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Kingdom Studies through Philippians: #20 |
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Written by Don Williams
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Page 1 of 2 Kingdom Studies in Philippians With Questions for Small Group Discussion
Study # 20
By Don Williams
Philippians 3:10-11
“10) 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, 11) and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Observation and Interpretation
Now Paul concludes his personal response to the legalists who would put the Philippians under the law. As we have seen, their message is “Christ plus.” In this case, Christ plus circumcision and keeping the law. But this attacks the gospel at its core. For Paul, Christ alone is sufficient and supreme. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the center. All revolves around him. All things are through him and by him and for him. He reigns now in glory. He is the head of the church. All things in heaven and on earth will submit to him and find their unity in him on the glorious day when he returns, judges the nations, and ushers in the New Heaven and the New Earth. As Paul sums up this letter with his own signature: “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (1:21)
In the immediate context Paul contrasts his former life in Judaism with his new life in Christ. As a young aspiring rabbi, he had everything going for him. He wasn't on the fringes of his world; he was at its center. But all the gain of family, inheritance and obedience to the law he lost for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus “my Lord.” Moreover, he now counts his former life as garbage (“refuse”) for the sake of Christ. As we have noted, with his conversion, Paul exchanged a system for a person. He died to the system of ritual and moral Judaism, powered by self-interest, and rose into his new life in Christ. He is now “sold out” to him and for him. He became the apostle to the very people (Gentiles) that he formerly despised. The nations became his destiny.
So, in today's text, Paul brings his testimony to its conclusion. He not only knows Christ personally, he is fully righteous in him, “not guilty” before God in Christ's righteousness alone. Having said that, Paul returns to his basic thesis: his passion and purpose is Christ himself: “I want to know Christ...” (verse 10) The verb “know” means to know intimately in relationship with him. But it implies more here in the context. We might expand it to “fully know Christ.” This knowing grows through a life time. It is the very sharing of life in him and with him. It is reproducing his life in our life as we will immediately see.
So to fully know Christ is to experience “the power of his resurrection.” What does that mean? Christ was raised from the dead by the power of God through his Spirit. His resurrection began the recreation of the whole fallen universe. His resurrection in principle conquered death, not just for himself but for us as well. His resurrection meant that God accepted his sacrifice on the cross for our sins and validated his death on our behalf. His resurrection gives us the assurance that we too will be raised from the grave and enter into his incorruptible life. While Christ was crucified in weakness, he was raised by the power of God. His resurrection unleashed this power over sin and death for us and now we can know, in some measure, that same power today.
It is in his weakness that Paul knows the power of God. He ministers in that power. He preaches the gospel in that power. He heals the sick and drives out demons in that power. He experiences the gifts of the Spirit for ministry in that power. He sees God bring new life through that power as he plants churches throughout the Mediterranean. This is the only way that the Christian life becomes possible. There is no real or lasting ministry apart from the power of God given to us by the Spirit of God. As Gorden Fee says, for Paul Christians are “Spirit people.” They are alive from the dead by the very same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. Again and again, Paul witnesses to the power of God that rests upon him by his Spirit: he commends himself to the Corinthians “in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and the left...” (II Corinthians 6:6-7) In fact, Paul glories in his weakness so that the power of God may rest upon him and be manifest through him. (II Corinthians 12:9) He preaches the gospel in that power so that the Corinthians will know that it is God, not him, who is the source and object of their faith: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.” (I Corinthians 2:4-5)
At the same time, there is a real paradox here. Paul's life is also a life of suffering. He is not in glory yet. He is called to share the incarnate life of his Lord who ministered both in power and suffering. To have communion with Jesus, to have fellowship with Jesus, to know Jesus is to know power and suffering. They go together hand in hand. We cannot have one without the other. This is the very nature of the kingdom now: we live in the tension of this age passing away and the age to come breaking in. Paul's suffering here is not his moral or physical weakness. His suffering comes with his ministry – he confronts the powers of evil and the pain of people and suffers – rebuke, rejection, violence, imprisonment and risks death itself. In this he has “fellowship” or communion with Christ. As Jesus suffered, so he suffers. “The fellowship of sharing in his [Christ's] sufferings” deepens Paul's love for Christ and his dependence on him. He tells the Colossians that he actually completes what is lacking in Christ's suffering. Nothing is lacking in his finished work of atonement. The price of sin has been paid once for all. But Christ continues to suffer in and through his church, his body. We can put it this way: objectively the work is done. Subjectively the work continues. Christ puts his very compassion in Paul's heart and suffers with him in all the spiritual warfare of this world and the god of this world.
Listen to Paul describe his sufferings: “I have worked much harder [than the false apostles], been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” (II Corinthians 11:23b-29) This is apostolic life in this world; this is the sharing in Christ's sufferings. No wonder Paul tells the Corinthians, “Up to this moment we [apostles] have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.” (I Corinthians 4:13b)
Paul not only suffers for and with Christ, he wants to become “like him in his death.” (verse 10) Jesus, of course, was crucified. Paul is in prison, facing the possibility of death for his faith. But he is ready for this. If he is martyred, making the ultimate sacrifice, he will fully have followed Jesus in this world. As our Lord died for us, so we die for him. Such a faith is unstoppable. No wonder Paul was able to endure and pursue his ministry against all odds. He had a philosophy of ministry that included death for his Lord.
But this is not the last word. As Christ suffered and was raised from the dead, so Paul expects “somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (verse 11) The “somehow” may include a violent death or living to old age and passing naturally. But the “somehow” may refer to the means of the resurrection which is God's miracle. We don't know exactly how God will raise us. We do know that as Jesus was raised, so we will be raised. We know that these very bodies will be resurrected and transformed. We will be incorruptible in our new life – passing into eternal life. This goal keeps Paul “pressing on.” (See 3:14) The end is in sight. In fact, the end has already broken in in Jesus' resurrection. We are victors over the grave. Resurrection life is the last word. Listen again to Paul: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (3:20-21)
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