The dignity and esteem of this world is lost on us, but we have found our worth in Jesus Christ

Philippians 3:7-16

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:7-11

Before Paul’s conversion, he had every earthly prestige and honor given to him as a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, being a true-blood Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin and being taught by the most powerful and educated. Also, Paul was a naturally born Roman citizen as his father was a true-blood Roman [Acts 22:27-28] and his mother a true-blood Israelite [Acts 22:2] After Paul’s conversion to Jesus Christ, he lost every earthly honor as he ended up being imprisoned by the Romans and ex-communicated from the Jewish hierarchy. Paul no longer held any value for earthly prestige and counted all of his past accomplishments to be loss to serve his Lord Jesus Christ. Paul considered the knowledge he had of Jesus Christ to be worth more than all the knowledge he had as a prestigious Roman and elite Israelite.

As followers of Jesus Christ, living to subdue human nature, we have to be prepared to give up the offerings of this world. This involves counting success at the workplace to be second to living for Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This means being willing to earn less, which puts stress on meal preparation, paying bills, giving up luxuries, etc. We give up a large part of earthly security because we choose not to get ahead in life at the expense of the hurt, suffering, pain, and misfortune of others. We give up social networking because those of today’s culture prefer not to associate with us who believe in God, acknowledge the need for the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ, and embrace the Holy Spirit. We no longer find esteem, dignity, and worth by the values of this world as we identify as Christians.

With Paul, we can say that we count the offerings of this world to be loss to us in exchange for the knowledge we have of Christ Jesus our Lord, for whom we willingly accept a humble station in life to have Him. We gladly give up the righteousness, approval, and acceptance that this world wants to give us so that we can live in faith through Jesus Christ so that we are righteous in God’s eyes. Through Jesus Christ, we know His power of resurrection as we have had a real born-again experience to change our course through life. We fellowship with Him in His sufferings by being rejected by this world and willingly being conformed to death in this world. In Jesus Christ, we will attain to the resurrection from the dead to live eternally with him in the New Jerusalem.

“Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

We will never be perfect in this world, and there is the atheistic entity that has power over physiology to remind us of that. This artificial entity imposes on us what to feel and think to influence what we do and say as it enlivens the image of the beast to speak and live through people. People are being groomed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do. Even so, like Paul, we press on in Jesus Christ who has already won the victory for us, all we do is believe in Him. We will not obtain everything Christ has in store for us on this earth, but we will not look back to a life of sin, and we will run forward to the call of God in Jesus Christ.

“Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.” Philippians 3:15-16

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11