Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV): I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Yesterday we looked at the first two things that Paul wants: to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. Most Christians would say a hearty amen to both of these. But not everything in Paul’s list is so positive!
- The fellowship of sharing in Jesus’ sufferings. A lot of Christians shy away from suffering, but Paul embraced it, pushing even harder when the tide of public opinion pushed back against him. He saw his own suffering (an impressive list of which is in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33) as a way to identify more fully with Jesus (who told us that we would experience trouble in this world [John 16:33], and that we would experience persecution in the midst of our blessings [Mark 10:30]). He understood clearly that he was bringing light into dark places, shining the full light of the gospel and of God’s presence on the lives of people who had sold themselves into the darkness. He expected abundant pushback, and he got it. But in every instance, his response, like that of the other disciples, was to rejoice “because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” (Acts 5:41 NIV)
- Becoming like Jesus in His death. When a person dies, the things of this world no longer have any hold on them. Those things become worthless, and are seen for what they truly are: merely part of this material world that is passing away, and of which the person who had died is no longer a part. Instead, the only focus of people who have died is eternity. When a person receives Jesus, they are to die to this world, and to live from that time forward as if the things of this world have no attraction for them – to live only as a member of the kingdom of God. Paul’s conversion, as all true conversions, really was a death of his old self. He instantly became a new creation in Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17), a creation that shed the light of God everywhere he went, a creation who spoke God’s words clearly, and who moved in God’s power every moment. But none of that could have happened if he had clung tenaciously to the present world, or had tried to live in both worlds at the same time. Like Jesus, he completely released his hold on this world, died to it, and so was perfectly set up to receive a new life in return.
- To attain to the resurrection from the dead. Paul understood that the new-creation life that he received from God at his conversion was just the beginning; a down payment, or an “earnest”, of the completely new, immortal resurrection body that he would receive at the end of time. Paul understood that, if he was still alive on that day, his bruised and battered physical body would be changed in a moment into a resurrection body that would be fit for eternity. If he was dead when that day came, then he would be raised to life in that same resurrection body.
Paul knew that he had not yet reached the finish line of his life, so he intentionally continued to perfect the first four of these elements in his life so that, when the time came, he could experience the perfection of the fifth. That is why he “pressed on,” “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” That is why he “pressed “on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NIV)
Father, You are right when You point out that we tend to shy away from suffering and death. But without a willingness to suffer, we will pull back from sharing our light when we could and should. Without a willingness to experience a real death to the things of this world, we can never experience the new creation. And without all of those things, we will never get to experience the resurrection of the righteous. Help us, like Paul, to live every day with this end clearly in view, driving us forward, making us rely completely on You, and trusting You with every moment. Amen.