Bible League: Living His Word . . . that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. . .For the Apostle Paul, being a Christian means having an intimate, personal relationship to Jesus Christ. Christians are so closely connected to Jesus that he could say we have been "buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Thus, when Paul says that he wants to know Christ, it is not just an intellectual knowledge of who He was and what He did; it is to know what it means to be spiritually identified with Him at the most fundamental level. In our verse for today there are three aspects to this knowledge of Christ. First, he wants to know the power of Christ's resurrection. In this context, to know the power of Christ's resurrection does not refer primarily to the resurrection of our bodies that will occur when Christ returns, but to our spiritual resurrection from the deadness of sin into the life of righteousness through Christ. This resurrection power is a spiritual power that enables Christians to live and walk in newness of life in every area of life. We used to be spiritually dead, but now we are spiritually alive (Colossians 2:13). Second, he wants to share Christ's sufferings. This does not mean that Paul wants suffering to come his way, but when suffering comes to go through it the way Christ went through it. The disciple who has been spiritually resurrected willingly does what Christ said a disciple should do: "deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). To know Christ is to also know what it means to suffer in order to fulfill the call of God. Finally, Paul wants to become like Him in His death. Paul is not saying that he wants martyrdom, but to go through it the way Christ went through it if it happens. The disciple who has been spiritually resurrected willingly goes through the ultimate act of surrender to God's call on his life should that be necessary. You have not just been buried with Christ. You have also been raised with Him. Today, rise up through the newness of life you have in Him, no matter what comes your way. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzra 6, 7, 8 Ezra 6 -- Decree of Darius; Temple Work Resumed; Dedication of the Temple; Passover Observed NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezra 7 -- Ezra Journeys to Jerusalem, Commissed by Artaxerxes NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezra 8 -- The Companions of Ezra; Treasure Delivered to the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 21 John 21 -- The Miraculous Catch at the Sea of Galilee; "Feed my Sheep" NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.Insight Jesus performed some miracles as signs of his identity. He used other miracles to teach important truths. But here we read that he healed people because he “had compassion on them.” Jesus was, and is, a loving, caring, and feeling person. Challenge When you are suffering, remember that Jesus hurts with you. He has compassion on you. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord.The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a recognized truth. The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most men, that no two words in their language stand further apart than "holiness" and "delight." But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts, find that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessednesses, do the saints discover in their Lord, that so far from serving him from custom, they would follow him though all the world cast out his name as evil. We fear not God because of any compulsion; our faith is no fetter, our profession is no bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight. Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold. "'Tis when we taste thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below." Daily Light on the Daily Path 2 Corinthians 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 1 Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 2 Timothy 2:11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; Romans 8:17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. Hebrews 6:17,18 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, • so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 2 Thessalonians 2:16,17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, • comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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