“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything, as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
— Philippians 3:7
I don’t pretend to be a financial expert, but I know the most basic of market strategies, “Buy low and sell high = profit. Buy high and sell low = loss.”
Profit and loss. It’s what makes economies tick and people’s portfolios grow or shrink. Most of us like profit and try to avoid loss like a bad cold. Well, today, the Apostle Paul tells us that in the heavenly realm, loss is considered to be gain. In fact, he says he considers all his worldly gain as rubbish in order to be found in Christ.
Jesus spoke about profit and loss in Mark 8:36, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet lose his soul?”
Profit and loss! One of the biggest stumbling blocks people have in coming to faith in Christ today is the high standard of living we have. People see the things of this world (Money, leisure, etc.) as having greater value than following Christ. If they didn’t, then churches would be full every Sunday. So why does knowing Christ far surpass the things of this world? Because the deepest longings of our soul aren’t physical. They are spiritual and you can't fix loneliness, depression, heartbreak or rejection with ice cream, drugs or alcohol. That just makes it worse!
The Apostle Paul spent much of his life in pursuit of the wrong things as well. It was only when he met the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus that everything changed. Jesus blinded him temporarily to worldly pursuits and gave him true spiritual sight to see that all these other things were blinding him to the truth in Christ. And so, because Jesus Christ was willing to suffer and die for him, so that he could have eternal life through simple repentance and faith in Him, he was now able to write, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”
Profit and loss! God's economy. If for me to live is money, then to die is loss. If for me to live is being popular, then to die for me is loss. If for me to live is anything of this world then to die is loss because it’s all temporary and I will lose it when I die. But of for me to live is Christ, then to die is gain. It is gain because as I leave this world and its problems behind, I gain God’s Heavenly kingdom through faith in Christ.
In this age of materialism we live in, this is a passage we desperately need to hear. God’s plan of eternal salvation is simply receiving His Son in humble repentance and faith. It is dying to self and the things of this world that would trap us and blind us to the truth of Christ’s surpassing worth. In the end, the loss of this present life with all its trials, suffering and brokenness, will result in the gain of eternal life in heaven where God will be with His people in perfect communion forever…amen.
