FROM THE PULPIT: KNOWING CHRIST MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

PHILIPPI~ANS 3:8, 10a

"Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord....that I may k~now Him and the power of His resurrection...."

Someone has said that "one picture is worth ~a thousand word~s." In the age of video this clic~he is more pronounced than ever before. Our nation spends a tremendous amou~nt of its time and energy in front of the "picture box," watching everythin~g from situatio~n comedies to news broadcasts, a~nd all of them with pictures. Advertisers seem to k~now that visual images are some of the strongest stimuli that we experience. They cover the highways with these visual images. They cover their merchandise with these vis~ual images. There are certain words that, when we hear them, give us a clear visual i~mage. For instance -- heaven. What did you think about? What about the word hell? Now what did yo~u think about? The emoti~onal connotation of s~ome word is so powerful that they create their own pictures. This truth is illustrated in the third chapter of Philippi~~ans. Pa~~ul writes to his beloved friends from a prison cell in Rome. He recount~s the great change t~hat has taken place in his life since he met Christ. He first listed all the credent~ials that made hi~m an outstanding first century Jew, but q~uickly follows this list suggesting that they are all~~~~~ "worthless" to him now. What is he talking about? The meaning of Paul's letter ca~n be summed up in one word. Change! The proposal I place before you is this: WHEN PEOPLE SEEK TO KNOW CHRIST, THEIR LIVES ARE CHANGED! First, knowing Christ means a change i~n our values. You may not have given much thought to the importance of a value system ~in the Christian life. But when it comes to "knowing Christ," our values are critical. Our value system plays such a prominent part in our lives that those who wish to observe our lives can determine what we value without telling them. IT IS EVIDENT IN OUR BEHAVIOR! It determines how we spend our mo~ney, what we do for entertainment, and even where we go when we want to relax. Our value system literally defines us! Secondly, knowing Christ mean~s a change in our direction. Before Paul met Christ, his values were not all totally corrupt. You need not be on the bottom rung of the ladder of values to need the change that Christ gives. Paul had been a man of faith. But according to Paul himself, he tells us of "having ~righteousness of his own." He was engaged in an intense pursuit of making himself righteous. Paul considered himself ~to be religious, but his heart was far from being what God wanted. He needed a chan~ge in directi~on. After he met Christ, he was no longer fixated ~upon himself. Third, knowing Christ means a cha~nge in our desires. Paul's~ ~new value system brought ~new desires. This was inevita~ble since desi~res and values are inseparable. Tell me what it is that you desire, and, most likely, I can tell you what you value! (Read Mat~thew 6:21). Paul's desires were fruitful! It is our desires that make us what we are. The questions then are these: "Do you know Christ~? Does His Spirit abide within your heart and life?" If it does, then you will also know His power to change you from what you are to where you need to be!