«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　Phil. 3:8 ...I also count all things to be loss on account of 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.

　　Matt. 17:5 ...Behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!

　　The excellency of the knowledge of Christ is derived from the excellency of His person. The Jews consider the law of God given through Moses the most excellent thing in history. Hence, they are zealous for the law. Paul participated in that zeal. But when Christ was revealed to him by God (Gal. 1:15-16), he saw that the excellency, the supereminence, the supreme preciousness, the surpassing worth, of Christ far exceeded the excellency of the law. His knowledge of Christ issued in the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. On account of this, not only did he count the law and the religion founded on the law to be loss, but he counted all things loss.

　　Here Paul speaks not directly of the excellency of Christ, but of the excellency of knowing Christ. The knowledge in Philippians 3:8 is not the knowledge that belongs to Christ, the knowledge that Christ Himself has; it is our subjective knowing of Christ. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ is derived from the excellency of His person. There can be no doubt that in Himself Christ is excellent. But if...we lack the knowledge of Christ's excellency, His excellency will not mean anything to us. (Life-study of Philippians, p. 157)

　　Before Paul's experience on the road to Damascus, he did not have any knowledge of Christ. He treasured the law and regarded it as most excellent. Paul's zeal for the law was a sign of his appreciation of the law. His zeal came out of his appreciation. Paul certainly was proud of his excellent knowledge of the law. Even though Christ is infinitely more excellent than the law, Paul did not have the knowledge of Christ. But at the time of his conversion, this excellent One was revealed to him. With this revelation of Christ, Paul began to have the knowledge of Christ. After he began to acquire the knowledge of Christ, Paul came to realize that the knowledge of the law received through Gamaliel was far inferior to the knowledge of Christ. Conscious of this comparison as he was writing Philippians 3:5-8, Paul could speak of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ and of suffering the loss of all things for the excellency of this knowledge.

　　To be sure, the excellency is in the very person of Christ. But for our experience, our realization of this excellency depends on our knowledge. If we lack knowledge, there is simply no way for us to realize that this person is so excellent. Only when we come to know His excellency do we have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. How precious is this excellency of the knowledge of Christ!

　　Gaining the excellency of the knowledge of Christ may be illustrated by the experience of tourists shopping in Hong Kong. The merchants there know how to display their products, especially jade, in a way to make them very attractive to tourists. Often when tourists see precious items on display, they become excited. Furthermore, they acquire a knowledge of the excellency of these things. Before they entered the store, they did not know anything of the excellency of these precious items. But once they saw them and gained the excellency of the knowledge concerning them, they were willing to pay the price to possess them. In like manner, we need a revelation of Christ's excellency, of His supreme preciousness. If we have a revelation of Christ's excellency, we shall automatically have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. By knowledge we actually mean a revelation, a vision, concerning Christ and His excellence.... Paul was captured by the excellency of knowing Christ, and for the sake of this knowledge, he was willing to drop all things and count them to be loss. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 157-158, 161)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msg. 19