Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord... That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:8-11
The foundation of St Paul’s enduring contentment was, I believe, his supreme lifestyle ambition to know and identify with Christ Jesus his Lord. When we really begin to know someone, we begin to share their troubles and enter into their experiences. This sort of identification is common when young children are ill and their parents experience the suffering with them. Paul was specific about what he wanted to identify with in Jesus: his resurrection power, suffering and death.
The reality that Jesus experienced was suffering first, followed by death and then resurrection. So why does Paul put resurrection power first? It may be because the resurrection empowers us to endure suffering and death. As he wrote in Romans 8:11, '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'. There's a lot that could be written about this power but I think it useful to focus on just one aspect: authority. I doubt any Christian will disagree that 'Christian' authority is lacking in much of the world today, in evangelism and the ability of Christians to be 'salt' and 'light' in their communities.
The reality that Jesus experienced was suffering first, followed by death and then resurrection. So why does Paul put resurrection power first? It may be because the resurrection empowers us to endure suffering and death. As he wrote in Romans 8:11, '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'. There's a lot that could be written about this power but I think it useful to focus on just one aspect: authority. I doubt any Christian will disagree that 'Christian' authority is lacking in much of the world today, in evangelism and the ability of Christians to be 'salt' and 'light' in their communities.
People were impressed by Jesus’ authority before his death. It was seen in his teaching as well as his miracles but at his ascension he confided in his disciples that, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’. It was on the basis of this authority that he commissioned his disciples. ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’, he told them. Finally, he adds something only possible by resurrection power. ‘And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ (See Matthew 28:19-20.) That authority, that power is just as real today.
When Paul wanted to share in Jesus' sufferings, I'm sure he wasn't thinking of Jesus’ past suffering. He wasn't thinking about the hours leading up to Jesus' crucifixion when he was arrested, abused, flogged, forced to carry his cross through the streets and then nailed to it. That suffering was past. It had happened about 50 years before and it was finished. I know there is merit in meditating on that suffering but I don't think that's what Paul meant.
Rather, I'm sure he meant Jesus' current suffering in his on-going mission of redemption. Jesus had often said that his disciples would suffer like Him, their master. Even more than before his resurrection and ascension, Jesus has continued to be misunderstood, misrepresented and mistreated, which is just what His disciples must expect in every age. ‘All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’, Paul wrote (2 Timothy 3:12) and it was his personal experience. 'I bear on my body the marks of Jesus', he wrote in Galatians 6:17.
Rather, I'm sure he meant Jesus' current suffering in his on-going mission of redemption. Jesus had often said that his disciples would suffer like Him, their master. Even more than before his resurrection and ascension, Jesus has continued to be misunderstood, misrepresented and mistreated, which is just what His disciples must expect in every age. ‘All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’, Paul wrote (2 Timothy 3:12) and it was his personal experience. 'I bear on my body the marks of Jesus', he wrote in Galatians 6:17.
Paul wanted to be like Jesus in his death. Paul writes about at least two types of dying that I can only mention briefly. In Romans, he writes a lot about how Christians have died to sin and encourages us to consider ourselves dead sin and alive to God. ‘Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions...’ (Romans 6:12). To the Galatians, he wrote about dying to self . ‘I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me...’ (Galatians 2:20). Dying to self is a big subject but it begins with setting aside our own agendas in favour of cooperating with Christ Jesus in his mission.
In much of nature, dying and resurrection are the means of reproduction. Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life...’ (John 12:24-26). The life of God is in Jesus and it was not his birth or his teaching (as important as they are) but his death that made it possible for divine life to spread. It's no different for his followers today. To spread the good news of Jesus we have to die because Jesus’ way is the way of all Christians.
The life in a grain of wheat is barren unless it goes into the ground. As it disintegrates, losing its own shape and form, gradually something new sprouts and grows. In time, that new life breaks through the earth; in time, it forms a head that contains many more grains of wheat, each with its own life. Each new life seed has the life of the original grain and when those grains go back into the earth, the process is multiplied. As Jesus died to spread the seed , Christians themselves die and live to spread more seed, all of it containing the life of God. I believe that's what Paul wanted in his acquaintance and identification with Christ and it was the foundation of his contentment.
© Copyright Philip Evans 2015.
What is freely received should be freely shared and not sold for profit, so please feel free to copy these Reflections freely and without cost to others. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations in these Reflections are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
