Know Christ

Philippians 3:8-11 - I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Ephesians 1:18-21 - I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

2 Corinthians 4:7 - But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Romans 6:11 - In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:1 - Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Conclusions:

• What Paul now has as a Christian is not merely preferable or a better alternative; in contrast, his former way of life was worthless and despicable
• Paul emphasizes that the extraordinary divine force by which Jesus Christ was raised is the same power at work in and through believers
• The absolute insufficiency of man reveals the total sufficiency of God
• Human weakness provides the ideal opportunity for the display of divine power
• Counting yourself dead to sin is the first step toward victory over sin in the believer’s life
• True believers are in Christ because they have died with Christ and have been raised to new life in Him
• The believer’s position in Christ: He is dead; he has been raised with Christ; he is with Christ in heaven; he has taken off the old self; and he has put on the new self
• What the believer is to do as a result: He is to set his heart on things above; he is to put to death practices that belong to his earthly nature; and he is to rid himself of practices that characterized his unregenerated self
• The believers is called upon to become in daily experience what he is positionally in Christ

Application:

• Do you share positionally in Christ's death and resurrection?
• Is your former way of life worthless and despicable?
• Is the power of Christ at work in and through you?
• Does your insufficiency reveal God's sufficiency?
• Is divine power revealed through your weaknesses?
• Have you died to Christ and been raised to new life with Him?
• Does your daily experience reveal what you are positionally in Christ?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Know My Father Also

1 John 2:21-24 - I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

John 8:19 - Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."

John 14:23 - Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 15:4 - Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

1 John 1:3 - We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Conclusions:

• John makes it clear that the Word was with God and was God and reveals God
• Jesus stresses that the Father is known through the Son and that to know the one is to know the other
• Love and obedience are linked
• The believer has no fruitfulness apart from his union and fellowship with Christ
• A branch out of contact with the vine is useless
• “Fellowship with us” is participation with us in our experience of hearing, seeing and touching the incarnate Christ
• Fellowship is the spiritual union of the believer with Christ—as described in the figures of the vine and branches and the body and the head—as well as communion with the Father and with fellow believers

Application:

• Do you know Christ?
• Do you obey Jesus teaching?
• Do you have union and fellowship with Christ?
• Are you in union with Christ, the Father and fellow believers?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible

Obey His Commands

1 John 2:3-4 - We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

John 14:15 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command.

1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Titus 1:16 - They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

1 John 3:6 - No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

1 John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Conclusions:

• Love, like faith, cannot be separated from obedience
• Faithful and just is a single concept
• Faithful and just indicates that God’s response toward those who confess their sins will be in accordance with His nature and His gracious commitment to His people
• God is faithful to His promise to forgive
• God will provide the forgiveness that restores the communion with Him that had been interrupted by sin
• The false teachers stood condemned by the test of personal conduct
• Right knowledge is extremely important, because it leads to godliness
• Paul maintained a remarkable balance between doctrine and practice
• John is not asserting sinless perfection, but explaining that the believer’s life is characterized not by sin but by doing what is right
• Only those who are to some degree like Him truly know Him
• In His essential nature and in all His actions, God is loving
• John similarly affirms that God is spirit and light, as well as holy, powerful, faithful, true and just

Application:

• Do you love Jesus?
• Have you confessed your sins?
• Do you claim to know God? Do your actions deny Him?
• Is your life characterized by doing what is right?
• Are you to some degree like Him?

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible