Texts: 1Cor. 15:17-19,
Philippians 3:4-11
1Cor.
15:17-19:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith
is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in
Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
Philippians 3:4-11
4 Though I might also have confidence in
the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the
flesh, I more:
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as
touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the
church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, those
I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of
his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable
unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead.
Introduction:
- There is a purpose for which Christ
rose from the dead, and there is a power made available to us through His
resurrection.
- We need to know both the purpose and the power for us to enjoy
maximally our relationship with God with the accompanying benefits in this
world and in the world to come.
"I want to know Christ. I want
to know the power of his resurrection."
This is Paul's primary desire,
this is what Paul wants more than anything else in this life:
To know the living, the resurrected
Christ, and to know the power associated with that resurrection.
- Furthermore, if he is not raised from
the dead, then he has no power today. He is dead. His words might have some
influence -- but he himself has no power.
The resurrection is so
central to Christians:
- Christianity is not a religion based on abstract
principles.
- Christianity is a relationship with a living Savior, a Savior we
can know, a Savior who infuses our life and empowers us, who transforms us into
his likeness.
But what does Paul mean when he says
he wants to know Christ?
And what is this power of his resurrection?
KNOWING CHRIST
- First of all, what does "knowing
Christ" mean?
- Knowing God is more important than
wisdom, or strength, or riches.
Jesus himself, on the night prior to his death,
prays for his followers, saying:
Now this is eternal life: that they may
know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3).
- Our knowledge of him leads to his
empowering us with everything we need for life and godliness.
We know also that the Son of God has
come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And
we are in him who is true-- even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God
and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)
THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
- Note that Paul does
not ask God for more power. Instead, he asks God that he might know the
resurrection power he already has.
All Christians have this power; all
Christians have access to this incomparably great power, this resurrection
power. Our task is to tap into it.
Let us consider five aspects of this
power which includes:
- Power to Be forgiven from sin;
- Power to Overcome sin;
- Power to Be God's ambassadors;
- Power to be conformed to Christ's likeness
- Power to overcome Satan and his kingdom
Let us look at them in details:
(1) The Power to Have Sins Forgiven:
- Sin has a hold on all of us.
- Without
God, we are slaves to sin.
- But Christ, through his death and resurrection,
frees us from the power of sin.
He was delivered over to death because
of our sins, and raised to life because of our justification (Rom. 4:25)
- Christ died as the necessary
sacrifice for our sins. But his being raised to life, his resurrection is
absolutely vital!
- But the very fact of the resurrection
shows once and for all that Jesus' sacrifice is all that is necessary to pay
the penalty for my sin, for yours.
- Whenever Satan accuses us -- saying,
"God could never forgive you for what you have done -- Think how terrible
you are!" -- we can say, "Jesus rose from the dead! Jesus rose from
the dead because I am justified; having believed in Jesus, I am righteous in
God's eyes." That is the power of the resurrection.
(2) The Power to Conquer Sin
- The resurrection power doesn't end
with our forgiveness. Christ's resurrection also empowers us to conquer sin in
our lives.
"put on the new self, created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness". (Eph. 4:24)
- In Christ we are a new creation.
- His
Spirit lives within us.
- We have been renewed, we have a new self -- and the
purpose of that new self is to be conformed to the image of Christ, to become
like him: truly righteous, truly holy -- to become what God intends humans to
be!
- God gives us the power to break those
habits -- but we must first know we have the power!
(3) The Power to Be God's Agent
- But Christianity is not just about
forgiveness and overcoming sin. Christianity is not simply a solution to our
problems. God has a positive purpose in our salvation. He has determined that
we are to be his agents of change in the world.
- God empowers us not only to defeat
sin but also to share and display his loving message to the world. Jesus says,
"You are the light of the world." Paul says,
He has committed to us the message of
reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were
making his appeal through us. (2 Cor. 5:19,20)
- God shows his power
by working through us, by working mightily through us, even though we are weak
and unworthy
(4) The Power to Be Conformed to His Likeness
- The resurrection power's
greatest accomplishment is conforming us to the likeness of Christ. Paul says we:
"are being transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Cor. 3:18)
- Into his likeness! Can you imagine
what that means? Think of everything about yourself that you don't like, all
the habits, all the negative characteristics -- the things you have wanted to
change, have tried to change. God will deal with every one of
those. You are being made into a perfect creation -- you are becoming like
Jesus! That is your destiny, Christian -- becoming the perfect bride of Christ,
spotless, blameless, loving, kind, strong -- transformed into his likeness. The
power of the resurrection!
(5) The Power to Overcome the Devil and
his Kingdom
- It was through His death and
resurrection that Jesus was given a name above every other name, and this means
a power above every power. Phil. 2:5-11.
- Jesus gave us this power to tread
upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the devil.
- Knowing this power will make us to
exercise our rightful authority over the powers of darkness and we will not be
afraid of them.
Closing Fact:
- Resurrection is
central to true Christianity.
- The resurrection must be true if we are to know,
to have a relationship with our Savior; the resurrection must be true if we are
to have access to the power which raised Jesus from the dead