Life and Death

Life and Death

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to His death,,,” Philippians 3:10.

Most of us understand the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering even if we do not want to experience them, well the suffering part for sure.

We all want the power of His resurrection working out in our life now, we want the resurrection life of Christ while we live this life. Many of us understand the fellowship of His suffering part of which is the testing, trials and tribulations of life as a Christian. Reject by family, friends and the world even as Christ experienced it is also part of the suffering. People calling our transformed life and the works of GOD that we do as stupid and evil, etc.

To me the crux of this passage is being conformed to His death, in the King James it says unto, to me this has a deeper meaning. In modern English the word to has a pretty generic meaning, we used to have two words, to and too. To was a designation or destination like, “Take me to the store.” Too meant to be included like also, “When I went to the store my wife went too.” All that to say that unto has a greater meaning today than to. I want to be included in His death, I don’t just want to understand what it means for my life I want to experience His death.

How do we do that? How do we experience Jesus’ death? The answer is in the Gospels! Jesus said several times, “Take up your cross.” A couple of times He included, “..and follow Me.”, He made these statements to the Jews in general and to His disciples specifically. He also said a couple of times, “If you save your life you will lose it and if you lose your life for My sake you will live.”, again He made these statements to both the Jews in general and specifically to His disciples.

So what was Jesus telling us that Paul stated he desired to do? Become a Christian, get crucified and die? Not in a physically literal sense! But, in a practically literal sense! Just like Jesus who left His glory as GOD to be born as a man and live a natural physical human life, He faced temptation just as we do, He resisted sin just as we are supposed too, Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing and He only said what He heard the Father saying. When once as a man when He struggled with the suffering He faced He called out to His Father, “If it is possible let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless not My will but Your’s be done.” Jesus did what He taught us to do, He did the will of His Father over what He preferred knowing the physical, emotional and spiritual suffering that He was about to experience!

When the scriptures say, “Obedience is better that sacrifice.”, this is what it means. Yet sometimes obedience is sacrifice, even unto death, as it says in Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony and not loving their lives over death.” The same thing that Paul was saying to the Philippians, to experience the power of Jesus’ resurrection you must participate in His suffering and be fully conformed to His death.

The death of self to your own physical, emotional and spiritual desires and needs; death of self to what the world (family, society, culture, religion) says and offers physically, emotionally and spiritually, death of self to everything that is not what GOD is doing and saying to us!

How do we know what GOD is doing and saying? By reading and studying His word, the Bible, to humanity everyday; by spending time waiting on Him (in His presence) worshiping, praying and listening everyday; by asking His Holy Spirit who lives in us as born again believers in Jesus Christ to remind and teach us everything that Jesus said; by asking Him for His wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment; by seeking His gifts of the Spirit (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits, diverse tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healing, prophecy and faith ) and His Spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance) in our life.

When we are fully yielded to Him it is easier to live the life He formed, called and gifted us to live (His will) over the life of our desires (our will).

Study Philippians 3 and the Gospels, do a word search on obedience is better than sacrifice you will find that Jesus, Moses, David, several prophets, and Paul said it so it must be important.