Philippians 3:10-11
“To Know Christ And Become Like Him”
INTRO: We’ve never been a big pet family—but few years ago
got two kittens.
Watching those kittens gave us new
appreciation for two sayings.
First saying is “As playful
as a kitten.”
Kittens play. One of the funniest things is to watch one of
them ambush other.
One will see the other coming—crouch down
just like lion—when pass, spring.
Growl and kick—then they do
it all over again.
Or just throw them a wadded up piece of
paper—
play with it, bat
it around over and over.
Second saying we grew to
appreciate is “chasing his tail.”
Kittens really do chase their own tails.
Laying there, tail
twitching—get this look in eye—go around and around.
Then they catch it—chew on it
for a minute—but that doesn’t hold attention.
Let go, tail starts twitching again—And they’re off, chasing it again—
Around and around they go.
It’s funny to see a kitten do that—but when say a person is “chasing his tail”
that’s not
funny. Means life is full of futility.
Pursuing something with all
might—not getting anywhere.
When they get it, not all cracked up to be—
so off they are on
another chase—around in circles.
Earlier in this letter Paul
describes what he was chasing in the first part of his life.
He wanted the status and security that came
from having
all the right
connections, the right education,
and complete
commitment to a religious and political cause.
That was
Paul’s pursuit—chased it without question—complete sincerity and zeal.
And he achieved it. All his personal goals were met.
He used his Jewish pedigree
to greatest advantage,
he got the best and
most prestigious academic credentials—Gamaliel.
he was recognized
as an up and coming leader in his religious/political party.
If anyone had reason to
boast, I had more.
But there came a point in his
life where realized that this was all chasing his tail.
That’s not the way Paul put it.
He said that he encountered
something so great that it made him realize
that all these
things he had devoted his life to getting were rubbish.
Those were his words: “I consider them rubbish.”
Old King James Version
more colorful.
“I do count them but dung.”
What became the new pursuit
of Paul’s life?
“I want to know Christ.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a
sermon on this passage—
his sermon title
was “Paul’s Great Ambition”
That’s exactly what these
verses are.
Paul’s great ambition. New pursuit of Paul’s life. Knowing Christ.
Over and over the Bible says
that the most important thing is to know God—
not just know about
Him, but to know Him personally.
Jeremiah 9
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man
boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man
boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he
understands and knows me,
Knowing Lord more important
than wisdom, strength or riches—
Those are the three big things people make
their ambition.
Be smart.
Be physically gifted strength, talent, beauty. Be wealthy.
But Lord says that none of
those are as important as knowing Him.
That’s exactly what Paul came to realize. Achieved goals, but
rubbish.
Great
passage for Easter. Especially as we ponder Psalm 22.
Did you notice how Paul connects knowing
Christ with the events of Easter—
I want to know Christ—power
of resurrection, fellowship of sufferings.
Easter Sunday is a perfect
day, probably best day to ask yourself—
what is my great
ambition? What am I chasing?
Do I want to know Jesus
Christ above everything else—or is he way down list?
Look at this passage—three
great blessings that come from knowing Christ.
Nothing else you chase in life can give you
these things—only Christ.
Want this to be an encouragement
to you who do want to know Christ—
to keep on wanting
to know him more, growing closer to Him.
For those of you whose great
ambition is something else—
hope this shows you
what you are missing. Christ alone can
satisfy longings.
MP#1
The first great blessing of knowing Christ is power to change.
Paul says that he wants to
know Christ and the power of His resurrection.
Significant that Paul doest say he wants
power—
wants to know power
he has by knowing Christ, refers to as resurrection power.
What is the power of Christ’s
resurrection?
You know the story. Jesus’ body was broken on the cross.
Life crushed out of it by Roman nails and
spear.
Then is his lifeless body was
taken down, wrapped in shroud, put in tomb.
But early in the morning, on first day of
week—
by the power of the
Spirit of God he was made alive again. Rose from dead.
The unique and powerful thing
about Jesus’ resurrection—
was that his body
was not made alive as it had been—it was change, transformed.
Jesus
was made alive in a way that put Him beyond power of death forever.
He was different, he was glorious.
Knowing Christ means that the
power of his resurrection comes into your life.
Same Spirit who made Jesus alive,
transformed Him is in you.
That resurrection power gives
you the power for real change.
The Holy Spirit takes the dead things in your
life, makes new.
You begin to experience moral and spiritual
transformation.
2 Peter put it this way:
His divine power has given us
everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of Him who called us.
There is nothing else that
you can chase in life that will give you real power
to change from
inside out. What about the big three in
Jeremiah’s list:
Wisdom, strength and
riches. External
change, no spiritual transformation.
Numerous other things people
run after in life—none give power to change—
like knowing Christ
does—because knowing him means
experience of his
resurrection power.
Many dramatic examples of
lives changed by resurrection power
that comes from
knowing Christ.
Let me tell you a story
that’s not so dramatic.
This will seem small—but true example of
this power to change.
There was a student in
seminary with me—he very touchy, feelings hurt easily.
We walked on eggshells around him.
Any criticism, perceived criticism made him
withdraw.
I lost track of him after
graduation but ran into him several years later.
Telling me about his church, man in church—
powerful in church,
community—who had become his critic.
Said and did things against
him. I was thinking—OK, Jim, how did you
handle?
As he was telling me this
story, smiling, even laughing—lightness uncharacteristic.
Told me how he was praying for this
man. Expressed genuine
concern for him.
I wondered—where’s the old touchiness? Where are
the easily hurt feelings?
Lord had taken that dead area
in his life—old touchiness, old self-centeredness—
that made him
withdraw from people to protect himself—
transformed it into
something different never had—concern for critical person.
This is the reason—in the
years since I had known him, obvious that the great
ambition of his
life had been to know Christ—experienced resurrection power.
What if that hadn’t been his
ambition?
What if he had chased other things in
response to his touchiness?
What if he had chased the perfect church,
people who only approved—
even if he found
such a place—no transforming power.
What are the dead things in
your life?
Bitterness? Bitter at a person who
robbed you of dreams for happy life?
Lots of things you could pursue to deal with
that bitterness.
Try to distract self from it by shopping. Ignore the person, cut out of emotions.
Those strategies might
work. But wouldn’t be
real change.
Or, could make knowing Christ
your goal—resurrection power.
Where there was once bitterness—start to
discover forgiveness.
Where there was self-pity—start to discover
gratitude.
Where there was discontent—start to discover
contentment.
Easter Sunday: As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ—
what a perfect time
to make this your ambition—to know Christ—
and the power of
his resurrection.
I’m going to quit relying on
all the other strategies I have for dealing
with dead areas of life—bitterness,
self-pity, discontent—seek to know Christ.
MP#2
The second great blessing of knowing Christ is comfort in
suffering.
If you know Christ’s
resurrection power,
he starts to
transform you morally and spiritually—
That must mean that life becomes less and
less painful—suffer less. Right?
Some people do teach
that.
Teach or imply that becoming a Christian is
stepping into a magic circle—
if you just have
enough faith, won’t suffer—but not true.
Paul says that knowing Christ
is the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.
Paul starts with the power of Christ’s
resurrection—then goes back to the cross.
You can’t celebrate Easter
rightly without remembering what happened
on Good Friday.
Before
Communion choir and congregation going to sing end of Psalm 22.
Ends on a victorious note. God hears cry of servant and saves him,
honors him.
But how did Psalm 22 start? With suffering. My God, my God.
Crucifixion was the
culmination of a ministry marked by opposition and betrayal.
Christ’s whole life on earth before His
resurrection called his humiliation.
So to know Christ is to know
a man who suffered.
He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief, as Isaiah put it.
So when you make it your ambition
to know Christ—
it is not that you
will suffer less, but as Paul says—
you will know the
fellowship of sharing in His sufferings.
What does this mean: Fellowship of sharing in his sufferings?
Has a specific meaning and a general
meaning.
Specific meaning is that in
this life there will be times
you will suffer
because you know Christ.
Very obvious example would be
persecution—Afghan Abdul Rahman.
Much milder forms—you make a decision or
take a stand or say something—
because of your
loyalty to Christ—negative repercussions in family, school.
Paul is saying there is a
special fellowship with Christ in this kind of suffering.
But there is also a general
meaning.
For the person who makes it his ambition to
know Christ—
there will be
comfort in any suffering, no matter what the cause.
Essence of that comfort will
be that you know Jesus is with you.
There will be a fellowship with Him, an
intimacy, awareness of His presence.
Never forget story an elderly
widow in church in
She was a very quiet, humble woman.
While she was grieving her
husband’s death, someone gave her
someone gave her
Catherine Marshall’s book, “Meeting God At Every Turn.”
Catherine Marshall was the
wife of Peter Marshall—Chaplain of US Senate.
Catherine herself was widowed when Peter
died at age 46, wrote book afterwards.
So she started to read the
book. All alone in her
condo.
Catherine Marshall so poignantly expressed her
loss of husband,
parts so painful
for me to read, I would throw book on floor and weep.
But the Lord was there, and every
time I would be overwhelmed,
throw book on the
floor, He would urge me to pick it up and keep reading.
And he used that book to
comfort me.
Here’s the thing that is most
important about her story—
Before her husband’s death,
her ambition was to know Christ.
So that when suffering came,
she was able to
experience fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.
If knowing Christ is not your
great ambition—
if your life is
fine and basically trouble-free, things going well,
and so many other
things keep you busy—
and you are chasing
this plan and that plan.
And you say, yes, I want to
know Christ better but you can barely find
any time to get to
know him through the ways he has set up for
that to
happen. Through times
of quiet prayer.
Through times of pondering
his life and words—
then what will
happen when suffering comes?
What will probably happen is
that instead of sensing his presence,
He will seem more like a doctrinal concept
to you. being a palpable
presence,
It’s Easter Sunday: As we look back at Christ’s crucifixion, life
of suffering—
What a perfect time to make it your great
ambition to know Him.
and the fellowship
of sharing in his sufferings.
I want to know the man who
suffered on the cross.
MP#3
The third great blessing of knowing Christ is hope for the
future.
What is the Christians’ hope
for the future?
Paul says that it is the resurrection from
the dead.
When believers die their
souls go to heaven, bodies are buried.
But that is not the end. Not destined to live as spirits in heaven
forever.
The great hope, the great promise is the
resurrection.
On the day of resurrection
all who have died in sins will be raised by the bare
command of
God. They will be raised as they died, same condition.
The will be raise for judgment.
But all who have died in
Christ will be raised by the resurrection power of Christ.
Holy Spirit who raised Jesus, who is living
in you, will raise you by power.
So the body that is raised will be
transformed as Jesus’ body was.
Your new body will be
impervious to death. Glorified.
You will be raised for your inheritance
which is the new heavens and new earth.
This world transformed by Christ as the home
for his people.
Look at the way Paul
describes it in verses 20 and 21 of this chapter:
20 But our
citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord
Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring
everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will
be like his glorious body.
Reminds me of one of my
favorite lines from CS Lewis that I manage
to slip in almost
every Easter:
He says that the bodies we
have now are like Shetland ponies—
Christ’s risen body like a winged horse,
like Pegasus.
Plans for us are not that we
no longer have horses—
but that we get
horses like Christ.
Glorified bodies to suit our new home.
But what does Paul mean when
he says: Becoming like him in death—
and so somehow to
attain to the resurrection from the dead?
That “somehow” sounds like he
is doubtful. Will it happen?
Will I be resurrected?
Can’t be doubt—because Paul
is so certain everywhere else in his writings—
just like he is at the end of this chapter. So what is he saying here?
What does this “and so
somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead” mean?
Actually an
expression of certainty and hope.
Paul is saying that he knows Christ, knows
certainty of resurrection—
the only thing he
doesn’t know is what is going to happen in between.
He has no idea what tomorrow
will hold—but so what—he knows future.
Ran across
a sermon by an old Baptist preacher.
Imagines Paul elaborating on this
point:
“I know I shall rise from the
dead and see Jesus. I have no doubts
about that, but I’ve no idea what’s going to happen between now and then, and
thank God I don’t. I don’t want to
know. Perhaps at my trial before Caesar
I will be exonerated and given my freedom so that for many years, until my old
age, I shall preach Christ. That may be
my route to death and resurrection. Or
tomorrow I may be summoned to appear before Caesar and found guilty and put to
death. That may be my route to the
resurrection. Somehow or other, I shall
attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
That kind of hope enables you
to face every day with confidence.
What will happen today? What will happen this year?
You have no idea.
All your plans and ambitions
could be dashed.
Businesses fail, marriages fail, health
fails—
this world is one
of change and decay.
That is one reason why Paul
could look at all he chased in first part of life—
and say it’s
rubbish—I consider it dung—
because how can our
plans and ambitions stand against uncertainties of life?
But Christ never
changes. Promises never change.
Hope of the resurrection is that one day we
will be like Christ.
Somehow we’re going to get there. We can leave that in his wise hands.
So on this Easter
Sunday—ponder not just Christ’s death and resurrection—
but what that means
for the future—
what a perfect time
to make it your ambition to know Him—
and no longer put your hopes in things that change and
fail.