That I May Know Him! (Part 2)

[Dr Benard Etta]

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Phi 3:10)

 

To work for Christ is good but to know Christ is better! Sometime we think we can impress Christ by the many things we do for Him, when actually He is more interested in getting us to know Him than to work for Him. Remember Martha, she was busy about many things but Jesus said, Mary has chosen the best part which can not be taken from her. Why? She sat at the feet of Jesus, listening and fellowshipping with Christ while Martha was busy trying to prepare something for Jesus to eat. Does that mean what Martha was doing was completely wrong? No! The issue is this; when we know Him, we would be able to read His mind and know what He would have us do at every given time. Outside of knowing him, we will operate in the dark as regard his will.

In the story of Jesus and the woman of Samaria, the scriptures say, Christ was hungry and he sent His disciples to go get him something to eat, and when they returned, instead of Jesus to sit and eat, He was busy speaking with the woman of Samaria and the disciples wondered if someone has given Him something to eat, and they  urged  Him to eat and He told them, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of”. (Jn 4:32)

What was the problem with the disciples in the above scripture? The disciples were sincere but mistaken; they were operating on the mindset of the past; what the needed, they didn’t share in the mind of Christ for what the moment demanded. Like the disciples, we can be sincere but mistaken in several areas in our walk with God. To know the scriptures and what they demand from us is good but to know the Christ of the scriptures is much better. To know the commandments and commissions of the scriptures is good but to know the one who gave the commandments and commission is better. If you were to ask the disciples what they were doing while they were busy with getting something for Jesus to eat, they will tell you sincerely that, they were doing the work of God but in truth, they were out of touch with the heart beat of Christ.

Working for Him without knowing Him will turn us into robots! Robots are machines made to do the heavy duties which humans can’t perform. They don’t have a mind of their own neither do they share the mind of those who made them. They simply act base on the remote control of those who use them. God did not create robots, neither did He saved us to turn us into robots but to make us join heirs with Christ. We only take our rightful place in the God head by knowing Christ; do see why Paul made the issue of knowing Christ a top priority than even knowing the power of His resurrection? We Pentecostals want more of the power of His resurrection; we talk more about it than we talk of the need to know Christ; after all, power will put us on the spotlight. Yes! We need to know the power of his resurrection but above all, we need to know Him we gives us the privilege to experience the power of his resurrection.

When we know Him, we would be able to handle the power of His resurrection properly. Unconsciously to us, most of our so called power demonstrations have turned us into entertainers in the eyes of the world. Like Samson, we some time play for the viewing pleasure of the heathen because we don’t yet know Him enough to understand His mind and what He would have us to do in so many instances. Have you been to some miracle, deliverance and healing meetings where all you see is the flesh in display? Oh! It takes a level in Christ to perceive and know when God is at work and when man is at work. If we will experience a move of God like nothing before, we need to set our priority straight and put first things first. It’s time to say like Paul; “THAT I MIGHT KNOW HIM”!

Why do we need to know Christ?

 If you ask this question to believers around you, you will hear all the religious responses in this world. Some will tell you, we need to know Christ because He died for us, others will say, because He is our savior, etc, etc. These answers are good but not profound enough and if these are all the reasons we have for knowing him, we can easily become lukewarm.

Watch out for Part three of this message: Why do we need to know Christ? And more during Global Faith Coalition 2012 World Congress on the 21st Century Church, scheduled for the 24th-28th 0f June in Douala Cameroon.  Make it a date with us! For more info, send request to < [e-mail]> Stay blessed! Dr Etta

 

JOIN ME AND OTHERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD IN DOUAL CAMEROON JUNE 24TH-28TH. REQUEST FOR YOUR INVITATION LETTER!!!!