BULLETIN BOARD
09
Jan '21
The Goal of the Christian Life- Part 2
09
Jan '21
January 10, 2021-Sermon Notes
“The Goal of the Christian Life,” Part 2
Philippians 3:10-11
“My goal is to know Him (Christ) and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11, CSB).
The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will become different.
1. To be like Christ requires knowing the power of His resurrection (v. 10).
God’s resurrection power is required to raise believers from spiritual death to spiritual life.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He has raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6, CSB).
We are spiritually blind until God opens our eyes by His mighty resurrection power.
“I am sending you to them (the Gentiles) to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in Me (Acts 26:18, CSB).
God’s resurrection power rescues us from Satan’s domain and transfers us to Christ’s kingdom.
“He (God) has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves” (Col. 1:13, CSB).
Resurrection power is necessary to sustain believers as we walk in victory over sin.
Paul prays for the Ephesians to know “what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of His strength. He exercised this power in Christ by raising Him from the dead…” (Eph. 1:19-20, CSB).
Resurrection power is necessary to sustain believers as we walk in victory over sin.
Paul prays that God “may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:16-17, CSB.)
The Holy Spirit indwells every believer to give us power over indwelling sin.
“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you” (Rom. 8:11, CSB).
2. To be like Christ requires knowing the fellowship of His sufferings (v. 10).
We must learn to entrust our souls to a faithful Creator in times of suffering, continuing to do what is right (1 Pet. 4:19; 2:21-23; Rom. 8:17-25).
Jesus “learned obedience from what He suffered” (Heb. 5:8, CSB).
“Fellowship” points to closeness or intimacy.
“Don’t be afraid but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10, CSB).
3. To be like Christ requires being conformed to His death (v. 10).
“In Christ” means, to be identified with Him in His death and resurrection.
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20, CSB).
Scripture exhorts us to “put to death what belongs to your earthly nature” (Col. 3:5; also,
Rom. 6:1-11).
Jesus always lived by denying temptations to live in His own power or for His own ends.
“Whoever wants to follow after Me must deny self and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Lk. 9:23).
4. To be like Christ will be realized in the resurrection from the dead (v. 11).
“…assuming that I will somehow I may attain to the out-resurrection from among the dead ones” (Phil. 3:11, literal).
Two views:
1. Paul is expressing his hope that he will fully realize what it means in this life to experience the resurrection life of Christ being lived out fully through him.
The words “assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from the dead” reflects Paul’s humility and recognition of the weakness of his flesh.
2. Paul is referring to the future resurrection of the righteous at the return of Christ, when our mortal bodies will be transformed into the likeness of Christ’s resurrection body, free from all sin.
The words “assuming I will somehow reach the resurrection from the dead” refer to the manner in which Paul would attain the resurrection, whether he would be alive or dead when Christ returns.
One day, we will be like Jesus Christ, totally apart from sin, sharing in His glory throughout eternity (Rom. 8:17-21, 30; 9:23).
“We know that when He (Christ) appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure”
(1 John 3:2, 3, CSB).
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