Easter Sunday 2021

The Lord is Risen

My testimony this morning is

I WANT TO KNOW HIM AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION

Paul wrote these words to the Philippian church many years ago.

One of the issues that this particular church was dealing with was the question of Jewish law and tradition.

Specifically, does a man have to be circumcised in order to be a Believer.

Because the early Christian believers were seen as being a sect of Judaism.

So there were questions about, “Well do you have to be Jewish in order to be a Christian?” And if so, what does that look like?

And so then you had the Judaizers coming along and saying, “Yes absolutely, you have to become like a Jew in order to be a Christian believer.”

If you think about it, this issue isn’t very different from questions that we as a Mennonite church have dealt with.

Questions like, “what exactly do I have to do, or how do I have to look or dress to be counted as a true Believer?”

And Paul comes along in Philippians and gets pretty hard on those who were trying to teach the young church that circumcision and following the ceremonial Jewish law was necessary for being a Believer.

In chapter 3 verse 2, Paul calls these guys, “Dogs, evil-doers, and those who mutilate the flesh.”

He gets pretty hard on them! He doesn’t pull any punches in letting the Philippian church know what he thinks about guys who teach this way.

And then he says, BTW, if you want to play the “I’m better than you” game, I bet I can beat you at that!

(maybe kind of like Mennonites play the Mennonite game to establish who we know. I talked to one very elderly gentleman at a wedding. Afterward, I told Heidi that I played the Mennonite game with him and lost.)

Anyway, Paul says, “You wan to play that game of how good you are according to Jewish law, let’s go.”

I was

Circumcised on the 8th day

I’m an Israelite

I’m of the tribe of Benjamin

I’m a Hebrew of Hebrews (don’t even question my pedigree. I’m a true Hebrew and I’ve followed the law as well as anyone)

I’m a Pharisee (I know the law better than you all)

I’m zealous. (so much so, that I persecuted the church in order to maintain the purity of the Jewish religion)

I’m righteous and blameless under the law.

So, you might not want to go down the road of who’s better.

If anyone want to hang their hopes of being found pleasing to God on the Jewish law, I certainly could do that!

But he goes on.

Philippians 3:7–11 (ESV)

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

I am struck with the words that Paul uses here and the passion in his writing.

Paul talks about Knowing Christ

In English we have one word for “to know”

I know that Paris is the capital of France, even though I’ve never been there.

I know that 1+1=2

I know my wife and children very well (I think anyway)

When we learned Portuguese, we quickly learned that they have two words for “to know: “Saber” and “Conhecer”. And you really had to make sure that you used the right one and got it right.

Saber means basically to know as a fact.

I “saber” that 1+1=2 (eu sei que um mais um egual dois)

Eu sei que esta frio la fora

I know this to be a fact

“Conhecer”, on the other hand, means to know intimately and experientially.

If you are talking about a person that you know,

for example, if someone was asking me if I know Joe, they would ask me “Voce conhece Joe?”

And I would say, “Sim, conheco Joe”

If you just know a person’s name, you are still in the “saber” realm. Yes, I have met this person but I don’t know anything about him/her

When I first met Heidi, I knew her name. and that was it.

But as we talked and spent time together, started dating, got married, I learned to “conhecer” Heidi.

Paul says, “I want to know Christ”

I want to KNOW Him. Not just know about him. Not just “saber” him. I want to know

It is the cry of His heart to truly know Jesus in the deepest, most intimate way possible.

I want this to be a journey of going deeper and drawing closer. And I don’t want anything to get in the way of that!

What does it mean to KNOW Christ?

It means that we crave and desire to experience all that He is an all that He has for us

I want to know His character, his priorities, his glory, his provision, his justice, all of it!

Not only do I want to know Christ, I want to know the power of His resurrection!

I want to know, experientially, what His resurrection mean.

I want to experience and feel the power of His resurrection working in me. Right now!

I think we all would say that we want this, because it sounds glorious and amazing and life-changing.

To have that kind of power coursing through my veins.

And it is oh so amazing!

But here’s the thing. This kind of power is felt and experienced and known only after suffering.

Jesus went willingly to the horror of the cross. Probably the most horrible instrument of torture ever invented.

He said in John 10 verse 17 “This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again.”

This was a willing laying down of His life, his rights, his place at the right hand of the Father.

And He went to the cross and suffered and died.

And then by the power of God, he was raised from the dead!

The mighty power of God brought Him out of the tomb, death was conquered and He lives forever!

It’s this kind of power that we want to know. But it comes after suffering.

And indeed, Paul says here “I have suffered and I want to know suffering”

For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and I count them as rubbish

All the things that he listed above: his heritage, his education, his zeal, his self-righteousness, all of that

He has had to give ALL of that for the sake of knowing Christ

And it is suffering to do this. It is a stripping away of all that is important to us.

Many times this happens through suffering. God allows hardships into our lives that bring suffering.

But it is also suffering to let these things go. To have them stripped away from us

“I worked hard for that!” I worked hard to be a good Mennonite. I worked hard for that education or for that job or position.

And Jesus says, “I know. But are you willing to give those things up? Am I more important than those things? Am I worth knowing?

Because I see you spending too much time focused on those things, and you aren’t spending enough time knowing me!

And sometimes he has to pry those things out of our grasp. And it hurts. It brings suffering

But Paul says, “I have suffered the loss of all things that I may know Him

I have suffered the loss of all things that “I may gain Christ.”

I get the better end of the deal by far.

I give up those little things, and I get HIM!

I get to be found IN HIM

I get His righteousness.

It’s not the kind of righteousness that comes from the law

But it’s a righteousness that comes from God, and all I have to do is have faith that He is going to do this!

What a great deal!

But in order to do this, I have to be willing to share in his sufferings.

I have to become like him in his death.

I have to have that kind of submission, that kind of lack of concern for my own life and desire to maintian my own way of living

I have to give up everything for the glory of the Father, just as Jesus did.

“That by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead”

Paul says, “Anything is worth it for the sake of knowing the resurrection power of Jesus like this!”

This is both now and future.

Paul says in Ephesians 2 that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins and were by nature children of wrath.

But God (two of the grreatest words in the Bible) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...”

Folks, this is now!

Because of God’s rich mercy, if you have faith in what Jesus has done, has brought you back from the dead and has raised you up with Christ.

And right now, you are positionally seated with Christ in the heavenly places!

This is knowing the power of the resurrection! And if you aren’t experiencing this right now, may the Holy Spirit reveal this truth to your hearts and my heart.

And we look forward to that great day when we will be raised from the dead and given new bodies

And we will forever be with Him.

Church, may we “Conhecer” the power of His resurrection. Not just “saber” that there is such a thing, but truly KNOW this power by faith and be experience!