I Want to Know the Power of Christ's Resurrection
Philippians 3v10, Part 2
11th August 2023
Last week, we begin a study of these profound and challenging words:
Philippians 3v10-11
I want to know him [Christ] and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death
and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect,
but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing
I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus.
We've thought about Paul's first priority, his desire to know Christ better, to develop his relationship with his Saviour. We now turn to his second priority:
Paul wanted to know the power of Christ's resurrection
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most powerful and the most remarkable event in the history of the world. It changed the course of human history more than any other. The Son of God had laid in the tomb for three days when, on that Sunday morning nearly 2,000 years ago, the stone was rolled away from the tomb's entrance and Jesus walked out into the morning air. Jesus had achieved victory over sin and death.
The Crucifixion and the Resurrection are inseparable. At the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, and by the Resurrection He triumphed over the grave. By His victory, we who believe in Him will also be victorious over sin and death. We've been forgiven and we'll live with Him for ever.
Romans 4v25
He [Christ] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life
for our justification.
The great 19th Century theologian Charles Hodge wrote:
He [Jesus] was delivered over in order that our sins might be expiated, and he was raised in order that we might be justified. His death and resurrection were both necessary. His death was a satisfaction of divine justice: he "bore our sins in his body on the tree" (see 1 Peter 2:24); that is, he bore the punishment of our sins.
His resurrection was no less necessary. First, it was a proof that his death had been accepted as an expiation for our sins. Had he not risen, it would have been evident that he was not what he claimed to be. We would still be in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17) and therefore still under condemnation. In that case our ransom, instead of being publicly accepted, would have been rejected. And, secondly, in order to secure the continued benefits of the merits of his sacrifice, he rose from the dead and ascended on high, where he appeared before God for us. He stands at the right hand of God, always making intercession for his people and so securing for them the benefits of his redemption. With a dead Saviour, a Saviour over whom death had triumphed and held captive, our justification would have remained impossibility.
The Resurrection of Christ is absolutely essential to the Christian faith. There is no salvation, no new birth, no hope, no inheritance in heaven without it. Without the Resurrection, the church could not exist. There would be no Christians. As Paul also wrote:
1 Corinthians 15v17
… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your
sins.
1 Corinthians 6v14
By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.
Peter explains this in:
1 Peter 1v3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he
has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance
is kept in heaven for you
I don't know how you understand Revelation 20v6:
Revelation 20v6
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second
death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ
and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Contrary to what many others teach, I believe the resurrection of Jesus is the first resurrection, and we share in it by faith. Because of His resurrection we will never die. We reign with Him as His royal priesthood (1 Peter 2v9).
In the light of all these scripture and many others, we can understand that the power of Christ's resurrection includes eternal life for all who believe. We should be amazingly - eternally - grateful to God for this. However, the resurrection gives us even more than this. As Paul also wrote:
Romans 8v11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he
who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
because of his Spirit who lives in you.
The benefits of the resurrection are not just the amazing gift of eternal life in heaven, although that alone is far more than we deserve. Because of our faith in the resurrection, God the Father will give life to our mortal bodies. That surely means, at least, that for the believer, the genuine born-again Christian, life on earth is transformed, so that the life of God dwells in us by the Holy Spirit. Some people would also say, and I'm one of them, that the resurrection means we can be physically and emotionally healed, as well and spiritually healed. Jesus died and rose again to do us good, here on earth as well as in eternity.
The Greek word translated "power" is dynamis, from which we get words like "dynamic" and "dynamite". In the NIV it's often translated as "miracles". Paul wanted to know the dynamic miracle power that raised Jesus from the dead. He wanted to know as much of the power of Christ's resurrection, working in him and through him, for his benefit and for the benefit of other people, on earth as well as in heaven, as possible. So do we, don’t we?
Paul wanted to tell as many people as he could about the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted as many people as possible to know the divine power of the Resurrection. He wrote:
Ephesians 1:18-20
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know
the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his
holy people,
and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the
mighty strength
he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in
the heavenly realms
Amen.
For a fuller understanding of the Resurrection, I recommend a study of Romans 6v1-11 and 1 Corinthians 15.
Next week: the fellowship of Christ's suffering