who wish to advance their knowledge of Christ and thus advance the Kingdom. In fact the closer we get to Christ, the greater a threat we become, and so the persecutions increase. It's all about having the right expectations. Jesus made it clear, if the world hated Him, they are going to hate those who identify with him.

We may never reach sinless perfection in this life while wrapped in this flesh, but we can constantly keep moving forward,becoming more and more like Christ every day. In all humility, Paul admits that he had not yet attained it, or does it leave the expression that he even expected to on this side of heaven. But he was not going to be denied his forward momentum of reaching and obtaining his heavenly reward. Forward progress, forward momentum, this is what Christ expects from all who follow Him. Paul was not trying to run faster or longer than other Christians( he was not in competition with other believers), but to be the best he could for a God, who gave him the best he had. Paul didn't say what the prize would be,but he said he would receive it in heaven in presence of his Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. So let each of us strive to "know" Christ, not know of him, but "know" him as our personal Savior, and truly experience Him in the fullness of His glory that we might walk worthy of the name to which we claim, on this long journey home.