In this message we will continue to consider Christ as the goal of the believers’ pursuit.
Philippians 3:10 says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Paul lived in a condition of having not his own righteousness but the righteousness that is out of God (v. 9), in order to know (to experience) Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
In verse 8 to have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ is by revelation. But to know Him in verse 10 is by experience—to have the experiential knowledge of Him, to experience Him in the full knowledge of Him. Paul first received the revelation of Christ, then sought the experience of Christ—to know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way.
To know Christ is not merely to have the knowledge concerning Him but to gain His person (2 Cor. 2:10). To gain something requires the paying of a price; to gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of all His unsearchable riches (Eph. 3:8) by paying a price. Christ has gained us, taken possession of us, that we might gain Him, take possession of Him (Phil. 3:12).
We need to know Christ by enjoying Him, experiencing Him, being one with Him, and having Him live within us and walk with us. In this way we know Him by both revelation and experience. Eventually, He becomes us, and we become Him.
The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20). The reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit (Rom. 1:4). To know, to experience, this power requires identification with Christ’s death and conformity to it. Death is the base of resurrection. To experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, we need to live a crucified life, as He did. Our conformity to His death affords the power of His resurrection a base from which to rise up that His divine life may be expressed in us.
Although it is wonderful to enjoy the power of Christ’s resurrection, the power of resurrection is not mainly for our enjoyment. In God’s economy there is no selfish enjoyment. The power of Christ’s resurrection is for the producing and building up of the Body. If we put ourselves aside and remain under the death of the cross, we will enjoy the power of resurrection. Spontaneously, the power of resurrection experienced by us will produce the Body.
The expression the fellowship of His sufferings in verse 10 refers to the participation in Christ’s sufferings (Matt. 20:22-23; Col. 1:24), a necessary condition for the experience of the power of His resurrection (2 Tim. 2:11) by being conformed to His death. Paul was pursuing to know and experience not only the excellency of Christ Himself but also the life power of His resurrection and the participation in His sufferings. With Christ, the sufferings and death came first, followed by the resurrection; with us, the power of His resurrection comes first, followed by the participation in His sufferings and conformity to His death. We first receive the power of His resurrection; then by this power we are enabled to participate in His sufferings and live a crucified life in conformity to His death. Such sufferings are mainly for producing and building up the Body of Christ (Col. 1:24).
Christ’s sufferings are of two categories: those for accomplishing redemption, which were completed by Christ Himself, and those for producing and building the church, which need to be filled up by the apostles and the believers (v. 24). We cannot participate in Christ’s suffering for redemption, but we must take part in the sufferings of Christ for the producing and building up of the Body (cf. Rev. 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; 2 Cor. 1:5-6; 4:12; 6:8-11). Christ as the Lamb of God suffered for redemption (John 1:29); Christ as the grain of wheat suffered for reproducing and building (12:24). The Lord, as a grain of wheat that fell into the ground, lost His soul-life through death that He might release His eternal life in resurrection to the many grains (10:10-11). The one grain did not complete all the sufferings that are needed for the building up of the Body; as the many grains, we must suffer in the same way the one grain suffered (12:24-26). As the many grains, we also must lose our soul-life through death that we may enjoy eternal life in resurrection (v. 25). This is to follow Him that we may serve Him and walk with Him on the way of losing the soul-life and living in resurrection (v. 26). The way for the church to come into being and to increase is not by human glory but by the death of the cross.