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In this message we will continue to consider Christ as the goal of the believers’ pursuit.
Philippians 3:10 says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Paul lived in a condition of having not his own righteousness but the righteousness that is out of God (v. 9), in order to know (to experience) Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
In verse 8 to have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ is by revelation. But to know Him in verse 10 is by experience — to have the experiential knowledge of Him, to experience Him in the full knowledge of Him. Paul first received the revelation of Christ, then sought the experience of Christ — to know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way.
To know Christ is not merely to have the knowledge concerning Him but to gain His person (2 Cor. 2:10). To gain something requires the paying of a price; to gain Christ is to experience, enjoy, and take possession of all His unsearchable riches (Eph. 3:8) by paying a price. Christ has gained us, taken possession of us, that we might gain Him, take possession of Him (Phil. 3:12).
We need to know Christ by enjoying Him, experiencing Him, being one with Him, and having Him live within us and walk with us. In this way we know Him by both revelation and experience. Eventually, He becomes us, and we become Him.
The power of Christ’s resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead (Eph. 1:19-20). The reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit (Rom. 1:4). To know, to experience, this power requires identification with Christ’s death and conformity to it. Death is the base of resurrection. To experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, we need to live a crucified life, as He did. Our conformity to His death affords the power of His resurrection a base from which to rise up that His divine life may be expressed in us.
Although it is wonderful to enjoy the power of Christ’s resurrection, the power of resurrection is not mainly for our enjoyment. In God’s economy there is no selfish enjoyment. The power of Christ’s resurrection is for the producing and building up of the Body. If we put ourselves aside and remain under the death of the cross, we will enjoy the power of resurrection. Spontaneously, the power of resurrection experienced by us will produce the Body.
The expression the fellowship of His sufferings in verse 10 refers to the participation in Christ’s sufferings (Matt. 20:22-23; Col. 1:24), a necessary condition for the experience of the power of His resurrection (2 Tim. 2:11) by being conformed to His death. Paul was pursuing to know and experience not only the excellency of Christ Himself but also the life power of His resurrection and the participation in His sufferings. With Christ, the sufferings and death came first, followed by the resurrection; with us, the power of His resurrection comes first, followed by the participation in His sufferings and conformity to His death. We first receive the power of His resurrection; then by this power we are enabled to participate in His sufferings and live a crucified life in conformity to His death. Such sufferings are mainly for producing and building up the Body of Christ (Col. 1:24).
Christ’s sufferings are of two categories: those for accomplishing redemption, which were completed by Christ Himself, and those for producing and building the church, which need to be filled up by the apostles and the believers (v. 24). We cannot participate in Christ’s suffering for redemption, but we must take part in the sufferings of Christ for the producing and building up of the Body (cf. Rev. 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; 2 Cor. 1:5-6; 4:12; 6:8-11). Christ as the Lamb of God suffered for redemption (John 1:29); Christ as the grain of wheat suffered for reproducing and building (12:24). The Lord, as a grain of wheat that fell into the ground, lost His soul-life through death that He might release His eternal life in resurrection to the many grains (10:10-11). The one grain did not complete all the sufferings that are needed for the building up of the Body; as the many grains, we must suffer in the same way the one grain suffered (12:24-26). As the many grains, we also must lose our soul-life through death that we may enjoy eternal life in resurrection (v. 25). This is to follow Him that we may serve Him and walk with Him on the way of losing the soul-life and living in resurrection (v. 26). The way for the church to come into being and to increase is not by human glory but by the death of the cross.
In Philippians 3:10 Paul spoke of “being conformed to His death.” This expression indicates that Paul desired to take Christ’s death as the mold of his life. The excellency of the knowledge of Christ, counting all things as loss, gaining Christ, being found in Him, knowing Him, knowing the power of His resurrection, and knowing the fellowship of His sufferings all issue in one thing — being conformed to Christ’s death.
Paul lived a crucified life continually, a life under the cross, just as Christ did in His human living. Through such a life of being molded to Christ’s death, Paul experienced and enjoyed the resurrection power of Christ. The mold of Christ’s death refers to Christ’s experience of continually putting to death His human life that He might live by the life of God (John 6:57). When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He lived a crucified life. By living a crucified life He was alive to God and lived Him. He always put His human life to death so that the divine life within Him could flow out (10:10-11, 17). As He was living, He was also dying — dying to the old creation in order to live a life in the new creation. This is the meaning of “His death” in Philippians 3:10.
Christ’s death is a mold to which we are conformed in much the same way that dough is put into a cake mold and conformed to it. God has put us into the mold of Christ’s death, and day by day God is molding us to conform us to this death (Rom. 6:3-4). We should be conformed to such a mold by our dying to our human life to live the divine life. If we put to death our natural life, we will have the consciousness that we have another life, the divine life, within us; this life will be released, and then in our experience we will be conformed to Christ’s death (John 10:10; 1 John 5:11-12). In the mold of Christ’s death, the natural life is killed, the old man is crucified, and the self is nullified (2 Cor. 4:16; Rom. 6:6; Matt. 16:24). If we allow our circumstances to press us into this mold, our daily life will be molded into the form of Christ’s death (Rom. 8:28-29).
Being conformed to the death of Christ is the condition for knowing and experiencing Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings. Being conformed to the death of Christ is the base of the experience of Christ. As we are conformed to Christ’s death, we experience His all-accomplishing death. First, if we die with Christ, we will keep our soul-life unto eternal life (John 12:25). Second, if we are willing to be conformed to Christ’s death, we will overcome the world and defeat Satan (v. 31; Heb. 2:14). Third, by being conformed to His death, we experience Christ in His death for the release, impartation, and multiplication of life (John 12:24-26; 2 Cor. 4:12). We need to be conformed to the death of Christ so that the divine life within us may be released and imparted into others and thereby multiplied. Fourth, when we are conformed to the death of Christ, spontaneously the divine life within us will be released, and God the Father, the source of this life, will be glorified. Hence, the more we are conformed to Christ’s death, the more we glorify the Father (John 12:28; 13:31). The only way to glorify God is to be conformed to Christ’s death. Fifth, through His death on the cross, people are drawn to Christ (12:32). The real attraction is in His dying. When we die the death of Christ and are conformed to His death, we will be a magnet drawing others to Christ. The death of Christ on the cross has a lovable attraction. Such an attraction comes through the release of life; this is the crucified life with its attracting power.
In Philippians 3:11 Paul goes on to say, “If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead.” To attain means to arrive at. To attain to the out-resurrection from the dead requires us to run triumphantly the race for the prize (1 Cor. 9:24-26; 2 Tim. 4:7-8). The out-resurrection refers to the outstanding resurrection, the extra-resurrection, which will be a prize to the overcoming saints (Heb. 11:35; Rev. 20:4-6). All believers who are dead in Christ will participate in the resurrection from the dead at the Lord’s coming back (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52), but the overcoming saints will enjoy an extra, outstanding portion of that resurrection.
To arrive at the out-resurrection indicates that our entire being has been gradually and continually resurrected. God first resurrected our deadened spirit (Eph. 2:5-6). Then from our spirit He proceeds to resurrect our soul (Rom. 8:6) and our mortal body (v. 11), until our entire being — spirit, soul, and body — is fully resurrected out of our old being by and with His life. This is a process in life through which we must pass and a race that we must run until we arrive at the out-resurrection as the prize. Hence, the out-resurrection should be the goal and destination of our Christian life. We can reach this goal only by being conformed to the death of Christ, by living a crucified life. In the death of Christ we are processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new.
To be in the out-resurrection means to leave everything of the old creation and to be brought into God. Although Lazarus was resurrected, he neither left the things of the old creation nor was he brought into God. At the end of the coming age all the dead unbelievers will be resurrected. Nevertheless, that resurrection will not bring them out of the old creation, and it will not bring them into God. There is only one kind of resurrection that brings us out of the old creation and into God, and this is the resurrection of Christ. Thus, Christ’s resurrection is the outstanding resurrection. Christ is the unique One to pass out of the old creation and to enter into God. Christ lived in an old creation body and environment for thirty-three and a half years, but the life He lived belonged wholly to the new creation because He continually died to His old creation body and environment and lived to God. Through His death and resurrection, He left the old creation behind and was brought into God.
The out-resurrection is actually the dear, precious, excellent person of Christ, the One who, through crucifixion and resurrection, has passed out of the old creation and has entered into God. This wonderful One is far more excellent than the angels, who belong to the old creation. They have not experienced crucifixion or resurrection. But after Christ was crucified and buried, He was resurrected out of the old creation and into God. Christ Himself is the reality of the out-resurrection. Now we must pursue a life which is this wonderful person of Christ. With Paul, we should be able to say, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). Paul could also testify that he had been crucified with Christ and that Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20). The Christ who lived in Paul is the One who, in His own person, is the out-resurrection.
Now we need to ask an important question: Can we reach the goal of the out-resurrection in this age, or can we only run the race and hope to reach the goal in the coming age? Some may think that we must wait until the coming age to reach the goal. But if we do not arrive at the goal in this age, we will not attain to it in the next age. We must endeavor to arrive at the goal during our lifetime.
In Romans 8:11 Paul says, “If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” This verse indicates that we can attain to the out-resurrection in this age. Here Paul says that the Spirit of the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to that part of our being which is dying, our mortal bodies. We have seen that the Spirit is the reality of Christ’s resurrection, the reality of the out-resurrection. The Spirit is dwelling in us to work the out-resurrection into our being in a real and practical way. Thus, Romans 8:11 indicates that we should attain to the out-resurrection in this age.
To live Christ is to live the out-resurrection; this should be our goal. Day by day we should live the out-resurrection. For example, our love for our spouse should not be natural but in resurrection. If we love our spouse in resurrection, our love will be not of the old creation but in God. Our deeds and words must be in resurrection. If a certain deed is not in resurrection, we should not do it. If a certain word is not in resurrection, we should not say it. The question is not whether a particular thing is right or wrong but whether or not it is in resurrection. This shows that to live Christ is to live the out-resurrection, to live a life absolutely outside of the old creation and in God.
In the out-resurrection there is no element of the old creation. Instead, everything is full of the divine element. This is the reason that people sense God when they are with a person who lives in the out-resurrection. The living of such a person, his deeds and words, is in resurrection. This is the out-resurrection in our daily life. In Philippians 3 Paul was pursuing this kind of living. This is what he had in mind when he declared that his desire was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and by any means to attain to the out-resurrection. We need to pray, “Lord Jesus, I love You in a way that I have never loved You before. Lord, in Your presence I resolve to pursue You as the out-resurrection. I want everything in my life to be outside of the old creation and in God.”
In Philippians 3:13 Paul says, “Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before.” Paul had experienced and gained Christ tremendously, yet he did not account of himself to have experienced Christ in full or to have gained Him to the uttermost. He still endeavored to pursue toward the goal — the gaining of Christ to the fullest extent.
In verse 13 Paul speaks of forgetting the things which are behind. In order to gain Christ to the fullest extent, Paul not only forsook his experiences in Judaism but also would not linger in his past experiences of Christ. He forgot the past. Not to forget but to linger in our past experiences, however genuine they were, frustrates our further pursuing of Christ.
Paul also tells us that he was stretching forward to the things which are before. He knew that Christ is unsearchably rich, that there is a vast territory of His riches to be possessed. He was stretching forward to gain these riches and to advance further into this territory.
Even though Paul was a matured saint and an experienced apostle, he tells us that he had not already obtained and had not yet been perfected. He did not regard himself as one who had obtained the full enjoyment of Christ or the full maturity in life. He, of course, had obtained the common salvation by the common faith (1 Tim. 1:14-16), but he was still pursuing Christ in order to gain Him to the fullest extent. Furthermore, Paul was also seeking Christ in order to have the extra portion of resurrection, the out-resurrection. In order to have this portion of resurrection, we must pursue, run the race, and finish our course triumphantly. Like Paul, we have been regenerated, but we are not yet perfected, or matured, in life. At the time of our conversion, we were gained by Christ so that we may gain Him. Now as those who have not yet obtained and who have not yet been perfected, we are pursuing Christ.
In Philippians 3:14 Paul declares, “I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.” Paul was pursuing toward the goal for the prize. Christ is both the goal and the prize. The goal is the fullest enjoyment and gaining of Christ, and the prize is the uttermost enjoyment of Christ in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the victorious runners of the New Testament race. In order to reach the goal for the prize, Paul was exercised to forget the things which are behind and to stretch forward to the things which are before. This is the way to gain Christ by pursuing Him.
To be called upward is for the obtaining of the prize to which God has called us from above, from the heavens. This heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1) corresponds with the heavenly commonwealth in Philippians 3:20. It is not an earthly calling like that given to the children of Israel in the flesh. This upward calling is to take possession of Christ, whereas the earthly calling to the children of Israel was to take possession of the physical land.
We should see the fact that God has set up a goal and prepared a prize. We need to run a good race and to pursue Christ by forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, that is, the things concerning Christ and His Body, the church. Let us all forget the things behind and pay attention to the bright future ahead of us, a future of gaining Christ and experiencing Him to the uttermost in His Body.
We should not be satisfied simply with Bible knowledge, not even with the knowledge of Philippians 3. We need to have the actual pursuing of Christ. The Greek word for pursue can also be translated “persecute.” Before Paul was saved, he was persecuting Christ in a negative way. After he was saved, he pursued Christ to such an extent that we may even say he persecuted Christ but in a very positive way. To persecute a person is to trouble him and refuse to let him go. Before Paul was saved, he bothered Christ and would not let Him go, persecuting Him negatively. But after he was saved and had been gained by Christ, Paul still persecuted Him, but positively, for he refused to let Christ go. We also should persecute Christ in this way in order to gain Him. We should not let Christ go; rather, we should bother Him, persecute Him, in order to gain Him. This is to pursue Christ.
To persecute Christ in this way is exhausting. As we persecute Christ, we should spend ourselves completely. Our whole being with all of our strength should be consumed in pursuing Christ. We need to be stirred up to seek Him, even in a persecuting way. We should not allow Christ to get away from us. Instead, we should seek Him, pursue Him, and persecute Him in such a positive way; then we will gain Him.
In verse 15 Paul says, “Let us therefore, as many as are full-grown, have this mind; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also God will reveal to you.” In this book the dealing with the Philippian believers is focused on the mind, the leading part of the soul. This book charges them to strive together with one soul along with the personified gospel (1:27), to think the same thing, to be joined in soul, even to think the one thing (2:2; 4:2), to let the mind that was in Christ Jesus be in them (2:5), and to have this one mind, a mind focused on the pursuing and gaining of Christ to the uttermost. When our mind is thus occupied, we have the same mind, thinking the same thing, even thinking the one thing—the fullest gaining of Christ — being joined in soul, like-souled (v. 20), and made one soul.
The pursuing of Christ must be our goal. We should not be otherwise minded. God reveals to us that we need such a mind, a mind focused on the pursuing of Christ. Thus, God desires to continually adjust our mind, turning it toward Christ as the center.
We all need to see God’s unique goal. It is easy to be distracted in the Christian life, for there are many distracting factors surrounding us. If we do not have a fixed goal, the unique goal, the goal set up by God in eternity, and hold to it, we will eventually be distracted. The only thing that can keep us on God’s way is His unique goal — Christ for our highest enjoyment and ultimate gain. If we take this goal as our ultimate goal, we will be preserved.
In 3:16, Paul goes on to say, “Nevertheless whereunto we have attained, by the same rule let us walk.” The Greek word for walk is stoicheo, meaning to walk orderly, derived from steicho, which means to march in military rank, to keep step, to conform to virtue and piety. The word is also used in Romans 4:12 and Galatians 5:25 and 6:16. By this word the apostle charged us to walk and to order our lives — whereunto we have attained, at the state to which we have attained — by the same rule, in the same line, in the same path, in the same footsteps. Whatever state we have attained to in our spiritual life, we all must walk, as the apostle did, by the same rule, in the same path; that is, we must pursue Christ, toward the goal that we may gain Christ to the fullest extent as the prize of the upward calling of God.
Paul’s main thought in Philippians 3:16 is that, as Christians, the most important principle of our Christian life should be to pursue Christ. This principle must become a basic and governing element in our Christian walk. The governing principle of our Christian life should be the pursuing after the enjoyment and experience of Christ. This principle will preserve us in the proper oneness. May the Lord have mercy on us that we would have a mind to pursue Christ to the uttermost and to walk according to the elementary principle of the Christian life. This principle is that we pursue Christ, forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the goal established by God, that we may obtain the prize that He has prepared for us.
