Scripture Reading: Phil. 3:10, 12-14; John 11:25; Acts 2:24; 2 Cor. 1:8-9; Rev. 1:17b-18; 2:8
Ⅰ
Paul aspired to know Christ—Phil. 3:10:
A
In the book of Philippians, the central matter is the subjective knowledge and experience of Christ—2:2, 5; 3:7-10; 4:10, 13.
B
To have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ in Philippians 3:8 is by revelation, but to know Him in verse 10 is by experience.
C
The excellency of the knowledge of Christ is the excellency of Christ realized by us—v. 8.
D
Paul first received the revelation of Christ, then sought the experience of Christ—to know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way.
E
The word know in Philippians 3:10 is equal to experience:
１
To know Christ means to experience Him, to enjoy Him, to participate in Him, and to partake of Him—vv. 9-10.
２
To know Christ is thus to apprehend Him by experiencing Him—v. 8.
F
To know Christ is not merely to have the knowledge concerning Him but to gain His very person—v. 8; 2 Cor. 2:10; cf. Col. 2:9, 16-17:
１
To gain something requires the paying of a price—Phil. 3:7-8.
２
To gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of His unsearchable riches by paying a price—Eph. 3:8; cf. Rev. 3:18.
３
The Christian life is a life of gaining Christ in His all-inclusiveness—Eph. 3:8:
ａ
Even though Paul had experienced and gained Christ tremendously, he did not consider that he had experienced Him in full or gained Him to the uttermost—Phil. 3:12.
ｂ
Paul was still advancing toward the goal—the gaining of Christ to the fullest extent—vv. 12-14.
４
In order to gain Christ to the fullest extent, Paul not only forsook his experience in Judaism but also would not linger in his past experiences of Christ—vv. 7-8, 13:
ａ
Not to forget but to linger in our past experiences, however genuine they were, frustrates our further pursuing of Christ—v. 13; Heb. 6:1a.
ｂ
Because Christ is unsearchably rich, and there is a vast territory of His riches to be possessed, Paul was stretching out to reach the farthest extent of this territory—Eph. 3:8; Phil. 3:13.
G
To know Christ is a result of being found in Him—vv. 9-10:
１
The righteousness “which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith,” caused Paul to know Christ—v. 9.
２
The righteousness that we work out by our own effort does not cause us to know Christ; the more we do by our own effort, the less we know Christ—v. 9a.
Ⅱ
Paul aspired to know and experience the power of Christ's resurrection—v. 10:
A
The power of Christ's resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead—Eph. 1:19-20.
B
Christ Himself is resurrection—John 11:25:
１
“I am the First and the Last and the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever; and I have the keys of death and of Hades”—Rev. 1:17b-18:
ａ
Because of the fall, death came in and is now working to gather everyone into Hades.
ｂ
The keys of death and of Hades are in the hand of our Savior, who died and was resurrected—v. 18.
２
“These things says the First and the Last, who became dead and lived again”—2:8:
ａ
Lived again refers to resurrection.
ｂ
The Lord suffered death and lived again; He entered into death, but death could not hold Him because He is the resurrection—Acts 2:24; John 11:25.
ｃ
Christ went into Hades, passed through death, overcame death, and came out of death triumphantly; this is resurrection—cf. 1 Pet. 3:18-22.
３
Resurrection means that a man—our Lord Jesus—has broken through the barriers, even the greatest barrier of all—death—Acts 2:24; Eph. 1:19-20:
ａ
The Lord's resurrection broke all the barriers of the natural realm; thus, Jesus is no longer bound by anything, including space and time—cf. John 7:6-8.
ｂ
Our biggest limitations are space and time, but these two things cannot limit the resurrected Christ.
ｃ
Death is the greatest limitation, but resurrection has conquered death; therefore, resurrection is the greatest power of all—Phil. 3:10; Eph. 1:19-20.
C
Resurrection is life that overcomes death without being damaged or injured by death—John 11:25; Rev. 1:17b-18; 2:8:
１
Death is powerless to do anything with resurrection life—Acts 2:24.
２
Death can inflict all kinds of damage on other forms of life; only one kind of life cannot be hurt by death, and this is resurrection life—John 11:25; Phil. 3:10:
ａ
Resurrection is life that passes through death and cannot be held by it.
ｂ
According to the full revelation of the Scriptures, God Himself is the resurrection life—Rom. 4:17.
D
The Spirit is the reality of Christ's resurrection and its power—8:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 John 5:6:
１
In order to experience the resurrection life of Christ, we need to see that in resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b.
２
The highest definition of resurrection is that it is the process by which Christ, the last Adam, became the life-giving Spirit.
３
Christ's resurrection was His transfiguration into the life-giving Spirit in order to enter into His believers—v. 45b; John 20:22.
E
The principle of resurrection is that the natural life is killed and that the divine life rises up in its place—2 Cor. 1:8-9:
１
That which passes through death and still remains is resurrection—Rev. 2:8.
２
Resurrection is something that has come out of death and that is beyond the natural realm—Acts 2:24.
３
Resurrection means that no event or circumstance can cause us, who have the resurrection life of Christ, to be held down—2 Cor. 1:8-9.
４
To be in resurrection means that our natural life is crucified and that the God-created part of our being is uplifted in resurrection to be one with Christ in resurrection—Rom. 6:4-6.
５
When we do not live by our natural life but live by the divine life within us, we are in resurrection—John 6:57; Rom. 8:11.