I want to know

We've been reading through Philippians in homegroup recently. We're coming to the end now, but when we were studying chapter 3 we came to a verse which kept playing on my mind. 

'I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.' Phil 3 vv 10-11

The bit that I feel is difficult to get my head round is what it really means to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. Ok, so wanting to know Christ is something that I desire, and have desired since I first came to understand the gospel (and want to desire more than I do). But what does it look like to know him? What does it mean to know the power of his resurrection in my life? I'm not just talking a head knowledge here. I mean, what does it really mean to live like I know the power of Christ's resurrection?

I've pondered this verse over time and chatted to some friends to try and help unpack it a bit. 

Death is the consequence of sin, originating from the fall (Genesis 3). It is what every man deserves and the end of all humanity. Jesus became man (see Phil 2) he lived as one of us, worked as one of us and died as one of us. But he was a man that never sinned. 

Jesus Christ did not deserve death, but in his dying he took upon himself the sin of the whole of humanity. Jesus was forsaken (disowned) by God at the cross and faced His judgement and righteous anger - the anger we deserve. He died, but the grave couldn't hold him. After three days, as Jesus had said before, he rose again. Death did not win, life did.

The power of the resurrection is Jesus Christ conquering sin and overcoming death. It is the rule of Christ in his rightful place at the right hand of God in heaven with all things under him bringing him praise and glory.

It is the power of the resurrection at work in our lives which makes us Christians. It enables us to be assured of the fact that the punishment of our sin has been satisfied and we are no longer enemies of God. And it is also the living hope of our future resurrection - a physical future life under Christ's righteous rule when he returns or our time on earth ends. 

So it is a power known in our past and a hope we have for the future, but knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection is something I think we can see in our lives each day if we are Christians. We see it in each little victory we have over sin. The power of the resurrection is when God's grace breaks into our lives to overcome the power of death (brought by the fall). It is when it is demonstrated in our lives that sin doesn't have the upper hand.

So, for a simple example, I often get cross about small things. Sometimes I feel too tired to wash my dishes, but there are times when the dirty crockery mounts up by the side of the sink and I direct my frustration towards others. I am angry at their laziness or somehow feel I deserve better. It is the power of the resurrection in my life when my attitude is transformed and I want to do the washing up out of love, as a way to serve my housemates.

Isn't wonderful the way in which the resurrection can have power in our lives now? I don't pretend that it is as evident in my life as I would like it to be, but I am so excited about the work God is doing in and through us!