Philippians 3:10; Knowing Him in Resurrection, Suffering, Death ~ 20240526 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
05/26 Philippians 3:10; Knowing Him in Resurrection, Suffering and Death; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20240526_philippians-3_10.mp3
In Philippians 3, Paul gives us his resume, but concludes he has counted all his gains as loss, he counted everything as loss, he suffered the loss of all things, he counted it all rubbish.
All on account of Christ, on account of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of him, in order to gain Christ and be found in him. Paul was willing to trade it all in, to throw it all away because he found a treasure worth infinitely more.
He counted his own righteousness in the law, his own blameless performance, the righteousness that comes from the law, a liability, a loss. He counted it all loss in order to gain God’s righteousness, the righteousness that belongs to the one who is hidden in Christ, the righteousness that is his through believing in Jesus.
Knowing Him
In verse 10, he helps us understand this surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
To know Jesus is the one thing of surpassing worth. But what does it mean to know Christ? We have seen that this knowing is much more than knowing about Christ. Knowing him is knowing a person, which means relationship. It means intimacy. It means mutual sharing, fellowship, communing. This is relational; knowing and being known.
There are two aspects of knowing Jesus that Paul brings out in this verse. They are knowing power and knowing fellowship. Knowing Jesus means both knowing the power of his resurrection and knowing the fellowship of his suffering.
Why Resurrection Before Suffering?
Why do these things appear in this order? Why resurrection, then suffering, then death? The natural order we expect would be to start with suffering, and move through death and into resurrection. That is how Jesus experienced them. Why does Paul put the power of his resurrection first, and conclude with suffering and death? This sequence is startling; is it significant?
Paul is talking here about knowing Christ, about relationship with Jesus, and we could argue that our journey with Jesus begins with resurrection. Look with me for a moment to Ephesians 2
Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Our natural condition is already dead. Dead men walking, walking in disobedience, following the demonic. Pursuing our own passions and desires. Dead, separated from God, deserving his wrath. That’s where we all start.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Our journey with Jesus begins with us already dead, and God in loving mercy and rescuing grace makes us alive. That is resurrection power! That is where we start with Jesus. 2 Corinthians describes this resurrection as a kind of new creative act of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 ...the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ...6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
God spoke light and life into darkness and death. This is a poweful creative act. This is resurrection power.
Back in Ephesians 1, Paul paralleled the language he used in Ephesians 2 when he prayed:
Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
We need supernatural light given to us in order to perceive the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, resurrection power that takes those dead in their transgressions and sins and makes us alive and raises us up and seats us with Christ in the heavenlies. This is where our experience with Jesus, our knowing Christ begins. With our resurrection.
Knowing Him in The Power of His Resurrection
This helps us understand what it means to know the power of his resurrection. We know it, not in the sense of a mere understanding of what it is, not only a future hope like Martha expressed to Jesus at her brother’s funeral ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day’ (Jn.11:24); Paul talks about that in verse 11. But we know his resurrection power experientially. We have tasted it. For us it is a present reality.
This resurrection power that was at work preventing Jesus’ corpse from decaying, the body who bore the full weight of God’s wrath in punishment toward my sin, the power that brought that body back to life, gave real physical human life after death; a body that still bore the marks of crucifixion, but could now eat and drink and be touched and appear in a locked room, and ultimately could ascend to the right hand of his Father, and be seated on his throne in glory. That resurrection power is the same power that is at work in us today.
We have tasted this resurrection power because we were dead, and God made us alive. Paul writes in Romans 6
Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
You see the parallel he draws in this verse? He doesn’t say ‘just as Christ was raised from the dead, so we too one day will be raised from the dead’. No, he is looking at our present reality, the life transforming resurrection power presently at work in us who believe, that enables and equips us to walk today in newness of life. He goes on in Romans 8 to say:
Romans 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Here he names this resurrection power that is resident in us. It is the Spirit of the triune God, who now lives in every one who belongs to Jesus, who is able to give life to these mortal bodies, to empower us to walk today in step with the Holy Spirit. This is Holy Spirit resurrection power that we can know experientially today.
Knowing Him in The Fellowship of His Suffering
This understanding of knowing him in the power of his resurrection also helps us understand what it means then to know him in the fellowship of his suffering, and why this comes after knowing the power of his resurrection. If we have immeasurably great Holy Spirit power at work in us today, we have this power to enable us to enter in to fellowship with Jesus through suffering.
We need resurrection power to enter into suffering redemptively.
Suffering does not necessarily lead to fellowship with Jesus. Suffering can destroy people, make them bitter, resentful, angry. It is not merely the fact that we suffer that gives us a deeper intimacy with Jesus. It is the resurrection power that allows us to experience suffering as fellowship with Jesus.
Peter tells us:
1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
Peter tells followers of Jesus not to be surprised when fiery trials and suffering comes our way. Jesus said “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you (Jn.15:20).” Suffering should not surprise the follower of Jesus. Rather, he says, we ought to rejoice, because this is a fellowship in Christ’s sufferings.
1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Peter uses the same words for sharing or fellowship in suffering that Philippians uses. Peter tells us that there is suffering that Christians experience that is ‘according to God’s will’ and suffering that brings glory to God. It is not the mere fact of suffering, but why we are suffering and how we respond to suffering that brings glory to God. What better way to let your light shine among men so that they see your good works and glorify your Father (Mt.5:16; 1Pet.2:12) than to embrace suffering for the joy of fellowship with Jesus? That is Holy Spirit resurrection power on display!
Paul exhorts Timothy
2 Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.
‘Share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God’. Suffering that brings glory to God is suffering endured in the advance of the gospel. Paul’s suffering was because of his appointment as preacher and apostle and teacher of the good news. Suffering that glorifies God is suffering endured ‘by the power of God’. This suffering revolves around ‘our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel’; this is resurrection power to share in suffering for the sake of the gospel.
Knowing Him in Being Conformed To His Death
This knowing him in the power of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his suffering culminates in being conformed to his death. What does it mean to be conformed to his death? Does that mean we must all become martyrs? This word ‘conform’ echoes back to Philippians 2, where Paul used the root of this word to describe Jesus, who ‘being in the form of God, humbled himself by taking the form of a servant’ This word ‘form’ is the root word of the compound ‘conformed’. To call us to be formed after the pattern of Jesus’ death is to call us to have the mind of Christ; ‘in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not to his own interests, but to the interests of others (Phil.2:3-5). It is to die to ourselves, to our own interests. Through love in humility to serve others.
God’s life transforming resurrection power has raised us up to newness of life, so we joyfully embrace suffering in the advance of the good news of Jesus, so we die to ourselves in humble service to others. In all this we taste a deep and real fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ; we begin to know him as we walk with him, as we allow him to live through us.
How do we know we are on the right track in our understanding what it is to know Jesus in resurrection, suffering and death?
This is the pattern of Jesus that is held up to us in chapter 2. And we are given the example of Paul;
Philippians 2:17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
And the example of Timothy;
Philippians 2:20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
And the example of Epaphroditus,
Philippians 2:25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, ... 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
The Philippians themselves had fellowship or partnership with Paul in the gospel; they were partakers or fellow-partners with him of grace in his suffering in the advance of the gospel (Phil.1:5, 7)
This is what it looks like to find intimacy with Jesus, to know him in the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to his death.
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2024.05.26 Sermon Notes
Philippians 3:10; Knowing Him in Resurrection, Suffering, Death
The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus
Philippians 3:8
Why resurrection before suffering?
-Because we were dead and God made us alive
Ephesians 2:1-7; 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6
Knowing Him in the power of his resurrection
-resurrection a present reality for the believer
Ephesians 1:17-21; John 11:24
-this is the power of the Holy Spirit living in us
Romans 6:4-5; 8:9-11
Knowing Him in the fellowship of his suffering
-rejoice as you share in Christ’s suffering
-glorify God as you suffer according to God’s will
1 Peter 4:12-19; John 15:20; Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12
-share in suffering for the gospel
2 Timothy 1:8-12
Knowing him in being conformed to his death
Philippians 2:3-8
-examples; Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus
Philippians 2:17-18; 20-22; 25-30; 1:5, 7
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org