Resurrection Power Philippians 3:10

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death" (Philippians 3:10). Paul is writing to the saints at Philippi. Philippi was named by Alexander the Great after his father, Philip. We learn from this passage four powerful statements: ·       that I may know Him ·       and the power of His resurrection ·       the fellowship of His suffering ·       being made conformable unto His death Our Apostle Paul aspiration is: First, that I may know Him in the power of His resurrection. The resurrection of Christ Jesus is the standard of power in the New Testament. Our Lord has destroyed the work of the devil and the proof is the standard of God's power in the New Testament. The standard of God's power in the Old Testament was the deliverance of the people of Israel through the Red Sea which brought them finally into the land of promise. In the Old Testament the miracle is the raising of a dead nation, because they were in captivity, in Egypt, which is a type of the world. They were under the dominion of Pharaoh, which is a type of the devil, and they were brought as the Word of God says, "God called them with a strong hand. He delivered them with a strong hand and a stretched out arm." In the New Testament the standard of God's power is the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead. Because of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, there is the resurrection of the individual from the dead. Ephesians 2 for instance says: "You have been quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins. And the same miracle power that raised up Jesus from the dead is the power that raised us up from the dead."   What is "the exceeding greatness of His power to us all who believe according to the working of His mighty power when He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set at His own right hand in heavenly places." Christ was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The loneliness was on the behalf of the Father, He had no one He could communicate with. His Son is going to bear the sin of the whole world. Calvary expresses the love of God and the resurrection explains the power of God. Our Apostle has got the most amazing track record of any man that has ever lived outside of our Lord Christ Jesus, Paul,  he raised the dead, he opened the eyes of the blind, he cast out demons, and he wrote more epistles than all the other men put together; yet he says, "I WANT TO KNOW HIM." He is saying there is a fuller revelation of Him. No other religion in the world has a resurrection, the resurrection is the crowning miracle of God; and without the resurrection we are yet in our sins!"  Christ raised people from the dead because He is the resurrection. Paul said: Because Christ rose everyone will rise (Acts 24). In the wisdom of our God when all was sin and shame a last Adam entered into the fight  to the rescue man. "As He was, so are we in this world." Christ Jesus says I am the resurrection and the Life. Christ raised me from the dead! God perpetuated that miracle in me: "You hath He quickened who were dead on trespasses and sins." At the end of Revelation Christ says: "Listen, I am He that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive and I have the keys of death and of hell." "All power is given unto Me," there were other resurrections, but they were all different. You know, Christ was comfortable in the presence of death. He raised Jairus' daughter, He raised the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus. Three people He raised from the dead. The difference between their resurrection and His: ·       theirs had no vicarious power to it  they were all called forth from the tomb, He wasn't ·       when they came forth from the tomb they were all bound. Christ Jesus slipped out of those cloths, and did not need anybody to call Him forth. So everybody else that was raised from the dead had somebody else called them, they were bound with grave cloths, and they all died again. Scripture say "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him" (Romans 6:8). The other 's died twice and Scripture says, " It's appointed unto man once to die." Enoch and Elijah did not die, or do they. God said, "whatever a man shall sow, that also shall he reap." And if God says in Adam all die, they are going to die. But He says, "Jesus came..." knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." The Spirit that raised up Christ from the dead is the Spirit that quickens us, because man is dead in trespasses and in sin. The Holy Spirit of God has done His work; Christ in you the hope of glory! Paul said "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation! (II Corinthians 5: 17). God makes man a new creation. Now when a man is born again in the Spirit of God "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4- 5). For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." Writing to the Colossians Paul says, "If ye be risen in Christ seek those things which are above." When you are born again of the Spirit of God and become a new creation, all of our dirty, filthy, habits drop off us because we gave our life to Christ and He became not only our Savior, but Lord. "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Christ came into my life and He completely changed and revolutionized my life. That's the work of the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. I am the "you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sin." Paul says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things 'which are beneath.'" (Colossians 3:1-2). Our destination rest in life above. We are to set our affection on them. God has made it possible, and we are to appropriate it. "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the un-circumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven all trespasses; Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 'Which perish with the using') after the commandments and doctrines of men?" "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, 'wherein' Christ sitteth on the right hand of 'the Father'" (Romans 2: 12,20, 3: 1). Paul, is a man who's reached the peak of spirituality and yet he says, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." He was content to walk in His resurrection life. He said, seek the lofty things, the holy things, the life of prayer, the life of inspiration, the life of joy in the Spirit. Just remember this: that while you and I are on earth we are passing through enemy territory. It is a corrupt, evil, sinful, wicked world that follows its god; Satan, the prince of the power of the air. There is an eternal rivalry between the two, and we can draw strength from the resurrection life of Christ. The resurrection life of Christ is the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus form the dead. The Word of God says that Jesus was raised from the dead and He dieth no more. Because He lives we shall live also. The death of the Lord Christ Jesus on the Cross proves the love of God. The resurrection proves the power of God, and "if He were risen from the dead," we as believers will be also. God intended we have the world, the flesh, and the devil under our feet. "That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable to His death." The moment Christ died, I died with Him. The moment He rose, I rose with Him... He died that we might be cleansed, He died that we might be pure, He died that we might lead a victorious life. The resurrection life of Christ quickens our mortal bodies. One day that resurrection will actually take place in a triumphant shattering of the graves of those who believed. They are going to come "from earth's wide bounds and ocean's farthest coasts, through the pearly gates. We were buried with Him (Christ) through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) The death and resurrection of Jesus are the greatest events in history. Resurrection power is promised to every believer in Christ and we receive it in the same way that Jesus gave it. That is by accepting the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross for an atonement of our sins. This is how we receive the life of Jesus in us. God gives us both the ability and the power to accomplish this through His Holy Spirit. There is a process that a believer goes through of emptying our self of our life in order to receive more of His life. This is the process of sanctification and it is a work of the Holy Spirit and it is accomplished through our cooperation. The word newness in the Scripture means renewal, to be renewed. We should walk in newness of life, this means renewal is to be a way of life. The resurrection power of Christ is given through the Holy Spirit. It flows through us as a river of life bringing constant revival. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11). The same form of life that raised Christ from the dead is in all believers. The main ways that we give up our life and receive the life of Christ are by directing our love toward Him. This kind of relationship with God brings renewal and revival, and that person will bear much spiritual fruit as God is glorified. The choices we make daily are life or death decisions. "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). We are often faced with decisions, the consequences of which, may lead to more or less of the life of Jesus in us. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Galatians 6:8) What we speak and what we think is very important. What we think leads to actions and words; and those actions and words sow to the flesh or to the spirit. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:5-9) Jesus gave up His life twice, He was in the form of God He humbled Himself by giving up His life as God to become a man. When the Bible says that He made Himself of no reputation it means that He completely emptied Himself of His life. He then received life as a man and once again He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death. On the cross He emptied himself of life as a sacrifice for our sins. Christ gave up all of His man-life and died on the Cross. Three days later He was raised from the dead. The resurrection happened when Jesus received God-life and once again the fullness of God filled Him. The humbling yourself begins with an attitude, a thought process, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Choosing life is what happens when we make decisions that sow to the Spirit. It is what allows the process of sanctification in our lives. Sanctification is the process of becoming holy before God. Sanctification is a work of God in us through the Holy Spirit. The right to be sanctified was given through the shed Blood of Christ on the Cross. The power to accomplish sanctification is given through the Holy Spirit. As we humble ourselves before God to the point of obedience we cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in us. Obedience follows humility, “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death.” We must also empty ourselves through humility to the point of obedience; the greater the sacrifice the greater the reward. Obedience to the voice of God is in itself a form of dying to yourself. It is giving up your life with the result of experiencing God’s life. When we deny ourselves we are giving up our life and we receive more of His life in us. Christ Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:24-25). For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones (Isaiah 57:15). Revive means to give life. Revival begins with humility and it makes a home for God. As we empty ourselves we are able to receive the life of God in us. As we remove the things from our life that separate us from God, then He is able to occupy more of our heart. Love and life are a hand in glove, where there is life there is love and where there is love there is life; and where there is hatred there is death. Christ Jesus is our source of life and our connection with love. "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love." "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."  "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you (John 15:9-14). In this holy connection of life and love we see that obedience and sacrifice must be motivated by love. Sacrifice without love is works and will ultimately fail. Sacrifice and obedience which are motivated by love are a work of God’s grace in us. The difference is between operating in our strength, which is “works”, and operating in God’s power, which is “grace”. Resurrection power is in us through Jesus the Christ. Christ Jesus is the source of all life. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). Jesus is Life, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4). "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. "Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live (John 5:24-25)  . "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me(John 14:6). If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).