But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. Philippians 3:7
This series in the resurrection explores the new life that we experience in Christ. It is impossible to consider a new life without a memory of our old life. In this passage, the apostle Paul reminds his readers that they are not to put their confidence in “the flesh.” The flesh is the old way of living, when we relied on ourselves and depended on our own strength to feel like our lives were flourishing. All of the ways that our flesh or old life served us was perceived as a gain to us. But when a person believes in Jesus Christ, we are to regard those gains as losses. The old life is considered to be rubbish when compared with the new life in Christ. This is a life of right standing with God that comes from faith. Therefore, our aim is to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection, being acquainted with suffering in this life as we look to our own resurrection in the end.
