DEEPER KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST - PART 2

FRIDAY 12 JANUARY 2024

When you get born again, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to you. This righteousness implanted in us wields powerful effect in positioning us to live the Christian life and to develop divine perspective. But the desire to know Christ more is not imputed to us, like righteousness. We have to develop and cultivate the desire by eating the Word as a mindful act or deliberate matter. To instantiate this verity, Petrine epistle says, "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2 NKJV). More below!

Reference: Philippians 3:10-11 New King James Version (NKJV)

"I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.…"

Today's focus is majored on the first segment, which reads:

"I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection..."

Beloved, this can only be the desire of those who want to experience Christ with the eyes of undaunted faith, and also condition themselves to see Him for ever. It is certain that the entire world will see Christ during His second coming, but its not everyone that will spend eternity with Him. By this I mean that Revelation 1:7 says, "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen" (KJV). We shall all see Him again, but to desire and experience more than seeing Him has to do with cultivating the depth of our personal relationship with Christ, thereby sustaining the privilege of enjoying His presence eternally.

The mystery of Christ's resurrection power will be fully made known in heaven. So what Paul desired was to have communion with the power of His resurrection in His absence on earth. And that's a powerful desire. Not every Christian can imagine or make such request because it's not an ordinary request. Indeed, it is a greater sense of receiving the grace that is in Christ.

Paul described the resurrection power as God's incomparably great power for us who believe, and the power is the same as His mighty strength, according to Ephesians 1:19 (NIV). Simply put, the power that raised Christ from the dead is the wonder working strength of His great might. So Paul wanted to have a personal encounter with the Spirit of might, which is one of the seven Spirits of God stated in Isaiah 11:2.

The Spirit of might was exerted by God when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms (see Ephesians 1:20 NIV). This "executive power" of God quickened His mortal body from the dead, and Paul desired to know it, and have the first-hand knowledge of it. So Pauline expression in relation to his desire implied that God and Christ would manifest their sovereignty in no ordinary way in his ministry and lifetime in a thousand ways.

And for every Christian who makes such request as wanting to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, they have cultivated a Scriptural expectation of victorious encounters. And they must persevere in such request, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, because the Spirit of might is the immeasurable power of victory over sin and death, as well as the power of elevation and miraculous wonders. Stay tuned for part 3. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Psalm 18:32; Psalm 28:7; Psalm 118:14; Psalm 138:3; 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Guided Prayer:

Gracious Father in heaven, I'm so grateful that I can always experience the power of Christ's resurrection, with a sincere love for Christ in my heart and from the standpoint of gratitude, in Jesus' Name, Amen!