What is the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:10)?

The meaning of "being made conformable unto His death" is clearly seen from the context. Strictly speaking, the commencement of verse 10 is connected with "Christ Jesus my Lord" in verse 8, the words between being in some sort a parenthesis. The apostle says, "Yea doubtless, and I count" (not only counted in the past, but still do count) "all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." And then, after setting before us that he had suffered the loss of all things for the sake of a glorified Christ, and that now he desired only to have Christ as his gain, in contrast with those things which had constituted his gain as a Jew in the flesh, and "to be found in Him," etc., he proceeds, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." Verse 9 goes on to the future, in accordance with the truth of the epistle in which salvation is always looked upon as completed at the coming of the Lord; whereas verse 10 gives us the apostle's desires in view of His path through this world. First then it is, "That I may know Him" — know Him, that is, in the place where He now is; and this knowledge will ever increase with growing intimacy, and thus is never attained, that is to say, perfectly attained. We know Christ now, but we desire to know Him more fully; and thus it is still all our aim, with Paul, to know Him. Next, "And the power of His resurrection." By death with Christ we are detached from this scene; by being raised with Him we are carried up into the sphere where He now is. (Compare Col. 3:1-3.) The power of His resurrection is that which draws us up, in virtue of having Him as our life in resurrection, into our new place before God; so that our minds are on things above, and not on things of the earth; for we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God. "The fellowship of His sufferings" is the next thing, as a necessary consequence; for when we live in the power of the life which we have in Christ risen, we must suffer in our measure in passing through this world, as Christ suffered. But these sufferings of Christ went on to, and included, death; for as suffering from the hands of man, He died a martyr. (Compare Heb. 12:3-4.) Hence it is that the apostle adds, "Being made conformable to His death;" for he had been made willing to die, like his Master, a martyr's death, in view of the glorious prospect of resurrection from among the dead. This is the only sense in which being made conformable to the death of Christ is found; and only those therefore who have been put to death, as Stephen was for example, in the character of witnesses for Christ, have been permitted to enjoy this privilege and blessedness.

Now what is the meaning of "the power of his resurrection"? I do not think it means the power by which He was raised, I used to think it was, "that I may know the power by which he was raised." No; I believe that you and I through grace are morally, in our souls, exemplifications of the same power, because we are co-quickened and co-raised with Him, and by-and-by we shall be literally and historically the exemplifications of it, for we shall be raised up in our bodies. But the power of His resurrection is a moral thing. In Acts 1 I look at the risen Lord alive on earth forty days after His resurrection before He went up into heaven. Now, beloved brethren, what had He to do with earth? What was earth to Him? He had left everything behind, He was a risen man down here on earth, and the whole thing was gone to Him. Of course things on earth were never anything in that sense to the Lord Jesus Christ, but I take the fact to illustrate what I mean; there He was on earth, His dealings with Israel all over, His presentation of Jewish hopes and prospects all over, His dealing with that nation all over; for the Jewish system was God's system up to the cross, but the cross was the end of that system and the end as well of man morally. But here He was on earth forty days, and He talked to His disciples about the kingdom of God, He kept their prospects for the time being on earth, because although the system was morally given up, God was lingering in patient grace over them. But if we belong to Christ we are risen with Christ; that is, if we are Christians at all, and the power of His resurrection is this, that it cuts for us the link with present things, with the world, with everything down here — what have you and I to do with it? What real interest have we, if we have the power of His resurrection in our souls, with things that belong to the earth? Take politics, for instance; what interest has a risen man in politics? He is not bounded by things down here, he does not belong to the world, he has no vested interests in it; where are they? The apostle tells you himself. He says, "Our polity, the state to which we belong, has its definite existence in the heavens, and from thence we look for the Lord Jesus as Saviour; there all our hopes are, there is our country, there is our home.

This is then the One he wants to know. He knows Him, but does not count this knowledge yet as the knowledge that he seeks. He cannot, of course, set aside this, as he has set aside other things. He would not mean to undervalue it; it was all of Christ that for the present he had; but what, nevertheless, would it be in that day when Christ Himself would be at last before his eyes, the goal of the race he had been running? He wanted to know Him after this manner, to know the power of His resurrection not, as many think, a present power, therefore of resurrection in his soul, — that he already knew. He was risen with Christ and knew it; but it is not a condition to be attained down here, still less a condition that he had attained, that he was thinking of, but that which will put him in the place in which he seeks to be; and as a prisoner of Christ in the Roman dungeon, he is entitled to think here of the sufferings attendant, and of the death which might so easily be before him. What then? That would be his way through to the resurrection from among the dead. Thus, the sufferings themselves, the manner of death, whatever it were, if it were complete conformity to Christ's crucifixion, he would take it as that which only the more assimilated him to Christ for the present, while it was the way which led on to the apprehension of the power of that resurrection which would at last bring him to Christ in glory. As already said we have to realize, for the apprehension of what is here, that it is Christ Himself before his eyes, an Object outside the world, that is filling them. It is this and not any intervening thing that he is pressing after. It is no spiritual condition apart from this. He wants no halting place, no place to loiter in by the way, no present satisfaction, as it were, except that indeed which is derived from the blessed Object ever drawing nearer, and which is gaining upon his soul with every step he takes.

Paul knew that Christ belonged to him, that his destiny was to be forever with Him, and then his passion was to be worthy of all this. And when Christ is gained in glory and the goal is reached then he would be "found in Him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law (the righteousness which is nothing but filthy rags), but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." How he emphasizes this righteousness in which he delighted! And this great servant of the Lord, who knew Him so well, wants to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering "being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might arrive at the resurrection from among the dead." The power of His resurrection he desires to know is more than a spiritual power, for he knew that power in practical experience. Of this he had written to the Ephesians (1:15-2:10). It is again the goal of the Christian's life towards which he reaches out. He wants to arrive at the resurrection from among the dead by any means and to get there though it means fellowship with His suffering being made conformable to His death. And this was before him in the Roman prison. He wanted to be with Christ, and to arrive there he desired to be like Christ in participating in His suffering even to be made conformable to His death.

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection from the dead." Just as in the previous verse, so also in this, it was true already in one sense: Paul did know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made con-formable unto His death: this was a present, deep reality to his soul, wrought by the Spirit of God. But this viewpoint must not be confounded with that which he takes in penning this chapter. His desire here is to "know Him" by being in His very presence in Glory, to know literally "the power of His resurrection," that is, through having to pass through sufferings from men, as the Lord Jesus did, and actually experiencing death, as did his Lord, he might also actually experience the power of God in resurrection; thus knowing in literal experience, - not simply in spiritual power - that which his Lord and Master has known. "If by any means," he adds, "I might attain unto the resurrection from the dead." Let us mark here that he thus will consider nothing short of the coming of the Lord - the rapture of the saints - as any proper attainment. This is further confirmed by verses 20 and 21; but verses 12 to 16 show us the very real effects in the apostle's whole conduct and character that were produced by the fact that this present life on earth will never gain pure satisfaction for the soul.

Christ was so attractive to Paul that he only desired to "know Him." He had known Christ from the day he was apprehended on the way to Damascus, but he desired to be constantly deepening in acquaintance with his heavenly Master who had made Himself indispensable to him. He also desired to know in his life, day by day, the power of His resurrection, the divine power that took Christ out of death and that would make him superior to every trial and difficulty, and triumphant over every foe in his witness for Him. This devoted servant of Christ also sought to suffer for righteousness sake, because Christ so suffered, and he would also die a martyr's death, because his Master died in this way, and because he would come out of death in resurrection, as did his Lord. Christ so filled his vision that he desired to be like Him in every possible way.

With regard to power, what is there that men will not give for a little increase of power over their fellowmen? What sacrifices they often make to obtain it? And, after all, it is only a power that exercises its jurisdiction in a world that is under judgment, lying in the wicked one, and limited by the chilly hand of death. But the power which the Lord's devoted servants desire is not that, but far greater and higher, it is "the power of His resurrection." God has given to us risen life in Christ, who is the other side of death, and it is the power of that in a world like this — a power that knows its origin to be beyond this present scene altogether — a life in Him who is the Head of all principality and power. It is a fact that Christ died, and that we died with Him; it is a fact also that Christ rose from the dead, and that we have life in Him who is risen. It is this risen life in the soul that the apostle so craved the power of, that he might walk here as a risen man, not after the flesh, not like the world, but manifest the walk and conduct of a man on earth who is one with Christ in heaven. Beloved, are we ardently desiring this power?

We may, perhaps, also direct attention to the example of the apostle in verse 10. If it may be so presented, he ever went forward, and was daunted by no difficulties. The goal was so glorious that he had been made willing to encounter any possible suffering in order to reach it. Each clause of the verse should be much pondered; and it is very blessed to note that it commences with - "that I may know Him." But did he not already know Him? it may be enquired. Surely he already knew Him; but the knowledge of Christ is infinite, and every bit of intimacy which He vouchsafes to us does but intensify the desire to know Him ever more fully. We shall grow in the knowledge of Himself throughout eternity. But why does "the power of His resurrection" follow? Because it is that which detaches us from this scene and brings us to His side in the place where He is, where only He can be now known. If, however, we are under the power of His resurrection we shall be willing for the fellowship of His sufferings, and even to be made conformable to His death; to die, like Stephen, as martyrs in the prospect of that glorious day when we shall, at His coming, be called out of our graves, and when we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death" (verse 10). It is not that we are to seek suffering, but the cross was before him and he says "I will only be more like Christ; I have a life in Christ that is beyond death." As he says in 2 Corinthians 5. "We are always confident, knowing, that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord." His place is all a settled thing: if killed he will only be with Christ. But he has not got it: it is his object.

But the apostle's longing was not only "to know Him." In the Greek Testament there is no full-stop, not even a comma, after 'Him.' It reads: "To know Him and the power of His resurrection and partnership of His sufferings." Another has said: 'The essence of knowing Christ consists in knowing the power of His resurrection.' Every Christian knows that Christianity has its root and foundation in the death of our blessed Saviour. But if it had been possible that death could have held the Saviour in his power: death, instead of being the foundation of joy, and the certainty of salvation, would have been the source of a black despair which nothing could have dissipated. It is the resurrection which throws its bright beams even into the dark tomb of Christ: that tomb which seemed to mean victory for the adversary. It is resurrection which explains the reason of that momentary submission to the power of the devil, and subjection to the necessary judgment of God.

It is by resurrection, and the glory which shall follow, that the foundation and hopes of the Christian are bound together. It is by resurrection that justification and that which is the power of the Christian's life, — sanctification, are united. Not only is He raised again for our justification, but in Christ risen, we are in Him as risen and sanctified in the power of a new life.