“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” —Philippians 3:7-11
“We were 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. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” —Romans 6:4-5
We Must
With
Paul says that we must be united with him in a death like his in Romans, and he says we must become like Him in his death to the Philippians. Both of them are similar statements and what I think he is saying here is reminiscent of the call of discipleship from Jesus - You must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” —Galatians 2:20
We Must
Well
Paul knew how to suffer well. And it was because of the model of Jesus. Jesus suffered on the cross. He suffered through persecution and torture. He was a man of sorrows and well acquainted with grief. But he never opened his mouth to complain.
Jesus suffered well. Paul learned from Jesus how to suffer and today, we can learn from both of them on how to suffer well.
• Do not lose heart.
• Our suffering prepares us for glory
• Focus on the unseen, not the seen, because the unseen is eternal.
“Suffering dispels the illusion that we have the strength and competence to rule our own lives and save ourselves. People “become nothing through suffering” so that they can be filled with God and his grace.” —Tim Keller
The Resurrection Is Our
The cross is meaningless without the resurrection.
It’s through the power of the resurrection that we see the power of the cross. Without the resurrection, the cross has now power, but because of the resurrection, the message of the cross has the power to save.
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” —Romans 1:1-4
Jesus Is Worth
“Jesus Christ never asks anyone to define his position or to understand a creed, but “Who am I to you?” Jesus Christ makes the whole of human destiny depend on a man’s relationship to himself.” —Oswald Chambers