Explore the Bible: September 26

Joy in Knowing Jesus • Philippians 3:8-21

By Don Hicks

Philippians chapter three begins with the Apostle Paul writing in this joyful note to the Philippians: “In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this in no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you” (CSB).  Paul in his own way is emphasizing the same truth as the title of this lesson, Joy in Knowing Jesus.

Finding joy in knowing Jesus sounds a lot easier to understand and accept than the lesson title two weeks ago — Joy in Adversity – but don’t miss this major theme of Paul’s letter to these, his friends in Philippi: There is joy in everything if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Paul’s next paragraph begins: “But everything that was gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7-8a CSB).

Paul is professing that his values completely changed after he came to know Christ Jesus. He goes on to write “be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ – the righteousness from God based on faith” (Philippians 3:9 CSB).

In his gospel, John explains his joy in “the righteousness from God based on faith.” John records this joy through faith in Jesus’ own words: “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent — Jesus Christ” (John 17:3 CSB).

Three chapters earlier, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life, No man comes to the Father except though me. If you know me, you will also know my Father” (John 14:6-7a CSB). At the beginning of this lesson, in Philippians 3:1, Paul had written from his prison: “To write to you again about this is no trouble for me.”

I understand and feel as Paul does when he says it is is no trouble for him to write this letter. It’s a real joy for me to write in this lesson preview. John writes about his joy in Jesus because he was the disciple that Jesus loved, and he identified himself clearly and often as “the disciple Jesus loved.”

Our joy in Jesus in not just merely that we have life (even everlasting life), but the abundance of life Jesus gives to his follower beginning when our faith begins. John tells us that Jesus told his disciples, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:10b-11 KJV)

This John the Beloved, like Paul, penned letters from imprisonment. John too wrote like Paul in reflecting his “Joy in Knowing Jesus.” He wrote, “The one who has the Son has life… I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:12a-13 CSB).

Let’s return to Paul’s letter to the Philippians to see how we can succeed at the goal of finding “Joy in Knowing Jesus.” Paul writes in chapter three, “My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death” (Philippians 3:10 CSB).

This is a lofty and challenging goal, so we should not expect perfection in our lives and then let the inevitable failure rob us of the joy Christ wants us to have through Him.

Paul explains his dependence on Jesus this way: “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and Sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way” (Philippians 3:12-15a CSB).

Hicks is missions director for Jasper Association in Bay Springs. He may be contacted at donaldwhicks@gmail.com.