To know the power of his resurrection ...
I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 3:10-14 NLT
This passage is so full that I thought that I would take two days to share about it. The first thing that I see in it is the partnership between power and suffering. In these verses Paul indicates that there is no opportunity for resurrection power apart from the type of suffering that Christ experienced on the cross. It makes you wonder why any of us would desire "to know the power of his resurrection". Knowing that, how many if us would sign up for that power?
Even more interesting is that Paul considers that he has not laid hold of this resurrection power. The one who sits imprisoned for proclaiming Christ feels that he is lacking. The one who has been beaten countless times for his faith feels that he must still press on for a power that he does not possess. Does this not humble every part of you? Knowing this, can you ever feel good about your spiritual progress? I cannot but I can, with Paul, press on toward the goal.
Help us to become like you Lord. Help us to know your resurrection power in our sufferings.
I consider them garbage ...
As for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. -Philippians 3:6-9 NLT
Can you feel the remorse in Paul's words as he speaks of considering his Pharisaical leadership as loss? As he looks back he remembers how his zeal for the Mosaic Law caused him to persecute those who believed in Jesus Christ. Perhaps, as he sat in chains, he saw images of those that he put in chains flash before his mind as he looked back? Interesting how the things that we treasure most can become garbage as we compare them with knowing Jesus.
Interesting how he compares two means of righteousness. On one hand he remembers the days when he believed that righteousness was based on obeying the law of Moses. Many today still believe that being right with God is all about following the rules. Paul calls that idea "garbage" as he proceeds to speak of "the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith." This idea makes no sense to our heads. How could it? Righteousness is an issue of the heart.
Transform our thinking Lord. Help us to reject the self-righteousness that comes from following the rules.
Put no confidence in the flesh ...
Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh — though I myself have reasons for such confidence. -Philippians 3:2-4 NLT
When Paul says that we are people who "put no confidence in the flesh" he is speaking directly to the false notion that the Jews were part of God's elect simply because of their ethnicity. In just a few words he dispels the idea that his fleshly relatives had some sort of a privileged position with God simply because they were circumcised when they were young. These days some might substitute having confidence in their infant baptism for confidence in circumcision.
The myth of salvation through ethnicity was fully dispelled when God revealed to Peter in Acts 10 that non-Jews are not unclean. Peter responded to this revelation by saying "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right." Paul and Peter both understood that salvation is an issue of faith and not ethnicity or tradition. We who serve God by his Spirit boast in Christ Jesus alone.
Help us to be aware Lord. Teach us to put no confidence in ourselves or the religious things that we do.
Work hard ... God is working in you ...
Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. -Philippians 2:12-15 NLT
There is a divine cooperation at work in those who are believers in Christ. Paul says it plainly here: work hard, for God is working in you. Sometimes I do not like the idea that kingdom living is a partnership where God leads and we follow. I sometimes wish that the choice was sometimes not so hard. For example, who has not struggled doing everything without complaining and arguing or living innocent lives? This kind of living requires the Holy Spirit's work in our heart.
Yet it is needful to say that we work out our salvation but we do not work for it. Saying yes to Jesus has never been about working for salvation. Receiving a gift has never been considered work for the recipient. Who has ever boasted about how they worked for that birthday gift simply because they cashed a check or used a gift card? Yet a gift is not a gift unless one has the power to refuse it. The gift of salvation can be refused but how glorious it is when we say yes.
Thank you Lord for the gift of salvation. Help us to live lives that reflect the bright light of salvation.
The name above all other names ...
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. -Philippians 2:9-11 NLT
The exaltation of Jesus Christ speaks to me about the eternal aspect of humility - he who humbled himself on earth by taking on human flesh is forever exalted in heaven. Divine exaltation requires divine humility. We are called to this kind of humility. It is a matter of perspective. We cannot confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and then walk in a prideful fashion. We must live humbly acknowledging that that everything we have is rooted in divine providence and sovereignty.
The phrase "name above all other names" informs us of the divine nature of Jesus Christ. No other name can match this name - humans names cannot. Demonic and angelic ones bow to that name as well. The Greek work kurios is translated Lord and tells us of Jesus' full deity as God the Son - the Father does not want us to bow our knees to one who is not His equal. It is again a matter of bowing to Jesus in humility knowing who he is and who we are.
In unison with believers all over the world we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Be glorified in our lives today Lord.
He took the humble position ...
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. -Philippians 2:5-8 NLT
These words break me and inspire me. When I compare my attitude to that of Jesus I find myself severely lacking. It is impossible for us to comprehend what it was like for Christ to lay aside eternity and enter a finite existence. It has been compared to a human being being born as an ant, living as an ant and giving their life so that other ants might live. Even that scenario comes up short. I cannot image how Jesus humbled himself as a human his whole life.
The phrase "he took the humble position of a slave" teaches us what real humility looks like. It is hard for many of us in America to understand what it is like to be a slave. Yet how many of us have worked in jobs that we hated or have suffered in abusive relationships. These images begin to describe the humility of Christ Jesus as he walked amongst us and was lastly condemned to a cruel death. Yet who can understand trading a royal crown for one made of thorns?
We are in need of humility Lord. Teach us to walk as slaves. Help us to embrace the crown of thorns.
The same attitude that Christ Jesus had ...
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. [Philippians 2:3-5 NLT]
The heart of humility is not so much our opinion of ourselves but our opinion about others. Humility is not a narcissistic quest to debase ourselves in some monastic self-flagellating fashion but an attitude that sees ourselves in the context of something greater. A humble person is willing to put themselves on the line for others. There is no greater example of this than the incarnation, life and death of God the Son. On the cross Jesus showed us personified humility.
I think that Mother Teresa was a humble person. Here is something that she once said: "Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work." She saw humility as something more than an attitude. Teresa of Calcutta set an example for all of us as she touched others with the loving hands of Christ. This is the kind of humility that changes the world.
Transform us dear Lord. We do not possess humility. Help us to not to be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.
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