Hidden Treasure!

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." - Jesus (Matthew 13:44 ESV)

Jesus talked in weird way, all the time. He often spoke in parables, that make us think. Thinking is hard! Let's take a look at this parable that describes the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven is treasure. A man finds it hidden in a field. People in Jesus' day often hid their treasure in a field, for protection. And this man has stumbled upon the treasure. He covers it up, and in joy, goes and sells everything he has so that he may buy that field and get the treasure.

The treasure in this parable is Christ! We find the treasure, we do not work our way to store it up, but rather by grace, we find Christ! And then we sell everything of ourselves to be with Christ who is our treasure. 

A great example in the Bible of a man who found treasure and sold everything he had to be with it is the apostle Paul.

1. First, he found his treasure. The finding of treasure is the encounter we have with the risen Christ!

For Paul, it was on the road to Damascus:

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." (Acts 9:3-5 ESV)

For many of us, it was the faithful preaching of sermons, reading Christian books, or the loving testimony and witness of a friend. We come into contact with God's Word in one way or another, the light of heaven shines on our hearts, and we have an encounter with the risen Christ!

2. Paul abandoned his confidence in the flesh. He repented of his works, his righteousness in the flesh, under the law. He resolved to forsake everything related to his former manner of living, his seeking of righteousness in himself and in his works. He did this so that by faith, he could gain the righteousness of Christ. Paul counted everything as loss for the sake of Christ, and he did it in joy, to gain Christ.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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— (Philippians 3:7-9 ESV)

Paul was a man who had come by grace to find Christ as his supreme treasure. When he found Christ to be of "surpassing worth," he lived in a way to joyfully rid himself of anything that kept him from knowing Christ. 

3. That is what we get! We get Christ's righteousness imputed to us through our faith in Him! He makes us righteous, He justifies us before the Holy God. Despite the fact that we are lowly sinners, we are justified freely as a gift by grace!

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26 ESV)

4. So what do we do with that? Paul tells us as he continues in his letter to the Phillipians:

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Philippians 3:14-17 ESV)

We join in imitating Paul. We press on toward the goal, forsaking the things that keep us from knowing Christ as our supreme treasure. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Paul Stiver