Dr. Jose
Managing Editor Forerunner magazine, Bangalore
While a thousand eyes were closed, a thousand hands raised and 500 voices were singing one of the most powerful songs by Mark Pendergrass - “The greatest thing in all my life is knowing You” - one felt it was definitely one of the best things to do in life!
The Apostle Paul, while in prison, all alone, made a profound statement in his letter to the Philippians, “I ...count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.” When he says “I count them” - it implies he has taken into consideration his own worth and heritage - “Circumcised on the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.”
Paul had left the prestige of being in Jerusalem and in the temple in exchange for dangerous Rome and harsh imprisonment. He gave himself no freedom to travel or to live as he pleased - “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ...I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death.” Philippians 3:8–10
• THE GREATEST THING IN ALL MY LIFE IS KNOWING YOU: At one time Paul wanted to rid the earth of Christianity and its followers. He had asked the priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus. He wanted to find men and women who belonged to The Way of Jesus. The letters would allow him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Acts 9) The believers were becoming more and more afraid because they had heard that Paul (known then as Saul) was on his way.
But God had other plans. Paul met Jesus on the way. His first question was, “Who are you, Lord?” And ever since he has wanted to know Him and has continued this pursuit all his life. Every prized possession of his life Paul felt as "rubbish" compared to knowing Christ. Rubbish is the word "skubalon" in Greek and it literally means, ‘dung or excrement.’
RESURRECTION: Paul devotes 58 verses to the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 and says it is of prime importance that Christ died for our sins, was buried and on the third day was raised again - all according to the Scriptures. “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain ... your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” (I Cor. 15) Paul makes it crystal clear that the resurrection is absolutely essential for one’s salvation. For Paul the resurrection confirmed the divinity of Christ. “He was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.” In Rom.1:4 he says: “He appeared to Cephas... Then He appeared to James… Last of all... He appeared also to me” (1 Cor. 15:3-8).
TRANSFORMATION: Three times Peter had denied knowing Jesus with statements like: “Woman, I do not know Him” or “Man, I am not” [one of Jesus’ companions] or “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” (Lk. 22, MSG) But soon after the resurrection the same Peter may have sung, “No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me.” He boldly proclaimed about Jesus “whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses” (Acts 3). He even did miracles in Christ’s name: “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have... In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’"The resurrection transform-ed Peter from being a coward to being a bold witness.
• THE GREATEST THING IN ALL MY LIFE IS LOVING YOU: Along with the crowd we love to sing, “I love you, Lord and I lift my voice, To worship You; Oh, my soul, rejoice! Take joy my King...” But easier sung than done! Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his book, Costly Grace, Being Alone; Being Together: “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when God called you. Alone you had to answer the call. Alone you had to struggle, and pray, and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot avoid yourself, for it is precisely God who has called you out.”
COSTLY LOVE: "If you love me, keep my commands,” said Jesus. (John 14:15) By faith Abraham obeyed. By faith Noah built an ark. Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, the Apostle Paul, and many others, all chose to love and obey God no matter what. When once asked what the secret of his success was, Pastor Yonggi Cho, founder of the world’s largest church in South Korea, replied: “I pray and I obey.”
• THE GREATEST THING IN ALL MY LIFE IS SERVING YOU: Missionaries like Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, David Livingstone, Amy Carmichael, Nate Saint and Mother Teresa are some of the many thousands who have laid down their lives for Jesus. Billy Graham conducted 417 crusades in 185 countries, reaching more than 210 million people. Jim Elliot, one of the many missionaries killed while serving in Ecuador, once said: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Along with the Apostle Paul, all these and many more could say, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel." Know, Love and Serve in God’s power was their life-long motto.
Knowing our God leads to loving Him; loving Him leads to obeying and serving Him; and, serving Him can be the greatest thing in all our lives. What is our response to the One who gave His all on Calvary?
