Do You Really Want to Know Christ?
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“I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).
In today’s world of instant news access, we hear a great deal about politicians and celebrities. We know only what we hear them say and hear of them doing. But we never really know them, right? Oh, we think we do. We can say what we want about Biden or Trump – but it still is only what is public knowledge. We know about them, but we don’t really know them, not like their spouses, family, or even close friends do.
We truly know our families. Our brothers, sisters, parents. Our spouses and our own children. We know who they are, deep in their hearts. Even our close friends – we know them. To know Christ personally means to get to know Him just as you would a friend.
How the Apostles Knew Jesus
The apostles, of course, knew Jesus quite personally. They were with Him virtually every day for the better part of three years. They walked everywhere together. They “camped out” together as they journeyed. They personally saw the miracles and heard the teachings, likely many times – from the teacher Himself.
Yet even so, at the last supper they had doubts:
“Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9).
Then, they watched – albeit from a distance – as Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. They thought it was over. But they were among the first to see Him after His resurrection and knew that it was all real.
Personally, for too much of my life I didn’t know Jesus; I knew about Him. I knew what the priests and pastors taught. I knew His words written in the Bible, and I guess I thought that was enough. But I learned that I didn’t really know Jesus Christ. I had no personal relationship with Him, and thus, He had no impact on my life – and it was reflected in how I lived.
Sadly, a great many churchgoers today know about Jesus – but don’t know Jesus. For many, Jesus remains a part of their lives, but not the center. They have continued to focus their lives – in other words, put their faith – in their families, money, jobs, possessions, status, gadgets, toys, pleasures and thrills. They know the talking points, the right words to say. They may even think they believe them. But when it comes right down to it, their faith is shallow because they don’t truly know Jesus.
But what does knowing Jesus really mean?
Academic Knowledge vs Experiential Knowledge
Learning something in the classroom is considerably different than living it out in the real world. Being told its freezing cold outside is one thing. Stepping outside without a jacket is quite another. Paul clearly experienced Jesus:
“I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).
When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Philippi, he was sitting in prison. He really cared about knowing Christ. The Greek word Paul used was gnonai, from the root word gnosko. It means to come to know, to recognize and perceive. It involves experiential knowledge, not just the accumulation of information or facts. In the New Testament, it is used more than 220 times and implies a deeply personal, intimate and experiential understanding. Paul didn’t just want to know Jesus, he wanted to know him well enough to share in his sufferings.
Let’s think of it this way, if you have a friend who has gone or is going through pain, it’s one thing to tell them how sorry you are and then move on with your life. It’s quite another to be there for them every moment as they struggle through the pain. You know them well enough that you could perceive changes in their voice, in their tone. You truly feel for them because their pain is painful to you. It’s like when you have a loved one lying on their death bed; you can almost feel their agony.
Truly knowing Jesus means having a relationship with Him, one that grows deeper over time. A true disciple of Christ does not only know about Him – what He did, what He taught – they also have a deep personal relationship with Him. Jesus even took that a step further when He prayed this:
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
Jesus defined eternal life as knowing the “only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” That is an incredibly powerful statement. The idea is pretty much repeated by the apostle John, who offers us a clear understanding:
“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).
“…so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ.” John uses two different Greek words for “know.” The first, oidamen, simply refers to “remember or appreciate,” “to see with the eyes of the mind.” The second is gnoskomen, from the same root word Paul used. Let’s clearly differentiate between the two: to see with the eyes of our minds, or to see with our hearts. Then, in other words, he says we don’t just know Him, we are in Him, and He in us.
That is experiential knowledge.
The Deceitfulness of Riches
I once was acquainted with a man named Henry Orombi, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Uganda. Henry once said, “It is so difficult to be a Christian in America.” Truly, at the moment I could not understand that. To me, being a Christian in America was easy – we had freedom and no persecution. He went on to say, “In America, you have everything. You don’t need God. In Uganda, we need God every moment of every day.” Suddenly, I understood.
We are so easily drawn away.
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus talked about the deceitfulness of wealth.
“Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).
Some of the most highly successful businesspeople I have known were miserable in their personal lives. They were successful and wealthy in the eyes of the world, but deep inside they were empty, always seeking more.
Many of us go to church, and to the outside world seem to live good lives. But good is in the eye of the beholder. Our hearts are still far from God. We are living for ourselves; the deceitfulness of wealth draws us away from living for Christ. It draws us away from knowing Christ.
Jesus warned us about this. In Luke 14, He warned us that we would need to count the cost before giving Him our lives.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:28).
Should we ask Christians here in the U.S., it is a good bet not many would be able to describe what that cost really is. But Jesus told us: it would cost us our very lives as we know it.
Your Cross to Bear
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’” (Matthew 16:24).
Many people today interpret this to mean some added burden or challenge they must take up and carry in their lives. We have all heard it said, with varying degrees of self-righteousness or self-pity, “I guess that’s my cross to bear.” But in Jesus’ day, the cross was far from a symbol of some continuous annoyance or symbolic burden. The cross was a symbol of execution. To take up one’s cross meant someone was about to die a painful, humiliating death.
That’s what Jesus was teaching. To be His disciple, we must be willing to give up our lives as we know it and turn them over to him. That is self-sacrifice. Absolute surrender to God. In other words – if you chose to follow Jesus, you’d best count the cost first, because the cost was going to be your life.
But, as we know, the rewards are extraordinary. When we know Jesus, we give up the desires of the flesh and live by the fruit of the Spirit, who now dwells within us (Galatians 5:18-25). This does not mean we must be perfect – we never will be this side of eternity.
In other words, we are to be crucified with Christ to be born into a new life fully entrusted to Him.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
What Is the Foundation of Your Life?
So often today among churchgoers, we see people who are willing to have Jesus be a part of their lives – as long as it doesn’t cost them anything. They want to read and hear about Jesus, but they don’t really know Him or want to. They go to church, even participate in small groups. They’ll help out now and again. But the real focus of their lives is elsewhere.
The problem is, we can easily fall into a trap – that is, we hear the teachings of Jesus, we feel convicted, think for a moment about how we need to change our lives, and then go on thinking that we are living it out in our behavior. It doesn’t work that way.
The question is – what do you want? Do you want to know Jesus? Are you satisfied being the same person you have always been? Or are you ready to open your heart and your life to Jesus? To truly knowing Him and making Jesus the foundation of your life?
Do you just know of Christ, from the pages of the Bible, or your parents or pastor? Or do you know him intimately, as a true, deep friend does?
As we come to know Christ intimately, we begin to recognize more clearly that our good deeds are nothing – and certainly not good enough to earn eternal life with Him. The only way we are reconciled to God is by believing in his Son, and the evidence for that professed faith is our willingness to follow Him and even suffer with Him or for Him. See, Paul never saw his suffering as a problem, but rather as an opportunity to draw nearer to Jesus. When Paul suffered, he reminded himself of the suffering Jesus went through for us.
Jesus talked about “counting the cost.” So, the question now remains: do you want to know Jesus the way that Paul teaches? If so, are you willing to take up your cross and follow Him? What are we willing to give up and surrender? Are we willing to view the challenges we face as opportunities to grow closer to Christ – to know Him better?
We gain so much better understanding when we lay aside our own rights – our own comfort and convenience; our own goals and aspirations; our very lives – in order to love, to forgive, to serve others, no matter the cost.
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).
How Do We Get There?
Knowing Jesus gives us eternal life – and eternal life starts right now. Not tomorrow or once we step into eternity. Not the unstable, uncertain, artificial life the world offers, but a life of purpose, and peace and joy beyond circumstances. A life spent serving others instead of ourselves.
So now we must each ask – is that what we have? If the answer is no, is it what we really want? Do we really want to know Jesus?
If we don’t want to really know Jesus, but we want to want to know Him, we need only ask to be given the desire. We should pray for understanding so that we can know Jesus and, consequently, know God. Ask and it will be ours.
In his book Gentle and Lowly, Dane Ortlund put it this way:
“Why not build in to your life unhurried quiet, where, among other disciplines, you consider the radiance of who he actually is, what animates him, what his deepest delight is? Why not give your soul room to be reenchanted with Christ time and again?”
Photo credit: Unsplash/Ben White
Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.