Just One Thing—Knowing Christ: Pressing Forward

 Uniting Heaven and Earth

Christ in Philippians and Colossians 

Lesson 6 - Thursday

Just One Thing—Knowing Christ
Philippians 3:10–16

In Philippians 3:10–16, Paul opens his heart and reveals the single, overriding passion of his life: to know Christ. Not merely to know about Him, but to know Him deeply, personally, and experientially. Everything else—status, past achievements, even spiritual milestones—fades in comparison to this one pursuit.

Paul begins by expressing his desire to know Christ in the fullness of His life and work: “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.” Knowing Christ means sharing in His victory and His pain. The resurrection power Paul longs for is not only future glory, but present transformation—the power that raises us from spiritual death and reshapes our lives into Christ’s likeness. At the same time, Paul understands that intimacy with Christ also involves suffering. To walk closely with Jesus is to walk the same path of self-denial, sacrifice, and faithfulness that He walked. Yet even suffering becomes meaningful when it draws us into deeper fellowship with Him.

Paul is careful to clarify that he has not “already attained” or reached perfection. This is a key lesson of the passage: spiritual maturity does not mean complacency. The more Paul knows Christ, the more he recognizes how much there is still to know. Rather than discouraging him, this awareness fuels his determination. He presses on, not to earn Christ’s acceptance, but because Christ has already made him His own. Grace is not an excuse to stop growing; it is the reason we can keep moving forward.

One of Paul’s strongest images in this passage is his refusal to look back. “Forgetting those things which are behind,” he says, “and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Paul’s past included both apparent successes and profound failures. He had once been a respected Pharisee, and he had also been a persecutor of the church. Yet neither his achievements nor his sins would define his present walk with Christ. Looking back—especially at sins and failures—can quietly undermine faith. It can trap us in guilt, shame, or spiritual paralysis, causing us to live as though Christ’s forgiveness were incomplete.

In the Christian walk, constantly revisiting forgiven sins is not humility; it is often unbelief in the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. When God forgives, He truly forgives. To keep looking back is to live as though the cross were not enough and as though resurrection power were not real in the present. Paul understood that growth requires forward vision. God’s promises are not only about heaven someday, but about new life, freedom, and transformation right now in Christ.

Paul ends this section by urging believers to have this same mindset—to walk according to the light they have already received. The Christian life is not about perfection, but direction. It is about steady movement toward Christ, eyes fixed ahead, heart anchored in grace, and confidence rooted in what God has promised.

To know Christ, then, is to live unburdened by the past and energized by the future God has secured. It is to trust that what Christ has begun in us, He will carry forward until the day of completion.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You alone are the treasure of our lives. Teach us to desire You above all else—to know You, Your power, and Your heart. Help us to release the weight of past sins and failures, trusting fully in Your forgiveness and grace. Keep our eyes fixed ahead, on the promises You have already given us in You. Give us courage to press on, humility to keep growing, and faith to believe that You are at work in us even now. May our one great pursuit be to know You more each day.
Amen.

More on Lesson 6 Confidence Only in Christ

This Quarter's Sabbath School Lessons Here: Christ in Philippians and Colossians