The Passion of a Follower

When you were born again, you were filled with God’s Spirit, who brought you His joy and his passion. Every follower of Jesus should want to know and experience Jesus more deeply.

–Listen words from Paul:

–I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection

-I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus

Paul wasn’t the first to express this kind of passion:

–David said: Earnestly I will seek you. (Ps. 63:1)

–Asaph: Earth has nothing I desire besides you. (P 73:25)

–Jeremiah: If I say, “I will not mention God or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones . I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9)

Yahweh is a passionate God. (Psalm 69:9, Deuteronomy 5:9)

I. What drains our passion?

The Flesh. (Philippians 3:1-9)

• (Philippians 3:2)
• (Philippians 3:5)
• (Philippians 3:5)
• (Philippians 3:6)

Where’s your zeal?

Romans 12:11: Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor (Esv: Do not be slothful in zeal)

There are some things I have to lose to gain something better.

II. How DO I Know Christ More Deeply?

Passion alone will not get you there. More than fire; hunger:

1. It’s a

Philippians 3:8, Paul says he wants to “gnosis” Christ. That is, intellectually know him. Just knowing that Jesus exists brought Paul joy.

2. It’s a

• It’s a progressive relationship. Philippians 3:10, Paul says he wants to know Christ “Ginosko.” That’s the word to intimately know. (Matthew 1:25, Joseph did not “know” Mary until the baby was born.)
• Philippians 3:10, AMPLFD “for it is my determined purpose is that I may know Christ – that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more strongly and clearly.”
• We should want to be like Enoch who walked with God every day.

3. It’s

• Philippians 3:10, Jesus has raised us from the dead. We are alive in him. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead now empowers us to defeat temptation, live a holy live and share Christ.
• Philippians 3:10, and “share in his” the Greek word there is “Koinia” which means fellowship. We think of so much good when we think of koinia, the deep fellowship that exists in Christ. But in this case, it is the fellowship of his suffering. Pauls means that even if he suffers, he knows that Christ will be right there with him. He is also saying that he shares a passion for the same things that Christ died for.

4. It’s

• Philippians 3:11, the phrase is unique in the New Testament. Literally Paul says he wants to attain the “out resurrection from among the corpses.” Speaking in this case of the Second Coming. Believers are raised up from among the dead.
• Believer in Jesus anticipate something better than this life alone. Knowing Jesus now is great. We look forward to an even greater experience of growing to know him in all eternity ahead.