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We need to pursue and know Christ – Phil. 3:10
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To know particularly the riches of what Christ is, are unsearchable.
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To experience and enjoy Christ (to gain Christ) in His full ministry in His three divine and mystical stages.
Bible Verses for Pray-Reading
Phil. 3:8 …the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.10 To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
We need to pursue and know Christ
To know particularly how unsearchable the riches o
We must know Christ. In Philippians 3:10 Paul spoke about knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. To know Christ is not a simple matter…; To know Christ is not to know Him in a common way but to know Him in a particular way. The riches of what Christ is, are unsearchable (Eph. 3:8), but among them, there are the four following items which we need to know in particular. First, we must know particularly that Christ is both God and man...He was God and He became man, so He is both God and man. Thus, He is a God-man.
Second, we need to know that since Christ is a God-man, He possesses both divinity and humanity.
Third, we have to know that in His humanity Christ accomplished His judicial redemption through His death...Christ must be sacrificed, to fulfill the requirement of God's judicial redemption (Heb 9:22). Hence, Christ's redemption is the Judicial Redemption, accomplished in His humanity, through His death. This Redemption is accomplished according to God's judicial requirement, which is the requirement of God's righteousness.
Fourth, we also need to know that in His divinity Christ is carrying out His organic salvation in His resurrection...Romans 5:10a says that we "were reconciled to God through the death of His Son"; this refers to His redemption. Romans 5:10b says, "Much more we will be saved in His life"; this refers to His salvation. The organic salvation is being carried out in resurrection by Christ in His divinity...The judicial redemption has been accomplished, but the organic salvation is being carried out.
To experience and enjoy Christ (to gain Christ) in
We need to know Christ first, then we need to experience and enjoy Christ in His full ministry in His three divine and mystical stages. First, we have the knowledge, and then we have the experience and enjoyment. To experience and enjoy Christ is to gain Christ. In Philippians 3:8 Paul said, "...Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ." To "have" is not sufficient; we need to "gain." To gain Christ requires paying a price. To gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of all His unsearchable riches by paying a price. This is not so simple. Hence, Paul went on to say, "Not that I have already obtained or am already perfected, but I pursue....I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal" (vv.12-14a). It is not easy to win a game, and it is also not easy to win the victory in a war. These require us to pursue by forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before. Likewise, we need to gain Christ by experiencing and enjoying Him in His full ministry. (How to be a Co-worker and an Elder and How to Fulfill Their obligations)