Paul wrote a letter from his imprisonment in Rome to the church in Philippi. This is one of the most joy-filled books of the Bible, in which Paul was filled with praise because of His appreciation of what Jesus had accomplished. Despite his circumstances, Paul wrote, “Rejoice always; again I say, rejoice!” Professing that he was forgetting what was behind and straining toward what was ahead, acknowledging that he hadn’t reached the goal yet, he was pressing on with all his might. And what was that goal? Read his words in chapter 3 again with fresh amazement.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth 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 his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
To know Christ in this way will be the conscious longing of every heart that has been born again. These words, and these verses from Philippians 3, have led to an absolutely marvelous hymn, written in 1993 and released in a 1995 recording “Is Anyone Thirsty?”. The song is known by its title, “Knowing You, Jesus,” as well as by its opening line, “All I Once Held Dear. The composer, Graham Kendrick (b. 1950), has been described as a “father of modern worship music” whose songs are “crammed full of poetic, divine, biblical truth” that have “sculpted a view of God that has impacted generations.” In short, he writes songs that help the church to sing. Since the release of his first album in 1972 Graham has been at the forefront of contemporary Christian music in the UK, having written and recorded over 450 songs, many of which are sung around the world, including “Shine Jesus Shine,” “The Servant King,” “Amazing Love,” and “Knowing You.”