I can do all things ... IV Through knowing Christ.

They say that behind every famous man there is a woman. If you can ignore the elements of sexism in the statement, there is truth here, and it is that supportive and loving relationships in life make a huge difference. Relationships can be enabling or debilitating. For Paul, it was coming into relationship with Christ that changed him radically from one who breathed out murderous threats against Christians, to one who preached the faith he once tried to destroy (Acts 9:1; Galatians 1:23). We are not talking here about knowing something about God, or trying to be good, though I am not saying that these things are not important. No what we are talking about here is a life changing encounter with the Living God in and through Jesus Christ.

What does Paul have to say about this? Still in the context of the primary verse of these posts (Phil 4:13) he tells (see chapter 3:5-8) that before conversion had a lot going for him in the natural. But when he met Jesus, he turned his back on these things and looked on them with contempt. This is because they had kept him from knowing Christ. He says “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things”. Elsewhere he tells us that the love he found in this relationship with Christ constrains and urges and compels him to share the good news that this relationship is available to all (2 Corinthians 5:14). Paul then was motivated by the Love he found in his relationship with God.

This relationship changes everything. The good news is that God has done everything that is needed in order for it to happen for you and for me, and/or for it to be restored when it has been neglected or abused. He tells the backsliding Church in Revelation 3:20 “ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me”. His standing at the door indicates that He is near, nearer than we can possibly think. The “anyone” means you and me. The eating part speaks to us of hospitality and has to do with acceptance, fellowship and intimacy. The knocking part tells us He is taking (and has taken) the initiative and that He wants to come in (to our hearts). The knocking is also an invitation into this fellowship of which I speak, with the door indicating a barrier we have the power to remove. He is standing, He is waiting, He is knocking, and in doing this He is inviting us into that fellowship. A door is a barrier that can be opened. In a famous picture depicting this verse the door has no handle on the outside. We are the ones who must open it for “if anyone hear my voice and open the door" is the condition of this wonderful promise.

In saying (above) that He has done everything that is needed in order for it to happen, we should not forget the incredible cost to Himself. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). How should we respond? In my post “You will search for Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart” (July 2010) I suggested that anything less than total commitment and surrender is unworthy of His sacrifice. In the context of the quotation from Revelation above (verse 16), He tells us exactly what He thinks of a lukewarm and half hearted response. It makes Him sick! We cannot expect the benefits of an intimate relationship with Him if we are passive in our relationship with Him. As with relationships in the natural, they work best when both sides are committed and passionate. If in the natural a friend died in your place to save you, would a ho hum “whatever” type response be appropriate? In the context (the previous verse) of the above quotation from Romans Paul tells us “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die”. The point is (verse 8) that Christ died for you and for me even though we are not righteous, he did this while we were still in rebellion, still in effect shaking our fist in His face.

For some reason it seems to be easy to dismiss or marginalize the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us saying “well He was God”, or something similar. And yes He was and is God. He is both God and man (see “God is Trinity? Who can understand or believe that?" July, 2010), but it was as a man that He suffered and bled and died (Romans 5:15). The apostle John makes it very clear that the spirit of those who say otherwise are displaying the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 4:3).

There is probably not one of us who has not, at one time or another, felt and shown apathy toward the Lord. But when we do, we need to repent, and to ask Him if He will, by His Spirit, bring our emotions and responses more into line with what is appropriate. Paul puts it this way “I entreat you therefore brothers (and sisters) that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (spiritual worship - Romans 12:1,2 NIV, KJV). The “therefore” in this quotation refers back to all that Christ has done (Chapters 1 through 11). In light of this is it indeed the only reasonable response.

One thing is for sure, when find ourselves lacking passion and sitting in apathy, we also find that we are a long way from tapping into the source of joy and peace and strength that Paul was talking about when he wrote “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. It is only in close union with Him that we are able to rise above what we can do in the natural. In Ephesians 1:17,18 Paul prays that God would give us the “ spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened....”. Taking note of this, we need to pray for ourselves and each other that our hearts may see, and hear and understand, so that in the revelation of Himself we may think and feel with the mind and Heart of God, and (as the prayer continues v. 18f) we may enter into the fullness of the power and the treasure of our inheritance in the here and now, as well as in the future. Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from jail, yet this same epistle overflows with joy and victory and hope. Heaven forbid that we should allow the cares of the world, or the deceitfulness of riches, or the desire for other things to rob us of all that is rightly ours in Christ Jesus (Mark 4:1-20; Corinthians 2:9).

So we can find it and we can loose it, this closeness with Him and its accompanying power to live the Christian life. If you can identify with what I am saying here, I invite you to pray with me “Father please forgive me of times when I am lukewarm and apathetic. Bring me (back) into to the passion of my first love and even deepen it. I turn my back on my ingratitude and lack of enthusiasm. Show me Your Glory. Have mercy upon me and change my heart. Bring me back into the closeness with You that enables me to do all things in and through You. In Jesus Name”