The Power of His Resurrection FBCOB-SM Philippians 3:7-11 October 19, 2014 Philippians 3:7-11 (NIV) 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 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. Introduction: IL- Young newlyweds were on their honeymoon. They stopped in at an outlet mall and went into one of the stores. The man went on one side of the shop, the woman moved to the other. A clerk approached the man and asked, May I help you? The man replied, No thank you, I am just looking. Are you by yourself? the clerk pursued. No, said the man, looking and pointing to his wife, I am with, uh, uh, uh, her. Is she your wife? asked the clerk. Um,.., yes, said the man. The wife, of course, is overhearing this, and becomes a little upset. She yells from across the store, teasingly, Have you forgotten me already? The truth of the story is this --- He just had not yet gotten used to his new position in life. He was now a husband, with a wife, in a close relationship. I never made that mistake again. Many Christians live in the same way with regard to Christ. They go through life without realizing the potential of the relationship in which they are now engaged. When a person is in Christ, WOW! things are different. Yet, many live in a shadow of what they really could be. Our relationship with the Lord is supposed to be a personal one. It should reflect a deep passion on our part. In this passage the Apostle Paul goes deeper here into the meaning of his relationship with Christ than just about any other passage in his many letters. As a reminder, please note what we learned last Sunday. To know Christ, based upon the original meaning of that word, know, is to receive and develop a personal and dynamic relationship with Him. 1
It involves a personal faith union between the believer and Christ. It is a life-shaping relationship. It involves salvation, first of all, spending time with Him in close connection, devoting energy to the relationship, demonstrating a changeable heart and life, and seeking partnership with Him in His work. It is a life of passion. Last week we looked at the first phrase of verse 10, I want to know Christ,... Today we move on to what it means to know the power of his resurrection. Let s first understand the two major concepts revealed in this verse. The second concept is that of resurrection. The first is the concept of power. The word power is the word, dunamis, (doo -nam-is) in the Greek language. It is the word where we get our English word dynamite. In this context it means moral strength, miraculous might, and abundant ability. So we are thinking in terms of the strength, the power, the abundance of His resurrection. Now what is meant by resurrection? We generally say it means coming back from the dead. Lazarus came back from the dead, but he did not fully experience resurrection. He did not come to life by his own power and he would die again someday. His new life was temporary. Jesus on the other hand rose from the grave by His own power, and to live for eternity. As a matter of fact, Jesus did not only experience resurrection, he told Martha and Mary that He actually was resurrection and life. Now the whole picture is this: 1) Jesus actually died, 2) He was buried in a tomb for three days, and 3) He rose again. The Apostle Paul says it like this in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,... (NIV) So, resurrection really involves death, burial, and resurrection. Let s put these two together. Resurrection power can only be defined by Christ, since no one else in history has ever experienced genuine resurrection. The bold truth is that the power displayed by Christ in his resurrection is available through Christ for the believer. As long as we continue to treat the resurrection as an event and not an experience, we will not fully understand resurrection. That is one reason why the Lord commanded baptism as an ordinance. It is the physical experience of a spiritual reality. We die to sin, we are buried with Christ, and we are raised to walk in new life. Freedom, cleansing, fresh start, power to not sin, given righteousness, alive. 2
When a man/woman receives the forgiveness of sins and acknowledges Jesus as his/her Lord, they experience a spiritual resurrection known as conversion or new life. This new life is characterized by a spiritual energy. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV) After conversion, being born again, accepting Jesus, a person moves through a successive and progressive journey of being more and more set apart unto Christ. The Bible calls this sanctification, or being set apart for Christ. When sanctification completes its full effect in steps, the moral life is changed, the spiritual life becomes dominant, the physical body is ultimately transformed, and the believer eventually enters the eternal rest of heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:6-9 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (NIV) The culminating event of the Christian life is resurrection from the dead. The earthly picture of this is the life characterized by the power of his resurrection. To truly know Christ is to be like him in the glorified state. While we are in this body that is impossible. However, on the Earth and as a part of this earthly life, we must live a resurrected life. We are risen with Christ and are living the victorious life. We have passed from death caused by sin to new life made possible by the sinlessness of Christ. We have victory over death and can see how Christ is at work in the believer s life. We do not have to wait for the ultimate resurrection to begin to experience resurrection power. Colossians 3:1-10 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (NIV) 3
Last week I mentioned that knowing Christ was more than head knowledge and intellectual agreement. In the same way, resurrection power is not only knowing suffering, death, and resurrection as episodes of the Gospel story. Rather, it is knowing these dimensions of Christ s life as present and active forces in our lives. We must be convinced of Christ s resurrection and rise to the new life of God s new creation in us. IL- Arthur Rubinstein, even at eighty, reached greater heights than he had known in his long career as a peerless pianist. In an interview he was asked how, after all the long years of perfection, he still kept his interpretations fresh and inspiring. Rubinstein answered, Every day I am a new man and every occasion is a new moment for me. When I play, it is no longer I, but a secret power takes over. If that is true of a great musician, as certainly it is, it should be even more so for a Christian who knows the power of Christ s resurrection. Romans 6:4-14 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (NIV) Resurrection Power for us means these things: 1- We have new life in Christ. 2- We have victory over death, the grave, and sin. 3- We are becoming more like Christ. 4- Our goal is to please Him. 5- Our thinking is focused on the things of God. 6- We experience moral change. 7- We receive a glorified body in heaven. 4
Our natural tendency is to concentrate on doing for Christ, rather than being for Christ. Resurrection power is not about us doing something for Him. It is about Him doing something in us. It is about us living in that power to become more like Christ. We know him when we share in his resurrection. IL- Pastor Alan Smith tells the story of a country lad who was hired for a salesman's job at a city department store. It was one of those massive stores that has every department imaginable. In fact it was the biggest store in the world -- you could get anything there. The boss said, "You can start tomorrow, Friday morning, and I'll come and see you when we close up." When the boss saw the young man the next day at closing time, he saw him shaking hands with a beaming customer. After they parted, he walked over and asked, "Well, that looked good! How many sales did you make today?" "That was the only one," said the young salesman. "Only one?" blurted the boss. "Most of my staff make 20 or 30 sales a day. You'll have to do better than that! Well, how much was the sale worth?" "$327,000 and change," said the young man. The boss paused for a moment, blinking a few times. "H... H... How did you manage that?" "Well, when he came in this morning I sold him a small fish hook. Then, I sold him a medium hook, and then a really large hook. Then I sold him a small fishing line, a medium one, and then a big one. I then sold him a spear gun, a wetsuit, scuba gear, nets, bait, and coolers. I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down the coast. We decided he would probably need a new boat, so I took him down to the boat department and sold him that forty-foot schooner with the twin engines. Then, he said that his Volkswagen probably wouldn't be able to pull it, so I took him to the truck department and sold him the new Deluxe Cruiser, with a winch, storage rack, rust proofing, and a built-in refrigerator. Oh, and floor mats." The boss took two steps back and asked in astonishment, "You sold all that to a guy who came in for a fish hook?" "No," answered the salesman. "He came in to buy a blanket." "A blanket?" "Yeah, an extra blanket for the couch. He just had a fight with his wife. I said to him, 'Well, your weekend's ruined, so you may as well go fishing... '" One thing leads to another. And that's the way it should work in our spiritual lives. As we grow and mature in Christ, we continue to add virtue upon virtue. As we grow in our experience of knowing Christ, we also grow in experiencing the power available to us in His resurrection. I want to know Christ. The key word is PASSION. And the power of His resurrection. The key word is POTENTIAL. 5