Scripture: Phillipians 3 v 8 - 10: "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"
If Paul, who became the foremost Apostle of Jesus, who suffered many trials, still did not know the full power of the resurrection of Jesus, then how can we begin to know it?
Paul wrote that everything he ever knew or owned became worthless in the light of the knowledge of Jesus. He realised that being in the presence of God, experiencing the anointing of His nearness, was worth more than anything on this Earth, or in the world. Even that made him hungry to know the deeper resurrection power.
David wrote, As the deer pants for the water so my heart longs after You, You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship You. Those who have tasted the wonderful presence of Jesus, want nothing more because He utterly satisfies those who come bringing offerings of praise, worship and love.
Ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven the day of Pentecost dawned, a feast of the Jews happening 50 days after Passover. Significantly, it was first celebrated fifty days after the first Passover which began the exodus from Egypt. It now would become the birth of the Church of Jesus Christ because it was on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and even Mary, the mother of Jesus, who were all together in an Upper Room.
They heard a sound like a strong wind and upon their heads appeared tongues of fire. Power came upon them and they started to pray, speak and worship in other tongues. Languages they had never learned poured forth from their mouths. The people in the street below were from many countries and had come to celebrate Pentecost. They understood the words the apostles uttered.
They were telling of the whole world the wonderful works of God. It set a legal precedent for our God to evangelize every nation. Because Satan is the God of this world since Adam handed him the reigns, he laid down the law which our Father had to abide by. He could not sovereignly do anything on this Earth until human beings set a legal precedent. Hence Abraham had to sacrifice Isaac for God to sacrifice Jesus. Lazarus had to be resurrected after four days dead to set a legal precedent for Jesus to rise on the third day.
Everyone who has been baptised in the Holy Spirit and has received His gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, faith, miracles, prophecy, healings, discerning of spirits, word of knowledge and word of wisdom, has begun to know Him, the Living God and begun to experience the power of His resurrection.
Jesus set the precedent for us to do miracles, healings, deliverances, prophesy and other supernatural gifts to enable us to carry out the Great Commission. Through His resurrection life returned to His body, the Church, which used all the gifts of the Holy Spirit to sustain that life. Churches that do not have the power of the Holy Spirit and His gifts also lack the resurrection power of the life of Jesus. They have become church clubs but not living witnesses.
Through the power, anointing, gifts, fruit, guidance of the Holy Spirit, we learn to scratch the surface of knowing God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. The more we know, the more we want to know, but to plunge into the depths of really knowing God, this world has to become nothing. Our God is far removed from anything that even looks like sin.
He has forgiven sin for sure, as soon as we repent and show remorse it is deleted forever. No guilt remains and we are free to be grateful. Free to explore the nature of God and receive all the changes following Jesus brings upon us. Our blocks to transformation are stubbornness and self-deception which becomes unbelief and backsliding. It certainly also blocks knowing the power of the resurrection in us.
Most people only ever use a small percentage of the available power of the Holy Spirit. They don't even know that it should be more so don't dig for it. It's like finding a diamond on a dry river bed and not realizing if you dug down deeper you would find another Kimberly Hole from which millions of diamonds have been dug out.
But what we seek is no earthly treasure, it is the ultimate depth of being one with the Godhead, the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Paul knew there was more to come but not in his lifetime. He has pointed the way for those who seek those precious depths, left clues in his epistles to help those who have uncovered the trail of bread crumbs, and which are skimmed over by those who are already satisfied by the gifts they have.
That we may know Him is our holy grail. It is our quest and should be our one desire. Paul spent three years alone in the desert after his conversion for one purpose - to know Him whom he had persecuted and hated for no real reason. To discover the nature and purpose of Jesus appearing to him on that dusty Damascus road, and turning His blinding lights upon Him.
Acts 22 v 8 - 10: "And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do."
He first had to know Jesus in a very real way. We all do. Jesus is alive in our hearts longing for us to know How much He cares about us. He needs His Body to grow and function until the division, brokenness, cuts, bruises, wounds, and scars are completely healed. Then His Body can be united in one place, having one mind. His resurrection Body needs to come together to be joined to Him in the Rapture.
So, as Don Francisco once sang, Come a little closer to Jesus, get a whole lot closer to Jesus. Let us do that and get to know Him more than we do today.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, no matter how long we have been born again and begun a personal relationship with You and Jesus, we need to know You more than we do. We will spend eternity with You, so every bit of knowledge will be a delight. Help us to seek Your face and experience Your divine presence in our midst. In Jesus' name. Amen.