A wrestler from a little town in North Idaho is in the spotlight, competing for a medal at the Summer Olympics. His Russian opponent wrestles hard, pushing him to the end of his strength and requiring him to use every technique he has ever learned. But he comes out victorious. He has won the Olympic gold medal in his weight class. There is rejoicing all over the United States, but the cheers are the loudest in Kootenai County, Idaho. His coach is proud, wildly jumping up and down with him. His friends back home are screaming ecstatically, trying to be heard across the thousands of miles. His parents and extended family in the stands are hugging each other, slapping hands and pounding backs. But everyone of them have different emotions, and they are certainly quite different from that of the wrestler. No one can feel exactly what he is feeling at the moment, not even people who duplicated his feat earlier in their own lives.
For some time, Saul of Tarsus was so passionate – so zealous – about his false religion that it consumed him. His life was all about training theologically and competing religiously. He was so passionate, when he awoke in the morning he was already thinking about how he could improve his righteousness and further his religion. Like a religious athlete he had so fine-tuned his self-righteousness and law-keeping, that the pundits were agreeing with his coaches, declaring that his technique was flawless – he would be a champion. But he was also so focused on victory that he was willing to break the rules to win a match. For example, his moral hatred of murder was so overcome by his hatred of Jesus that he became the murderer. He ate, drank, breathed and slept his Pharisaic Judaism.
But then the sovereign God gave him a new heart, and Saul of Tarsus eventually became Paul, the Apostle. And with that regenerated heart, came a NEW passion. It has been summarized for us in verses 10 and 11 – “I have given up everything else in my life …” “That I may know him (Christ Jesus), and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
Let’s briefly consider Paul’s new passion this evening. I know there is some duplication with an earlier message, but bear with me, there are a few new thoughts.
I don’t know if at the beginning of an Olympic wrestling match if there is an opening bell, but I believe there is one at the end. In our scripture, there is an opening bell in Paul’s passionate declaration is – “that I may KNOW HIM.” And the final bell is “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” Between the two are: “the power of Christ’s RESURRECTION; the fellowship of his SUFFERINGS; and conformability to the SAVIOUR’S DEATH.” Before briefly considering them, consider once again, “That I may KNOW Christ in these three areas.”
Only that Olympic wrestler knows first hand the pain, the sore muscles, the joy and elation of his win. On this occasion only he has directly experienced it. His coach may have won great matches in the past, but the joy he experienced is not duplicateable through his student. The wrestler’s family and friends may be overcome with emotion, but theirs is not the same as his own. Much of America may be thrilled, but their joy is only borrowed – it is a surrogate joy. And the truth is – there are many American’s who couldn’t care less about what happens in Paris or Rio.
The knowledge of which Paul is speaking, is not merely intellectual, but, I suppose, it does start there. Paul is speaking of the intimate knowledge which comes with experiencing these things in some fashion. He is not talking about studying his Bible and learning the details of Jesus’ resurrection. He wants to experience the power of Jesus’ resurrection and joy of suffering along side his Saviour. Of course it is impossible. No one will ever understand or experience what our Saviour endured. But it was Paul’s purpose and passion to have a growing practical understanding of Jesus’ experience. He wants his life to so conformed to life of Christ – that as much as possible their deaths may be related. This isn’t just religious verbiage; this is a description of Paul’s new passion, zeal and purpose in life.
Let’s start with Paul’s second point: the FELLOWSHIP of Christ’s sufferings.
He wanted to have communion with his Lord in the area of Jesus’ earthly sufferings. This is not a universal passion among professing Christians. This may be rare.
Remember that even though the eleven disciples said, “Let us go that we may die with Him,” they didn’t. There was no communion with the Saviour when He was being beaten and abused by temple guards or the Roman soldiers. And when Christ was crucified there was no man to comfort Him – no one was there to fellowship with Him. Of course Paul wasn’t at that time a disciple or an apostle, but was he present at the crucifixion? We aren’t told whether or not Saul had a part in Jesus’ arrest or His trial before the High Priest. But like us all who have been saved, he did have a part in Christ’s suffering on the cross. When he died, Christ took up the sins of Saul and laid them in His sinless heart and on His back. The Father “made (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin that (Paul and the rest of us) might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Now that Paul has been made righteous through faith in the suffering Saviour, he longed to know and to fellowship with Christ in those sufferings.
What did that involve for the Apostle? Was it simply that he might better understand what Jesus’ endured in order to save him? Was it the re-reading and memorization of the details of the crucifixion? Not when we couple the word “fellowship” to “knowledge,” as in this case. The fellowship was as real as the resurrection of Christ and the death which preceded it.
Back in Lystra, Paul was not trying to provoke those people to pick up stones to attempt to kill him. And he was only trying to help a poor demon-possessed woman, when he and Silas were arrested, beaten and jailed. But when such things fell upon him, he didn’t shrink back pleading with God to spare him any pain. He relished the opportunity to fellowship with his Saviour who endured so much more than these things. As Peter later learned and shared with his readers: You “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Rejoice “greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ…” Rejoice that you have been given the opportunity to suffer with the Lord Jesus, because in this there is a vary special fellowship with the Lord.
Paul’s third point is “being made CONFORMABLE unto (Christ’s) death.”
Let’s say that the little brother of that Olympic wrestler is ecstatic to see his hero/brother win the gold medal. So the little guy becomes even more determined than ever to follow in his brother’s footsteps. But in this case, he simply isn’t built like his brother. No matter how hard he trains; no matter how careful he is with his diet; no matter how hard he prays… He will never have what it takes to go compete in the Olympics. But he does compete in junior high and high school wrestling; and he does win matches now and then. And at the end of the day, he is pleased that he’s been able to do his very best. And he is delighted to hear his older brother praise his effort.
Paul will never die the death of Christ. No one will ever come close to duplicating what Jesus did. Jesus died for the sins of others, being absolutely free from sin in Himself. When we die, it will be because of our sins and the curse of death which Adam bequeathed to us. And yet every Christian has the opportunity, humanly speaking, to live the sort of life which eventually took Jesus to Golgotha. We can live lives so holy that our very presence drives the wicked insane. Our mouths can be filled with praise to our heavenly Father, while the world calls us insane. We can, like lambs, be silent when Satan’s bullies brutalize us.
Paul died a death somewhat conformable to the death of the Lord Jesus, and he did so with joy. Similarly, John Fox in his “Book of Martyrs,” says the Apostle Peter died on a cross, like his Saviour, but in case up side down. He says that Matthew was killed with an halberd. Jude was crucified, and Luke was hanged. So many of those early saints died violent deaths. John, the Apostle, may have died at an old age, but it was still a pain-filled, tortured death. Each of them, in limited ways, were “made conformable to Jesus’ death.”
Whereas early in his life Paul was passionate about self-righteous, after his conversion he became passionate about knowing and communing with Christ in his sufferings and death.
And the first thing he said was: “That I may know (Christ), and the POWER of his RESURRECTION.”
There is dynamite in the resurrection of Christ, and Jesus’ resurrection puts power into the Christian’s heart. “Power” in this verse is “dunamis;” it is not the power of authority – “exousia.” And just as Christ’s resurrection was real, so is the power of that resurrection. I won’t try to prove that Jesus literally died, and that He literally rose alive from the dead. It is so obvious that it takes more blind faith to deny the resurrection than to accept it. “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” – I Corinthians 15:14. “He was buried, and he rose again the third ay according to the scriptures.” And to His post-crucifixion, resurrected life there were hundreds of witnesses.
The Lord Jesus’ resurrection is a fact, and therefore it is one of the most important Christian doctrines. But Paul here isn’t referring to the “doctrine of Christ’s resurrection.” He is pointing to the powerful effects of that resurrection, and there are many. Jesus himself said, “As the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” That is power. Paul could tell Eutychus, laying dead from a fall, “Rise up, young man, there is power in Jesus’ resurrection.” But more importantly he could tell Sergius Paulus, the governor of Cyprus, “there is eternal life in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus.” Christ said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believe in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” There would be no “never die” if Christ had not arisen from the grave . That is power.
In Romans Paul said, “If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” That is power. Christ was raised from the grave “for our justification” – Romans 4:25 – that requires incredible power and authority as well. I Peter 1 says, – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, there is given us the power to HOPE. Remember, Biblical hope is not a sanctified wish. It is a certified guarantee. Because the Son of God died and then arose alive again, God’s regenerated children can have hope. Because Christ lives, the blessed hope is real – “the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour.” Because Christ lives, we can seek and expect to enjoy “those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”
In our Lord’s resurrection there is a variety of power laid before us. There is power to confidently face the hurricane Euroclydon and any other trial – Satanic or man-made. “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Twisting the thought around just a bit, Job drew power from what he knew of resurrection. “Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” By that time in his sufferings, old Job, had a growing confidence in the Lord. And before his death the Lord had given him virtually everything he had lost. In Christ’s resurrection there is the power to encourage the saint. We “can do all things through the resurrected Christ who lives to strengthen us.” In the resurrection there is power to motivate the saint to Christian worship and service. “If ye then be risen with (the risen and resurrected) Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” As John says, the resurrected Christ “shall (soon) appear, and we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
For the Christian, there is nothing which can match the power of the resurrection. There is no emotional or motivational truth as powerful as being caught up in Jesus’ resurrection. There is no knowledge; no philosophy, no nothing like the fact our Saviour lives, governs and has promised to return for us. No wonder Paul was so passionate about these things. “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” The resurrection of the dead is not a reward for service. It is a guaranteed part of the gift of salvation. But Paul, as we should be, wanted to in some small way to live a life worthy of that resurrection. Or perhaps I should say, “those resurrections” – Christ’s resurrection and his own promised resurrection.