The way of Jesus Christ is a way of firsthand interaction—knowing by acquaintance—direct awareness of him and his kingdom. Rarely will it involve anything like the sense perception of the Eternal provided to John and Thomas and the other apostles of Jesus. But you can't really sustain a kingdom life, a life "not of this world," without such interaction with the King. And such an interaction with God is the most precious thing available to any human being. It simply is eternal life (John 17:3). Thus Paul, the "come lately" apostle, says, "I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord!" His highest objective in life—even when long past the point where one might think he had "arrived"—was "to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead" (Phil. 3:8–11).
What Paul is talking about is exactly what Jesus had in mind when he said, "Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matt. 6:33). The great difference is that by the time it gets to Paul and to an older John, they understand much more precisely what Jesus meant by these words from his Sermon on the Mount and how to do what he said. Jesus is the human face on the kingdom of God. He makes it concretely accessible.
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