There's Something Behind Those Trees

 

We've been going through the Book of Philippians on Sunday mornings since the beginning of this year. We are currently making our way through Chapter 3.  Chapter 3 contains some of the more memorable Pauline passages.  It is in this passage that Paul states, 

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

Paul states in this passage that he used to see things a certain way, but now because of Christ, he sees them in a completely different way. In vv. 5-6 of Chapter 3, Paul lists the things that used to be important to him in life, areas that he found the most pride in. However, now, because of the surpassing value of Christ, being accepted by God through the perfection of Jesus Christ and not his own, and knowing Him more and more, he sees all of those things as filthy trash. 

I attempted to illustrate this transformation as I ended the sermon one morning, but I ran out of time to really develop it. So I thought I would take a moment to do a better job at it.  I'm sure you've had the experience that I mentioned to our congregation that morning.  When you move somewhere different and especially if you move there during the summer months you find that all of the trees are in full bloom and completely leafed out.  Therefore when you travel down the interstate most of the time all you see is the barrier of beautiful trees that line the parallel sides of the interstate or the back rode that you are traveling down.  

But what happens when Fall and Winter roll around? Those beautiful trees begin to go through a kind of death and the leaves begin to fall off and before too long all of those beautiful trees are barren. And then as you drive down those same highways or country roads you are treated with a whole new scenery.  This is especially surprising if it's your first winter there.  As you are driving down those same roads that you drive down everyday you notice that behind those trees, which are now barren and see-through, is an amazingly beautiful house or scenic view that is just breathtaking.  

Now, the beauty of that house or that landscape has always been there. It didn't just appear. But this is the first time you have been able to see it because nothing is blocking your sight now.  Then as Spring and Summer come back around the trees begin to bloom again and the leaves return and the roads are lined once again with sight of just those trees. But you can't drive down those roads the same way any longer. Why? Because you've seen what's really behind those trees. No matter how beautiful and green they may be you know that behind those trees is something much more beautiful and satisfying and you never forget that. 

Living life before coming to faith in Christ is like driving down the road and only knowing the scenery of those lush trees that line the highway or the country roads. Those "trees" are what makes up our life, what our world revolves around. For some of us those "Trees" may be sinful things that we fill our life with and for others of us those "trees" may be good gifts from God that we have turned into ultimate things, even idols, that we have built our life around. It may be our family, our job, our health, our retirement.  That's all that we can see and we become used to that and satisfied with it. 

But then something happens. A kind of death happens, not to the trees but to us.  Through faith in Christ we die to our sin and the world and all that stuff that our lives centered around becomes crucified to us and we to it as well. And by the grace and kindness of God through faith we are able to see the beauty and all-satisfying reality of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for our sins and the new life He gives to us and the hope of enjoying His presence forever and ever.  Now like the beautiful house behind the trees or the scenic landscape, the beauty and reality of Jesus Christ has always been there. We just couldn't see it because of our sin.  But now our eyes have been opened and we see it and we love it. 

The result is that we now travel down the road of life completely different.  Oh, the trees (sinful temptations and idols) bloom again. But we do not fall for or become satisfied with their beauty. We've seen what's on the other side of those trees and He's captivating. We can't get the beauty of Him out of our heart. He's unforgettable and clear as day even though we can't see him now. And we can never be the same and we know that one day, we will see Him as He is, and we will be like Him.