Resurrection Power, Fellowship of Suffering

2021-10-21

To know Jesus is to experience various aspects of His life He lived on earth. The Apostle Paul wanted to know Him, and with that he wanted to know the “power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

The resurrection power of Jesus is something we clearly want: We want to minister to Him here on earth, and we need His power to do so. Reflecting on our unity with Christ, it is a glorious thought. What is reserved in heaven for us becomes manifest on earth by faith.

However, the flipside of His life in us is also His suffering and His death. We learn fellowship with Jesus by suffering. The word “suffering” does not just imply persecution, but it most certainly includes that. It can be other hardships as well. The reality is that “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). We are crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), but in our daily conversation, we die more to ourselves. We pick up the cross daily; there is no resurrection life without a preceding death.

The light is not appreciated until we have been through the dark. God only commanded, “Let there be light” after there was darkness on the face of the deep.

There is a daily reckoning where we must surrender to His cross. The cross takes us out of the way so He can be revealed.

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)