That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection (and the fellowship of His suffering) I

The title of the post is from Philippians 3:10. Paul is telling us what the successful Christian life involves, what is available to us , and what is the cost of living on the cutting edge for Christ. Most of us would be happy to (experientially) know, what it is to walk in Christ's resurrection power. We might not be so keen to share in His sufferings. Why would we want to? Why, well in this passage Paul is telling us the rewards are out of this world, and not just in the there and then (afterlife), but in the here and now. Today we will be looking at some of the things that hinder our attaining to the power of His resurrection.

We used to joke in my job (researcher/teacher of Mathematics) that we were daily pushing back the frontiers of Mathematical knowledge. Most of the time it was pretty slow, and not always terribly significant. Living on the cutting edge in the Christian life however, is significant in every way. When we are living for Christ our “tiny steps for mankind” have eternal significance, even if we don't immediately see it. Elsewhere Paul tells us to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Indeed it is not! Even when we have failed over and over, our willingness to repent, confess and start over, positively affects the atmosphere of world in which we live. But the fact of the matter is, that most of us live far, far below what He has called us to, and equipped us for! When we walk in the power of His resurrection, we are enabled to rise above it all, we walk in the very footprints of Jesus, do the things that He did and touch lives in a way we may never have imagined.

There are many things that hinder, and can prevent us entering into the fullness of all that Christ has provided for us. In the context in Philippians 3, Paul is dealing with a particularly insidious hindrance that affects the religious and those of us who are satisfied with where we are “at.” He introduces it by admonishing us to “have no confidence in the flesh” (verse 3). He had been there and bought the t-shirt. But now he tells us that he had “lost all things in order to gain Christ and the power ...etc”. He was not griping however, for he says (in the vernacular) that what he formerly valued, he now thought of as shit (KJV dung - any refuse, as the excrement of animals (Thayer) verse 8). Some will find my use of this word offensive, but if you can get over it (you have probably heard worse) it can help us to see just what Paul is saying here. It's not just that he no longer values the things that were formerly important to him, he sees them as something vile and unclean, negative, something to be cast off. In the same context, what was gain is now loss (verse 7), but the force of the Greek word translated loss – has to do with causing damage. In particular the things he formerly valued kept him from the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (verse 8 NIV). Before he encountered the Lord, these things were what was most important to him, it was where he placed his confidence. He now sees them for what they are: pride of place, pride of race, pride of position, pride of education, pride in his own goodness (righteousness), pride in his zeal, i.e. pride, period (verses 4-9), the pernicious pride that kept Him from seeing his need of Christ.

So then, these things are worse than worthless, they are something to get rid of by any and all means. Paul is telling us that these things cannot co-exist with an intimate and powerful equipping relationship with the Lord. We have been given access to the very same power that raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:19,20). We do need to see it (Ephesians 1:17) pursue it, and make it our own (Philippians 3 - later). But when we need to look good, and act in such a way as to get the glory from who we are and what we do, He has to withdraw His power and presence or it would consume us. On the other hand, whatever keeps us from God, be it pride or self sufficiency or sin, it is less than useless, dung! All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Prayer: Father open my eyes to see what things keep me from the fullness of knowing You and the power of Your resurrection. In Jesus name.