Philippians 3:10-11 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (11) If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
Listen to Paul's request in these verses. "I want to know Him. I want to
know His power. I want to know fellowship of His sufferings unto death that I
may also attain (arrive at) the resurrection of the dead." With only
a casual reading, this could seem very strange. This is the Apostle Paul
writing and expressing his desires. Yes, it is the absolutely inspired Word of
God, but the Holy Spirit has placed within Paul this longing for a closer walk
with the Lord Jesus.
In what way is Paul desiring to experience these things? After all, he was met
by Jesus in a very personal way. He was allowed to see some portion of the
glory of the Lord as he traveled that day. Now, he is saying, "I want to
know him." In what way did Paul desire to know Jesus? He knew the
shed blood of Jesus was the only means of redemption and eternal life. He knew
Him as Saviour. But now, after all these years of walking with the Lord and
preaching the message of grace through Christ Jesus, Paul says, "I want to
know Him."
Remember Paul is in prison as he is writing this letter. He is living under the
worst of circumstances. There are those in the prison who earnestly receive the
message of Christ, but there are those who mock the message as Paul preached
it. Paul had received many stripes. He had been shipwrecked, stoned, left for
dead. He had been rejected and literally had been ran out of towns because of
his stand for the Lord. In order to endure those things, he had to deny himself
and in some way identify with the Lord's suffering. I pause here because I have
heard people try to compare their sufferings to the sufferings of Christ. I
have heard people make remarks such as, "Well, they crucified Jesus
also." That remark was to imply their sufferings compared to Jesus'
sufferings. Paul was not in any way comparing his experiences of pain and
suffering to those of the Lord's.
Paul had been blessed by the Lord to achieve a place in life where he was
content with whatever was thrown at him. This will be stated later in this
letter. It seems that in these two verses, we can find the key to a statement
made to the Church at Corinth. "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10)
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I
strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) I have read these verses many
times and have made the statement that I have not arrived at that place of
taking pleasure in suffering. Paul was able to do this because he had
embraced a great truth that Jesus had made to him: "My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
I stop now to look inside myself and my desires concerning Jesus. Do I want to
know Him? Am I willing to suffer for His name's sake or am I content with
just a casual relationship with Jesus? I have never had to suffer for the cause
of Christ, not in the sense the saints of old had to suffer. How deep is
my desire to know Christ in a daily relationship? How can I possibly know His
power (the power of the resurrection) if I'm not willing to walk with Him in
all situations of life? It's something for me to think about.