In Philippians 3:8-11 a number of matters are covered. Nevertheless, there is just one outstanding point—to be conformed to the death of Christ so that, by any means, we may attain unto the out-resurrection from among the dead. For this, we first need the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. By means of such an excellency, we shall be willing to count all things loss in order to gain Christ and be found in Him in a condition of not having our own righteousness out from the law, but having the righteousness that is God Himself lived out of us. Then we shall experientially know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. We shall also be conformed to His death in order to arrive at the out-resurrection from among the dead.
Arriving at the out-resurrection means that our entire being has been gradually and continually resurrected. On the day the Spirit of God came into us to regenerate our spirit, the process of resurrection began. Firstly, God resurrected our deadened spirit. From that time onward, He has been working within us to resurrect every part of our being, our mind, emotion, and will. Eventually, even our body will be resurrected and transfigured. This means that we shall be fully resurrected out of our old being into the new creation. This is God's economy, God's intention, God's goal. Through this process Christ will be thoroughly wrought into us. It is in this way that we experience Christ.
Experiencing Christ is not merely a matter of enjoying His love, grace, or help. To experience Christ is to have Christ wrought into our being to resurrect us out of our old being into the new creation. When the New Jerusalem comes with the new heaven and the new earth, every part of our being will be a new creation. The way to become the new creation is to have our being processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new. All of us are partly resurrected. This means that another part is still unrenewed and yet remains in the old creation. Therefore, we are in the process of resurrection to be renewed from the old creation to the new creation. This process of resurrection enables us to participate in Christ and to partake of Christ. This is the experience of Christ.
The experience of Christ is not something so superficial as merely receiving grace, obtaining help, or enjoying love from the Christ in the heavens or from the Christ in us. To experience Christ is to be conformed to His death. In this death we are processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new creation. Eventually, the new creation will simply be Christ wrought into our being and enlarged in us.