Dear Members and Friends of IBCZ,
Have you ever had an experience that was so enjoyable, even so exhilarating that you didn’t want it to end; you just wanted it to last and last?
Perhaps it was a magnificent concert where the music thrilled the hearts of the audience. The audience, through their applause, demanded and received an encore, and even a second encore, but finally the concert had to end. Or maybe it was your dream vacation; everything went perfectly and you just wished it would keep going.
When we are in the presence of beauty, or excellence, or grandeur, we want to stay there and continue to enjoy the wonder and greatness of it. This is what Paul was getting at in a passage we studied two weeks ago – Phil. 3:10-11, where Paul wrote, “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.” And then Paul wrote of how he pressed on toward this goal.
Pressing on to know Christ in deeper and fuller ways is not simply a religious duty we are supposed to carry out. Rather it is the wonderful gift to be in the presence of the One who is pure love, perfect in His holiness, wisdom, compassion, and power. It is to know the One who in His sacrificial love died for our sins and by His grace invites us to live all of life in relationship with Him, daily experiencing His transforming love and power in our lives. As Graham Kendrick wrote in a song we sing at IBCZ, Knowing You:
Knowing You, Jesus, Knowing You
There is no greater thing;
You’re my all, You’re the best,
You’re my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You Love.
There is no one greater than Jesus, and there is no greater thing than knowing Him and experiencing Him in ever greater ways. So with Paul, let us press on to know Jesus in all His fullness.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bob