I Want to Know Christ - 1

I Want to Know Christ – 1

And the Fellowship of His Sufferings

Philippians 3:7–11 (NIV84)

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, kjv), for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

I’ve heard part of verse 10 quoted by others: I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.

They leave out part of the verse: and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

I want to know Christ…and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.

Know = γινώσκω ginōskō = to know (experientially): to know or have knowledge about (someone or something); normally as acquired through observation or the senses.

To know Christ is to gain knowledge of the Lord Jesus through the experience of intimate companionship and communion with Him.

Paul came to know His heart, His will, as one comes to know another through intimate fellowship and close association with that person.

Fellowship = κοινωνία koinonia = participation fellowship: the act of sharing in the activities or privileges of an intimate association or group; especially used of marriage and churches.

Of Sharing is not in the Greek. It was added to the English translation for clarity.

Sufferings = πάθημα pathēma = affliction: a state of great suffering and distress due to adversity.

Knowing Christ means not merely experiencing resurrection power in his daily life in some undefined context, but rather in the context of suffering for his identification with Christ.

The means by which to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings is by becoming like him in his death.

V. 10, “My aim is to know Christ, to experience his resurrection power, and share in his suffering, even imitating his kind of death.”

To become like Christ in his death is the ultimate form of obedience, and hence of faith; the suffering and death may indeed be literal.

Behind the translation becoming like him is the rare Greek verb symmorphizō, which means ‘to cause to be similar in form or style to something else.’

The present tense of the verb suggests an ongoing process, while the passive voice indicates that God rather than Paul is the one performing the action.

We cannot know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings in our own strength. We need the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:13, Amplified Version

“[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in us [energizing and creating in you the power and desire] both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.”

Christ’s Sufferings

1 Peter 2:21–24 (NIV84)

21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Christ left us an example that we should follow in his steps. What was that example?

He committed no sin; no deceit was found in his mouth.

He did not retaliate when he was insulted.

He made no threats when he suffered.

He entrusted himself to God who judges justly.

Christ suffered for us. What did he suffer?

Isaiah 53:1–5 (NIV84)

1Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Vss. 2, His simple beginnings gave no one any reason to pay attention. There was nothing special in His “majesty” or His “appearance” that hinted at His true greatness.

Unlike Saul, who was head and shoulders above everyone else. (1 Samuel 9:2)

Unlike Esther, who’s beauty led the king to notice her. (Esther 2:7)

Unlike Adonijah, whose handsome features attracted others to make him a false king. (1 Ki. 1:6)

He was hated and rejected even by those who claimed to be God’s people.

In His appearance He did not look like a royal person.

The surpassing glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is hidden behind obscurity, poverty, humiliation, misery, and shame.

Isaiah 53:3 (The Living Bible, Paraphrased)

3We despised him and rejected him—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we didn’t care.

The ungodly still despise and reject the name of Jesus Christ. It is used worldwide as a cuss word to express disgust. Adolf Hitler’s name wasn’t despised enough to use in such a way.

Isaiah 53:4 (AMP)

4Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].

Jesus bore the consequences of our sin.

Took up (borne) = נָשָׂא nāśāʾ = to bear (endure): to endure something unpleasant or difficult whether on one’s own behalf or on behalf of someone else.

Infirmities (griefs, kjv) = חֳלִי chŏlî = suffering (misery): misery resulting from affliction.

Carried = סָבַל sābal = incur, bear, carry, i.e., initiate an action to unburden another of an unpleasant state or condition, with a focus that the subject will experience that state, implying care and sustenance, note: in this context there may be an additional focus of becoming in a state of guilt. (Jesus incurred our guilt.)

Sorrows = מַכְאֹב makʾōb = grief: something that causes great unhappiness.

Christ’s suffering is due to sin. That was the thinking of the people of Israel and of the ancient Near East.

But the sinner here is not the sufferer. The sufferer is bearing the consequences of the sins of others than himself.

Our sins have been transferred to him. He bears our griefs and carries our sorrows.

We considered him stricken by God. They assumed that because of Jesus’ sin, he was being afflicted by God. They were correct that Jesus was afflicted by God, but they were wrong when they attributed the reason to be that Jesus had sinned.

Acts 2:23 (NIV84)

23This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV84)

21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NCV)

21Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (GNB)

21Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God.

Mark 15:25–39 (NIV84)

25It was the third hour when they crucified him.

26The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

27They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.

29Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,

30come down from the cross and save yourself!”

31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!

32Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

33At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.

34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

35When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

36One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

37With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

39And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Jesus agonized on the cross for six hours, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Jesus was forsaken, when he took on the sin of the world. This was the cup that Jesus wanted to be taken away.

When Jesus bore our sins, he experienced separation from God, his Father, who cannot look on sin.

Habakkuk 1:13a (NIV84)

13aYour eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The atonement was complete; access to God was opened.

The veil was approximately 60 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 4 inches thick. No human could have torn this veil apart.

Some scholars estimate it would have taken 300 priests just to hang the veil in the Temple. This large piece of woven fabric would have been very sturdy, literally impossible to have been torn in two. This had to be a supernatural event that ripped the veil into two separate pieces.

An estimation of weight based on the criteria of 300 priest would be in the area of 15,000-30,000 pounds.

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV84)

5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Pierced (wounded, kjv) = חָלַל chālal = to pierce or wound physically unto death. (John 19:33-37)

Transgressions = פֶּ֫שַׁע peshaʿ = evildoing: the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle.

Crushed (bruised, kjv) = דָּכָא dākāʾ = to be bruised, smitten (with stripes).

to be crushed (kept down): to be kept down by unjust use of another’s authority or power.

Iniquities = עָוֹן ʿāwōn = iniquity, evil, guilt, punishment. This word indicates sin that is particularly evil.

Punishment (chastisement, kjv) = מוּסָר mûsār = discipline (of the moral nature), chastening, correction. (Lexicon Research Lexicon)

Wounds (stripes, kjv; scourging, nasb95) = חַבּוּרָה ḥabbûrâ = an injury usually involving a cut or break in the skin.

Healed = רָפָא rāpāʾ = the process of healing, being restored to health, made healthy, usable, fertile; of physical and spiritual healing.

The Lord’s Servant was pierced, wounded fatally.

“We thought he was being punished by God, but every wound, every bruise, was suffered because of our sins, not his. The punishment endured was not only the penalty of sin, but also the means of our restoration.”

Our peace, our spiritual and moral wholeness, is made possible by the punishment that he bore.

Isaiah 53:6–12 (NLT) v. 10 (NIV84)

6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

7He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

8Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.

9He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.

10 (NIV84)Yet it was the Lord’s (Yahweh) will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.

12I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

These verses were written around 700 b.c. predicting Jesus’s extreme suffering, death, and resurrection (v.10), which resulted in our salvation.

These verses give more meaning to John 3:16.

John 3:16 (NIV84)

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1 Peter 1:10–11 (NIV84)

10Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care,

11trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

Romans 5:6 (NIV84)

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Powerless = ἀσθενής asthenēs = weak (morally): wanting (lacking) in moral strength, courage, or will.

At just the right time. The time that God appointed it should happen.

Mark 1:15 (NIV84)

15“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

A period of time predetermined by God.

Galatians 4:1–7 (NIV84)

1What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.

2He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

3So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.

4But when the time had fully come (when the fullness of time had come, esv), God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,

The life, death, and resurrection of Christ occurred according to the plan of God.

5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Christ’s coming was “fixed” in God’s plans.

God alone judged and determined when the right time was for the Son of God to be revealed to the world. Christ arrived at the time previously determined by the Father.

Acts 17:26 (NIV84)

26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

God is King, not only over Israel, but over all the nations, over all the earth. He governs the events of human history for his purposes.

Romans 5:7-11 (NIV84)

7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

10For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Through the death of Jesus (shedding of his blood), we have been justified (declared righteous before the sinless God), and we shall be saved from God’s wrath!

V. 9, This is the first time the word saved appears in the Book of Romans.

Saved, in this instance, is future.

We have been saved through the death of Jesus on the cross. (Past)

We are being saved from sin now through the message of the cross. (Present)

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV84)

18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

We will be saved (future) from God’s wrath.

Fellowship of His Sufferings

Philippians 3:10 (NIV84)

10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

1 Peter 4:12–13 (NIV84)

12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.

13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

By experiencing suffering for being Christians, believers identify with Jesus. Believers demonstrate their faith by sharing in Jesus’ sufferings; they learn what it means to be like Him in their anguish. They can have joy because they honor God through their suffering and know that God will vindicate their faithfulness one day.

We are to rejoice that we participate in the sufferings of Christ. What are the sufferings of Christ that we are to participate in?

The sufferings of Christ include all the beatings, rejections, insults, humiliations, and so much more, including death for the commitment to faith in the fact that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

To Suffer as To Be Obedient Continually: To be obedient continually is conceptualized as suffering.

Suffering also includes continual obedience to Christ.

Romans 4:25 (NIV84)

25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Raised to life for our justification. What is the significance of this statement?