“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, 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: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” (Philippians 3:8–11, KJV)
There are somethings that are highly valued on this earth. We normally consider things like gold, silver, and diamonds. Yet there are some other things which have a higher earthly value. One item, named Californium. It is a metallic radioactive element first discovered at the University of California, Berkley. It has a value of 10 to 27-Million dollars per gram. In comparison, emeralds cost roughly 20-thousand dollars per gram. However, when we consider the value of these elements, there is something infinitely valuable. Moreover, it is available to all of us.
In the previous devotion we saw that Paul counted all his credentials and achievements as dung, that is animal excrement, as compared to having Christ. The reason is that the righteousness based upon the works wrought by man would never satisfy the righteous requirements of God. Isaiah recorded “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6, KJV). The righteousness of works has only earthly and temporal value. It lacks the infinitely superior righteousness of God.
So, Paul realized that the righteousness he needed, and that all of us need, is not a righteousness that we could produce. Rather, we need a righteousness that is not our own and that we could never create by human effort. We needed someone who had infinitely superior righteousness to give us this perfect righteousness of God. This is what Jesus brings to us, a righteousness that is not our own, but that meets the righteous requirements of heaven. Paul wrote of this referring to the work of Christ on the cross. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, KJV).
When Paul received this righteousness a righteousness that only comes by faith in Jesus, his whole live was changed. It changed his heart’s desires. His pursuit was not longer on an earthly manmade righteousness, but the pursuit of Christ and His righteousness. Thus, he stated, That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
The question is this. What do we truly value? I’m not speaking of what we know should be our highest value, but what do we value in our hearts. Do we value the things of this earth as higher than Jesus? Do we value our past successes higher than Jesus? Do we value our present actions or successes, even in the ministry, as higher than Jesus? If we do we have one of two problems. Either we have a very low view of Jesus and all that He has done and is doing for us. Or we think way too highly of ourselves.
Renewing the Heart 