Pastor's Power Points

The Fellowship of His Sufferings

…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…

Phil.3:10

The beginning point of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus is when the sinner is united with Christ in His death.  As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6:3). The believing sinner who was dead in sin – alienated from God, is placed into union with Christ in His death. Christ died for that sinner nearly two millennia ago, but not until that sinner surrenders himself (his human rebellion and independence authored by Satan, handed down through the Adamic nature) in faith (obedience from the heart to what God has revealed) does he become actually identified with Christ’s death.  The spectrum of time is the view from human perspective. God, however, sees and has known all of this all at once. 

When the believing sinner is placed into union with Christ’s death (he became sin for us and was separated from the Father) then he is identified by Christ’s death (perfect sacrifice) before the eternal Creator who sovereignly authored the redemption of mankind. When the believer is identified by Christ’s death before the Father then his condition is altered by moving from condemnation to justification; from alienation to reconciliation.  This is because Christ’s death represents the demand of God’s holiness (separated from sin) and the compulsion of His love to draw mankind to Himself.

Unless the seed wants to remain alone in human independence and rebellion (alienated), it must die. But when it dies (surrendered in faith) then life obtains (John 12:24-25).  The apostle Paul, therefore, describes his union with Christ’s death by stating:  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”  Only at this point can the believer experience the power of His resurrection in order to walk in newness of life because his condition is new – life can now grow, and his relationship with his past (alienation – “death”) is also changed in that it no longer defines him and is powerless over him.