What is the greatest gift ever given?
Philippians 3:8: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Paul is excited about a gift he has been given. He describes this gift as “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” To confess the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus means to think that Jesus is the greatest gift of all. To think that Jesus is the best treasure in the universe. To think that Jesus is the most valuable gain there is.
Paul is making it clear that Jesus is better than any gift you could ever receive. He is telling you that Jesus is better than anything you have or don’t have. So to acknowledge the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ means that nothing compares to Jesus. To gain Christ is to gain everything; to lack Christ is to have nothing.
But what does Paul mean by knowing Jesus? When he speaks of knowing, he means knowing who Christ is and what he’s done. He is God who took on flesh to save his people from their sins. He is the Christ, the One appointed by the Father and anointed by the Spirit to be the prophet who reveals the way of salvation; the priest, who makes peace with God for ungodly sinners; and the King before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He’s the Lord who destroys the works of Satan and overcomes sin and death.
But knowing Jesus is more than just knowing those things about Jesus. Knowing him is more than believing those things are true. Knowing is personal. Notice how Paul speaks of “Christ Jesus my Lord.” Knowing here is relational. It involves trust. Trusting that Jesus will save me from my sin. Trusting Jesus as my Prophet who shows me the way, my Priest who makes the way, my King who leads me along the way. Knowing Jesus means being connected to him in such a way that my relation to him now defines my life and my future.
And the Bible says we have this relationship to and with Jesus by faith. We trust him by faith. We receive what he’s done for us by faith. We rest in his finished work on our behalf by faith. And Paul focuses here on one grace we receive from Jesus when we trust him. Paul goes on to say that by faith, Jesus’ righteousness is his, and therefore he has forgiveness and acceptance with God. Look at what Paul says in Philippians 3:8-9: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…”
Notice what Paul connects. He connects knowing Christ, forsaking everything to gain Christ, and being found in Christ through faith with receiving righteousness from God. Righteousness refers to consistency with a standard. And the standard is God’s law. But our problem is that none of us have lived up to that standard. All of us have fallen short. All of us have broken the law, which means we are unrighteous (Romans 3:10). And that’s not something we can undo. It’s not something we can fix by trying to keep the law. But the good news of the gospel is that God the Father sent forth God the Son, and by the upholding ministry of God the Holy Spirit, Jesus kept the law for us. Born under the law, he was perfectly righteous. And then he died for the unrighteous on the cross. He paid the penalty for the sins of his people. And Paul is saying that through faith in Jesus, we receive a righteousness from God. Our sin is forgiven and we are counted righteous in God’s sight because we are in Jesus Christ, the Righteous. None of this is earned by us; it’s something we receive as a gift through faith in Christ. Forgiveness and acceptance with God is the free gift of God in Jesus Christ, received by faith.
We could turn to other passages to see that Jesus is an abundant storehouse of grace for all who trust in him. Paul says in Ephesians 1:3 that God the Father gives us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. Every spiritual gift you and I need to be made new, to be forgiven and accepted, to be adopted into the family of God, to be changed, to be kept, to be brought home to dwell with God forever in the new heavens and new earth, all of it is given to us in the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ himself.
This greatest of gifts is not earned. It’s freely offered. It is received with the empty hands of faith. Have you received the greatest gift of all and can you say with Paul, “I count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”? Each of us can know the joy of confessing that from our hearts when we turn from sin and trust in Christ.