Loss (2209)(zemia) describes the state of coming into a worsened situation from previous advantage. Thus zemia is translated as damage, disadvantage, loss, forfeit. In Herodotus zemia usually meant ‘punishment’ but in the NT it is only used of in reference to suffering the loss of something, with the implication of sustaining hardship or suffering.
In ancient Greek manuscripts zemia referred to commercial or business losses.
TDNT writes that zemia meant...
Disadvantage (which) may take the form of monetary or material “loss” or “damage.” It may also be moral or spiritual in the sense of “hurt” or “ruin,” with a subjective nuance of “unpleasantness.” Legally zemia early takes on the sense of “penalty” and zemioo “to punish.” (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans)
NIDNTT adds that...
The opposite of kerdos is zemia, disadvantage, loss, and (occasionally) punishment. (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan)
Other than Phil 3:7,8, there are only 2 other Scriptural uses of zemia...
(The ship carrying Paul to Rome to stand trial, encountered a deadly storm, prompting Paul to declare), "Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be attended with damage (hubris) and great loss (zemia), not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives." (Acts 27:18)
Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete, and incurred this damage and loss (zemia) (Acts 27:21)
A similar historical illustration of "counting it all loss" is told of the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez. After landing at Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1519 he was so intent on conquest that to assure the devotion of his men, Cortez set fire to his fleet of eleven ships! With no means of retreat Cortez’s army had only one direction to move, into the Mexican interior. Cortez understood the price of commitment—and he was willing to pay it for a temporal, earthly treasure. Paul in contrast was willing to give up the earthly for the heavenly. Am I? Are you?
For the sake of Christ - This means "on account of Christ" or "because of the fact of Christ" (Vine)
Eadie explains for the sake of Christ as signifying...
what was once gain was now reckoned loss, either because it did not commend him to Christ, or what was held as something won was regarded now as loss, for it did not enable to win Christ, nay, kept him from winning Christ. When he won, he was losing; nay, the more he won, the more he must lose. All his advantages in birth, privilege, sect, earnestness, and obedience, were not only profitless, but productive of positive loss, as they prevented the gaining of Christ, and of justification through the faith of Christ.
In Paul's great renunciation, he gives us his own “Profit and Loss Statement” with "those things" in the preceding verses that had been gain to him, "writing" on one side of the ledger and "writing" on the other side the single word Christ. Paul's point is that all of man's glory amounts to nothing when compared with the glorious treasure which is found in Christ Alone. Where is your treasure...for
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mt 6:19, 20, 21-see notes Mt 6:19; 20; 21)
On the Damascus Road Paul had the unspeakable privilege of seeing the glory of the Risen Lord (Acts 9:3), and from that moment on all other glories seemed like nothing in comparison.
McGee adds that
On the credit side of the ledger Paul had been adding up his background and his character and his religion. It seemed like an impressive list—and it was , on the human plane. Suddenly it all became a debit—he no longer trusted in those things because he met Jesus Christ. He had hated Him before and was on the way to Damascus to persecute His followers, but now the One on the debit side was moved to the credit side. He put his entire trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my friend, if the bookkeeping system of this country were transformed like that, it would upset the economy of the world. It would be a revolution. Actually, any conversion is a revolution because what things are gain become a loss, and loss becomes gain. It turns you upside down and right side up. It gets you in an altogether different position. That is what conversion is. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)
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I Have Everything - Philippians 3:1-12 - I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. --Philippians 3:8
The airline had mangled Debbie's luggage. Then her purse disappeared. Instead of entering the airport through an enclosed corridor, she stumbled off the plane in the pouring rain. She was drenched, far from home with no money, no identification, and no dry clothes.
Under normal conditions Debbie would have been furious, but that night it didn't matter. She had just survived the crash of Flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas. "When I walked off that plane," Debbie said, "I walked off with nothing, then I stopped and thought, I have everything." She had suddenly realized that her life was more important than all she had lost.
It sometimes takes a dramatic turn of events to alter our perspective. That was true for Saul of Tarsus. He had treasured his hard-earned reputation for "righteousness" more than anything in the world (Phil. 3:4-6). But when he met Christ on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-6), his whole outlook changed. Later he wrote, "What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ" (Phil. 3:7).
Yielding our sinful pride and self-sufficiency to the Lord may seem as if we are losing everything. But only then will we discover that to have life in Christ is to have everything. —David C. McCasland (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
We think we have what matters most
Of what this life can give;
But when we yield it all to Christ,
We've just begun to live. —DJD
When we have nothing left but Christ
We find that Christ is enough.
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WHEN ALL IS LOST - Philippians 3:7-14 - What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. —Philippians 3:7
I was rummaging around my son's garage and found all the trophies he had won in his years of athletic competition. There they were in a box—about to be thrown out.
I thought of the blood, sweat, and tears that had gone into gaining those awards, yet now he was putting them in the trash. They no longer had any value to him.
It reminded me of a whimsical children's poem by Shel Silverstein called "Hector the Collector." It describes all the things that Hector collected over the years. He "loved them more than shining diamonds, loved them more than glistenin' gold." Then Hector called to all his friends, "Come and share my treasure trunk!" And all the people "came and looked and called it junk."
So it will be at the end of our lives. All our possessions—the things we've spent a lifetime working for—will be nothing but junk. That's when we'll surely know that the best things in life are not things.
But we can have the right perspective now, as Paul did. "What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ" (Philippians 3:7). We can keep a proper attitude about our possessions, because we possess the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.—David H. Roper (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
I'd rather be His than have riches untold;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today. —Miller
© Renewal 1950 Chancel Music, Inc
Our greatest riches are the riches we have in Christ.
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F B Meyer in his devotional commentary on Philippians...
SELLING ALL TO BUY THE PEARL
Phil 3:4-9
The Pearl of Great Price. In one of His most exquisite parables, our Saviour depicted a man leaving his house in the morning with a heavy bag of gold, and making his way to the market-place, where pearl-sellers displayed the precious ocean gems. He was seeking goodly pearls, and passed from stall to stall with the eye and touch of the connoisseur; but from each stall he turned away dissatisfied. At last he approached one of the sellers, and saw before him on the tray the most exquisite, perfect, and transparent pearl that his eyes had ever lit on. Asking the price, he discovered that it would take all the pearls he had bought, and all the gold in his pouch, to procure it. On starting, he had meant to get the pearls and keep his house and estate, but he learnt that to win that he must sell even these; and so pearls and gold, home and heritage, were all gladly parted with, that that one most priceless jewel might be his own. And always afterwards, when the purchase was concluded, though he was homeless and solitary, the fact that he had got that pearl more than compensated him; he counted all things else but loss.
When our Lord spoke that marvellously beautiful parable, He must have had Saul of Tarsus in His eye--a man with a rich religious nature, capable of an infinite hunger after God, who passed from one stall to another amid the religions of the world, seeking for the best. But finally, when he came where the gem of heaven and earth and sea, the pearl of great price, lay, translucent and glistening, he gladly sacrificed all he possessed to win it; and in this marvellous paragraph he tells us that he counted all things else as loss and refuse compared with Jesus Christ. Oh, that we may understand the superlative excellence of Jesus, and turn from everything that would divide our heart with Him!
NOTICE HOW THE APOSTLE
USES THE POWER OF CONTRAST
There are many ways by which we set forth the value of any possession. We may speak of its rarity; dilate upon its quality; or we may set it in contrast with things that men value. Let us look upon these contrasts, so enhancing "the Pearl."
THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST
AND THE PRACTICE OF JUDAISM
(1) He contrasted "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" with the ancient and holy system of Judaism. The Apostle speaks of Judaism with profound reverence and affection. His was not a profane and irreverent soul, that could speak ruthless words about the holy system, which, for so many centuries, had satisfied his forefathers, and which, in his own early life, had been so treasured and dear. He never could forget that the architecture of Judaism had been given by God on Sinai's Mount; that the ritualism of the Tabernacle had been wrought out in the laboratory of the Divine mind; that the breath of God had quivered upon the lips of its prophets, and His fire burnt upon the hearts of its seers. He never could forget the generations of holy souls which in Judaism had found their solace, their inspiration, and their comfort; and therefore, with reverent, loving, and tender words, he spoke about that hoary system. What though the light of evening was now shining upon the hills of Zion! What though, ere long, Jerusalem itself must lie beneath the foot of the invader! Still Judaism was dear to him. But contrasted with Jesus Christ, and with that new view of God that Jesus Christ had brought, in which the veil was torn away, and the soul stood face to face with incarnate Deity, Judaism with all its sacred sanctions was but so much loss.
CHRIST AND
SACRAMENTAL GRACE
(2) He contrasted the knowledge of Christ, next, with the virtue of sacramental efficacy. He mentions, first, the sacrament of circumcision. He says: "Circumcision was administered to me, not in mature life, as to a Gentile proselyte, but in my infancy. On the eighth day I received the initial rite, the badge of the Jew, the seal of the covenant." He made much of it. It is right that we should make much of the holy sacraments of our religion. Chiefest amongst our religious memories, treasured with unfeigned delight, are certain great moments when we have sat at the Table of our Lord with His saints, and have feasted high, whilst the tide of holy joy has borne us beyond the shores of earthly delight, to the very bosom of our Saviour. Sacraments have meant much to us, but how much to others! Paul said: Though I value beyond compare the sacraments of Judaism, what are these compared to the living Christ? They are but the empty grave from which He has gone forth; they are but the cerements of the tomb, whilst the living Christ passes along the Easter path.
CHRIST
AND HIGH BIRTH
(3) He contrasted the knowledge of the Lord with high pedigree. To have been circumcised was much, but even if he had been the child of a Jewish proselyte he would have been circumcised the eighth day. It did not prove that he had the pure blood of Abraham flowing through his veins; therefore he says: "I was born a Hebrew; mine was the stock of Israel, the prince with God; I was of the tribe of Benjamin, from which Saul came, the first king of Israel; and which, amid the general faithlessness, clung still to Judah in maintaining the Temple rites. Moreover, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews; no Gentile blood had ever intermingled in our family." How good some count it to be able to trace back their pedigree to the Normans, or to the Saxons who preceded the Conquest. Some such pride might have been the Apostle's. He looked upon Rome, and Babylon, and Greece, but knew his descent lay further back than any. They might boast their splendour, but he came of the man who crossed the Euphrates, and settled in Palestine as the friend of God. In him flowed the blood of Moses, who dared behold God face to face; of Joshua, who bade the sun stand still; of Jeremiah and the prophets. But he cries: Compared to Christ, it is nothing. The soul that has won Him is related to a higher family; has received the title of a nobler lineage; is linked, not with the fathers of saintly piety, but to the everlasting Father, the eternal God, through Jesus Christ, the great Brother Man, who has lifted man into union with God. Compared with Him, high lineage and ancient pedigree are but dross.
CHRIST IN CONTRAST
WITH PHARISAISM.
(4) He contrasted the knowledge of Christ with his membership in a noble order of men. Before Agrippa he said: "I lived a Pharisee"; and before the Council he cried: "I am a Pharisee, and the son of a Pharisee." He here boasts it again--"As touching the law, a Pharisee." The Pharisee in our time has come to be looked upon as the embodiment of pride, arrogance and supercilious contempt and scorn; but away back in the history of Israel the Pharisees stood for the purest, strictest morality. They were the maintainers of the Law amid the indifference of their time, They opposed the great parties of the courtly Herodians and of the skeptical Sadducees. What if they made their phylacteries broad! It showed that they reverenced the very text of the Word of God. What though they built the tombs of the prophets! At least they had reverence for the great past. What though they flaunted an outward piety! At least there was the outward recognition of God. There was much to condemn, but they stood for the unity of the God-head, the resurrection of the Hereafter, and the strictest interpretation of the law. But Paul said that all this was as nothing to him now; he was prepared to be cast out by the Pharisees, to become an outcast and an alien, and be treated as the off-scourings of all things. To have Christ was an infinite compensation, which made all the rest seem but loss.
CHRIST IN CONTRAST
WITH REPUTATION.
(5) He contrasted the knowledge of Christ with his own great reputation--"As touching zeal, per-securing the Church." Everybody knew how devoted he was to Judaism, and how intent in uprooting Christianity. Breathing fire and sword, he swept like a tornado through Palestine. The disciples trembled when he came near any city in which they were gathered, for there was every fear that he would drag them before the Councils and commit them to prison. In many cases he ruthlessly stamped out the infant church in blood. There was nothing he would not do, so relentless, so merciless, so unsparing. And with all this, he was building up such a reputation as would have given him prominence in all after time in his fatherland and amongst his fellow-countrymen. It is not a small thing for a young man of thirty to build up a reputation like that, because it means high marriage, power, wealth and prestige. It means everything that a man cares for and seeks; but when Paul stood, with everything of this world alluring him on the one hand, and with Christ on the other calling him to the cross, torture, isolation, poverty, and everything the flesh of man hates, he said: "I am married to Christ, and in Him am married to suffering, sorrow, and loss; but I look on it as a man who has made a good bargain--for I have won the Pearl, Christ."
CHRIST IN CONTRAST
WITH PERSONAL UPRIGHTNESS
(6) He contrasted the knowledge of Christ with the satisfaction of blameless character--"As touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless." There is a tribunal always in session, a tribunal before which we are all constantly being tried; and we ourselves often sit upon that tribunal to try those above us, on our level, and beneath us. But in our quiet hours we leave that judgment-seat, and apply to ourselves the standards which we have been applying to our fellows. At such times we cannot but notice how, compared with many around us, our own character appears blameless and flawless. Thank God, we say, after we have been considering the case of the drunkard, the miser, or the dissipated, we are not as they are. And as we apply to ourselves the standard beneath which so many of our fellows have been condemned, we are disposed to take to ourselves considerable credit. "I go to church, I pay my subscriptions, I do not drink, I do not indulge the flesh, I keep my tongue in control; my dearest and nearest cannot accuse me of being anything but a loving, tender man; my life is blameless." Thereupon we conclude that we are right.
These are the people that it is hardest to win for Christ. They are enclosed and encased within the armour of their self-righteousness; they are so complacent that when the strongest sermons are levelled against congregations they shelter themselves beneath their armour-plate, and say: The sermon is good for others, but it cannot mean us. When a man wakes up suddenly to see that in God's sight all that counts for nothing; when Christ comes to him and casts the X-rays upon his inner life; when he sees the glory of the Great White Throne compared with the linen he has been washing for years with such arduous punctiliousness; when he sees that what he thought to be white and clean is only as filthy as rags to the Son of God, there comes the greatest fight of his life. Many a man would be prepared to give up his church, to renounce his sacraments, to step out from his high family, with its pedigree, and from the blamelessness of his earlier life; many a man would be prepared to sacrifice his reputation for earnestness: but when it comes to saying that his righteousness is but filthy rags; that the boat he has been constructing will not carry him across the mighty deluge of waters; that the tower he has built upon the reef will not resist the autumn storm, in counting even his blamelessness as loss and dross--yea as dung--then there comes the greatest fight.
CONTRASTED
RIGHTEOUSNESS
(7) He contrasted the knowledge of God's Righteousness which is by faith, with his own righteousness, which was of the law. In the Epistle to the Romans the Apostle clearly describes the righteousness, which is of the law, "That the man which doeth these things shall live by them" (Rom. 10:5). The doing of the things prescribed by the Law in the heart, or the Law on the Tables of Stone, has occupied the minds and governed the activities of legalists and ritualists from the beginning of the world. It was this that prompted Luther to fastings and scourgings, beneath which his body was reduced to an extremity, and that encouraged Bunyan to hope that an outward reformation would satisfy the outcry of his conscience. But such men have always found their efforts unavailing. However zealous they may be in going about to establish their own righteousness, men discover that what has seemed a white and flawless robe is only as filthy rags, in the searching light of the great white throne.
But the Righteousness which is "of God," because it was designed by His wisdom, and is offered by His unmerited grace, requires no "going about." There is no need to say, "Who shall ascend unto heaven," or "Who shall descend into the deep." "The word of faith is nigh thee." Its one condition is the open hand of a faith, that takes what the risen Saviour offers. Just as soon as the soul trusts Him--not merely believing about, but in Him,--in that moment it is clothed upon with the Righteousness of Christ, wrought out by His perfect obedience unto death, which is "unto all and upon all them that believe" (Rom. 3:22). It is only necessary to abandon our own righteousness to gain Christ and His righteousness. We cannot have both. But when we have resolved to drop the one, that we may take the other; in making the choice, we suddenly find ourselves in Him, and arrayed in the beauteous dress, Who was made sin for us that we might be made the Righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).
Have you come to Him? The time is coming when you will have to be found somewhere. The Apostle says, "That I may be found in Him." You will have to be found by the swirling tides of sorrow, by some supreme temptation, by the final test of death; you will have to be found in the Judgement; you will have to be found in the dissolution of the Heavens and the Earth. When God comes to find you, where will you be found? In the cardboard of your own goodness, or in the completed Righteousness of Jesus Christ, which He wrought out on the Cross in tears and blood, and which is yours directly you look with penitent trust towards Him? God grant that when you are found, it may be with the Pearl of great price in your hand, and with the Righteousness of Jesus Christ upon your soul! (F. B. Meyer. The Epistle to the Philippians - A Devotional Commentary)
Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count (1SPMI) all things to be (PAN) loss in view of the surpassing value (PAPNSA) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss (1SAPI) of all things, and count (1SPMI) them but rubbish so that I may gain (1SAAS) Christ (NASB: Lockman)
Greek: alla men oun ge kai hegoumai (1SPMI) panta zemian einai (PAN) dia to huperechon (PAPNSA) tes gnoseos Christou Iesou tou kuriou mou, di' on ta panta ezemiothen, (1SAPI) kai hegoumai (1SPMI) skubala hina Christon kerdeso (1SAAS)
Amplified: Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One), (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Phillips: Yes, and I look upon everything as loss compared with the overwhelming gain of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For his sake I did in actual fact suffer the loss of everything, but I considered it useless rubbish compared with being able to win Christ. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Yes, indeed, therefore, at least, even I am still setting all things down to be a loss for the sake of that which excels all others, my knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord which I have gained through experience, for whose sake I have been caused to forfeit all things, and I am still counting them dung, in order that Christ I might gain, (Eerdmans)
Young's Literal: yes, indeed, and I count all things to be loss, because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, because of whom of the all things I suffered loss, and do count them to be refuse, that Christ I may gain, and be found in him,
MORE THAN THAT: alla menounge kai:
Not only those things (ICB)
But indeed, therefore (Analyzed Literal)
But no, rather (Modern KJV)
Yes, indeed, therefore, at least, even (Wuest)
More than that (KJV = "yea doubtless") is actually five particles alla, kai and menounge, the latter representing a combination (mén = indeed + oún = but now, therefore + ge = an emphatic), the full significance of which is difficult to convey in our English translations and also a lit. “but indeed therefore at least even”).
The sense is something like ‘indeed, more than that, I therefore affirm at least even this’ adding to and reinforcing what he has just said
Robertson explains this unusual but meaningful construction stating that
five particles before Paul proceeds (yea, indeed, therefore, at least, even), showing the force and passion of his conviction.
The particle alla would have been enough to put this verse in direct contrast with what he had just said but Paul clearly desires to unequivocally contrast his self righteous "religious" works with the incalculable treasures gained from knowing Christ.
God's Word Translation conveys the sense of Paul's passion paraphrasing it -- It's far more than that!
I (continually) COUNT ALL THINGS TO (continually) BE LOSS: hegoumai (1SPMI) panta zemian einai (PAN): (Acts 20:24; Ro 8:18) (Click devotional Religion or Relationship?) (Click devotional by Spurgeon)
I now regard all things as liabilities (NET)
I am still setting all things down to be a loss" (Wuest) "I consider everything else worthless" (GWT)
Spurgeon comments...
Paul thinks that to be righteous by faith is infinitely better than all the righteousness that can come by works and ceremonies. He therefore utterly despises that which he once thought to be more precious that gold; and he takes possession of, as his greatest treasure, that which he once trampled in the mire.
Count (2233) (hegeomai) is in the present tense, indicating that Paul continually (habitually) reflected on what he could do in his own strength to add even one "ounce" to his standing before God and he continued to come to the same conclusion -- it belonged in the loss column if it was not Christ's righteousness. As Paul so dramatically discovered on the road to Damascus, a person can have tons of religion without one ounce of salvation!
All things (pas) means all without exception and emphasizes that when Christ is on one side of the scale there is simply nothing that can match His worth. Thus Paul says he continually counts not just his religious achievements as loss but "all things".
Guy King adds that all means
All financial gain, all material gain, all physical gain, all intellectual gain, all moral gain, all religious gain—all these are no gains at all compared with the Great Gain. (bolding added) (Quote from Joy Way: An Expositional Study Of Philippians, Ft. Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1952)
Spurgeon asks...
Since you have not had to suffer the loss of all things, do you hold all things at God's disposal? Are you ready to part with comfort and honor for Him? Since God has left your worldly comforts to you, have you used all things for His sake?
Loss (2209)(zemia) describes the state of coming into a worsened situation from previous advantage. Thus zemia is translated as damage, disadvantage, loss, forfeit. In Herodotus zemia usually meant ‘punishment’ but in the NT it is only used of in reference to suffering the loss of something, with the implication of sustaining hardship or suffering.
Eadie writes that Paul does not...
mean all things absolutely. It has not the article, indeed, but the meaning is limited by the context—all things of the class and character described—the things of which he says immediately that he had suffered the loss. The estimate was not a hasty conclusion from fallacious premises, nor the sudden leap of an enthusiasm which had for a moment urged him. It was his calm and deliberate judgment still. (Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians - 387 page book in Pdf)
IN VIEW OF THE SURPASSING VALUE OF KNOWING CHRIST JESUS MY LORD: dia to huperechon (PAPNSA) tes gnoseos Christou Iesou tou kuriou mou:(10; Isa 53:11; Jer 9:23, 9:24; Mt 11:25-27; 16:16 16:17; Lk 10:21 22; Jn 14:7 ,20; 16:3; 17:3 17:8; 1Cor 2:2; 2Cor 4:4 4:6; Gal 1:16; Eph 1:17 18; Eph 3:8 3:9;3:18 3:19 Col 2:2 2:3; 1Pe 2:7; 2Pe 1:3; 3:18; 1Jn 5:20) (Lord - Lk 1:43; 20:42-44; Jn 20:13 20:28)
compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (NET)
for the sake of that which excels all others, my knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord which I have gained through experience (Wuest)
because of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Weymouth),
for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord (TEV)
Surpassing value (5242) (huperecho from hupér = above, over + écho = have) is literally to hold above and so to stand out or be superior in rank, authority or power. Huperecho speaks of that which excels, is superior or better and which is exceptional or excellent.
Knowing Christ is of incomparable worth--of more value than anything! The unfathomable riches of Christ (see note Ephesians 3:8) surpass the value of anything and everything.
(The) knowing (gnosis) has the definite article the in Greek (tes) and thus refers to ''the specific body of knowledge'' pertaining to the Messiah. Gnosis is knowledge which grasps and penetrates into an object and refers not just to a passing acquaintance or to to intellectual (head) knowledge of Christ, but to more intimate, experiential knowledge.
Gnosis means to know Christ through the experience of intimate companionship and communion as a child knows a parent or as a wife knows her husband. Paul had come to know His Lord's heart and will as one comes to know another through intimate fellowship and close association with that person.
Wiersbe adds that
knowing Christ means much more than knowledge about Christ, because Paul had that kind of historical information before he was saved. To “know Christ” means to have a personal relationship with Him through faith. It is this experience that Jesus mentions in Jn 17:3. You and I know about many people, even people who lived centuries ago, but we know personally very few. “Christianity is Christ.” Salvation is knowing Him in a personal way." (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor or Logos)
The LORD Himself stated it this way through the prophet Jeremiah
Let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things." (Jeremiah 9:24)
Spurgeon comments that...
Those are sweet words, “my Lord.” Remember how Thomas cried, in ecstasy, “My Lord and my God.” Paul, by faith putting his finger into the prints of the nails, says, “My Lord.”
The godly pastor F B Meyer describes our intimate communion with Christ as a full, accurate and correct knowledge of Christ writing that
We may know Him personally intimately face to face. Christ does not live back in the centuries, nor amid the clouds of heaven: He is near us, with us, compassing our path in our lying down, and acquainted with all our ways. But we cannot know Him in this mortal life except through the illumination and teaching of the Holy Spirit.… We must not Rest until we "Know Him." We should never rest until we know Him as we know our friend, and are able to read without speech the movements of His soul. We should know by a quick intuition what will please and what will hurt His pure and holy nature. We should know where to find Him; should be familiar with His modes of thought and methods of action; should understand and identify ourselves with His goings forth, as, day by day, He goes through the world healing and saving. What a difference there is between the knowledge which the man in the street has of some public character and that which is vouchsafed to the inner circle of his home; And we must surely know Christ, not as a stranger who turns in to visit for the night, or as the exalted king of men—there must be the inner knowledge as of those whom He counts His own familiar friends, whom He trusts with His secrets, who eat with Him of His own bread. To know Christ in the storm of battle; to know Him in the valley of shadow; to know Him when the solar light irradiates our faces, or when they are darkened with disappointment and sorrow; to know the sweetness of His dealing with bruised reeds and smoking flax; to know the tenderness of His sympathy and the strength of His right hand—all this involves many varieties of experience on our part, but each of them like the facets of a diamond will reflect the prismatic beauty of His glory from a new angle.
In his devotional on Morning and Evening Spurgeon writes about the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus...
Spiritual knowledge of Christ will be a personal knowledge. I cannot know Jesus through another person's acquaintance with Him. No, I must know Him myself; I must know Him on my own account.
It will be an intelligent knowledge-I must know Him, not as the visionary dreams of Him, but as the Word reveals Him. I must know His natures, divine and human. I must know His offices-His attributes-His works-His shame-His glory. I must meditate upon Him until I "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge."
It will be an affectionate knowledge of Him; indeed, if I know Him at all, I must love Him.
An ounce of heart knowledge is worth a ton of head learning.
Our knowledge of Him will be a satisfying knowledge. When I know my Saviour, my mind will be full to the brim-I shall feel that I have that which my spirit panted after. "This is that bread whereof if a man eat he shall never hunger."
At the same time it will be an exciting knowledge; the more I know of my Beloved, the more I shall want to know. The higher I climb the loftier will be the summits which invite my eager footsteps. I shall want the more as I get the more. Like the miser's treasure, my gold will make me covet more.
To conclude; this knowledge of Christ Jesus will be a most happy one; in fact, so elevating, that sometimes it will completely bear me up above all trials, and doubts, and sorrows; and it will, while I enjoy it, make me something more than "Man that is born of woman, who is of few days, and full of trouble"; for it will fling about me the immortality of the ever living Saviour, and gird me with the golden girdle of his eternal joy.
Come, my soul, sit at Jesus' feet and learn of Him all this day.
FOR WHOM I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS AND (continually) COUNT THEM BUT RUBBISH: di on ta panta ezemiothen (1SAPI) kai hegoumai (1SPMI) skubala: (Phil 3:7; Mt 19:27-29; 1 Cor 4:9-13; 2Cor 11:23-27; 2Ti 4:6) (1Ki 14:10; 2Ki 9:37; Job 20:7; Mal 2:3)
for whose sake I have been caused to forfeit all things, and I am still counting them dung" (Wuest)
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