The primary focus of Gaining Christ is to help men know God deeply. Knowing God is the highest calling in life. It is a gift from God that surpasses, in value and satisfaction, anything available to man.
“The LORD is my shepherd. I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1
Knowing God is much more than intellectual awareness about God. Knowing God is literally personal fellowship with the one and only God of the universe. It is intimate involvement in God’s love, favor, wisdom, and power that culminates into immeasurable reward in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.
Knowing God begins by knowing the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ (Messiah). Knowing Christ is a spiritual union between the Lord Jesus and His believer.
Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life; that they may know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3
Union with Christ occurs when a needy sinner is graciously born again by the Holy Spirit. At rebirth, a sinner is spiritually united to Christ in faith. It is through this union in Christ that a person receives all of the God-pleasing merits of Jesus’ perfect life and sacrificial death. As a result, that person is immediately forgiven of all sin and declared righteous by God. He is reconciled to God and secured for Heaven.
However, this super-gracious power of God does not stop or even pause in a person at new birth. In fact, it is effectually only beginning.
”But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of which I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as dung, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” Philippians 3:7-9a
Knowing Christ is a dynamic relationship. It is a relationship whereby Jesus lives in the believer through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a union that progressively informs, matures, delights, and empowers the believer throughout his life. In it, the believer becomes more like Christ. He is drawn ever closer to Christ. He becomes increasingly wanting of Christ. He serves more potently for Christ. Essentially, the believer is gaining Christ. And, his gaining of Christ continues unto its climax; when the believer himself enters God’s Kingdom and shares in the glory of Christ.
The ministry of Gaining Christ is firmly dedicated to helping men know God deeply through union and communion in the Lord Jesus Christ.