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.
Paul was longing in this passage for five interrelated things:
- To know Christ. Many people know about Christ (Jesus, the Messiah), but Paul isn’t talking here about information, but about relationship. Before his Damascus Road experience, Paul had quite a bit of information about Jesus. All of it was incomplete, and much of it was skewed by his worldview at the time. But when he encountered Jesus outside of Damascus, not as a historical figure of a theological paradigm, but as a real living person, his whole view of Jesus changed. (Encountering Jesus as He really is will do that to a person!) From that moment, Paul’s greatest desire became to serve Jesus, and to grow in his relationship with Him. That meant that he spent intentional time with Him, listening to and learning from Him through the Holy Spirit, and always obeying Him. Many today believe that they have a relationship with Jesus simply because of a prayer once said or a commitment once made. But a one-time event does not a relationship make – not on the physical plane or the spiritual. Relationship means intentionally being together, focused on one another, learning and loving together, and a two-way sharing of life. Paul knew that, and kept in constant contact with Jesus, the one that he wanted to know more deeply and more intimately every day.
- The power of Jesus’ resurrection. Paul prayed for the Ephesians that they would know “(God’s) incomparably great power for us who believe.” He went on to say that “that power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…” (Ephesians 1:19-20 NIV) This is the same power that Paul wanted coursing through his own life, changing his heart from one focused on the things of this world to one that was focused on the kingdom of God and the world to come; putting to death his life of flesh, and giving him a life that would last forever in God’s presence; enabling him to do amazing, life-altering miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit.
To be continued…
Father, I want these things for myself: to know You personally as I am known to You, and to experience the power of Christ’s resurrection every moment of every day. But looking ahead, I can see that these two won’t happen without the other three. Help me, Lord, to love You without limit, to serve You without consideration for my own agenda, and to sacrifice all that I am for Your kingdom, so that I can know Your presence and Your power today. Amen.