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
When St Paul wrote that he wanted to be like Jesus in his death, he meant a death made possible by Jesus’ crucifixion. In the Old Testament era, the dead went to Sheol but Christ liberated them (see Ephesians 4:8-10 and 1 Peter 3:18-20). It was different for Paul.
When Jesus was transfigured, he spoke with Moses and Elijah about his ‘departure’ or ‘decease’ but the Greek word actually used in Luke 9:31 means ‘exodus’. It has connotations of the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. When Peter, who witnessed the transfiguration, wrote about his own death he used the same word (see 2 Peter 1:15). When Paul wrote about his ‘departure’, he used a different Greek word that described a ship departing its moorings. It’s this concept that Tennyson described in his poem, Sunset and Evening Star (also called, Crossing the Bar). Together, these references reveal death not at all like Sheol, a place of waiting, but as leaving behind limitation and preparation to embark on to a new realm of activity. Ships are not built to be moored in harbour: death isn’t a coming into harbour but a departure out into the eternal - the place that we were made to experience.
Paul’s ultimate desire was to ‘attain the resurrection from the dead’. Revelation 20 records this scene that the St John calls, ‘The first resurrection’.
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.
John adds this explanation. ‘Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.'
Paul’s goal in knowing Jesus was to be part of the first resurrection and to reign with Him for a thousand years. We may think that some of the things we read in Revelation are hard to understand but this is where intimacy with Jesus, the living Word, takes us beyond the Bible, the written Word. 1 Corinthians 2:9 is a verse that in my experience is quoted much more than the verse that follows it. Together they tell us this.
As it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him' these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
Although Paul is writing about the Holy Spirit, his words are equally true of the other Persons of the Trinity. Christians close to Jesus are shown things no one else can imagine.
Do we desire what Paul desired? We would if we had his clarity about the future! We may desire resurrection power - and from some of the modern worship songs I hear, many Christians do desire it with commendable passion - and we may desire the assurance of being worthy of the first resurrection. But what about all that lies between? It's one thing to have sufficient faith to say that, with God's help, we believe we could share in Jesus' suffering and experience a death like His if it's necessary. But could we really desire them? That Paul did desire them demonstrates the quality of his acquaintance with Christ.
We should all take time to reflect on this because, like Paul, we could be content with anything in this world if we could only see what he saw.
© 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.
