Phil. 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…”
The Easter season is upon us! And for the Christian, it is time to remember the price paid for our salvation and to celebrate Jesus’s triumph over death, hell and the grave through His resurrection. Without His death and resurrection, we would not have forgiveness of sins and the joyful expectation of our entrance into heaven when this life is over – for it will end one day for all of us.
As we celebrate this season, I am reminded of a scripture that points us in the direction of what our life as a believer is to always be about – and it is a challenging one. It is a two fold determination and commitment of a lifetime pursuit.
To KNOW Him: Jesus wants us to know Him, not simply through our having come to know His saving grace, and forgiveness of sins. That is only the door that opens to us a lifetime of entering into a relationship with Him that beckons us every day to come closer, and come up higher. He wants us to experience the depths of His love (“and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge …” Eph. 3:19) and the ensuing release of all of heaven’s resources to those who have come, and are daily still coming, into a deeper knowledge of, and relationship with, Him. Jesus wants us to so passionately love Him that we pursue Him with a fervency that requires “all our soul and all of our mind and all of our heart! That will take a lifetime of daily pursuit. And the possibility of coming to know the depths of His love for us only comes through pursuing Him like Jacob did when he wrestled all night with the angel. It is a mind-set that says two things: (1) I’ll never give up, no matter how I feel or what trials I face, and (2) I want to know You more – more than yesterday, more than today and more than all my tomorrows! Jesus doesn’t just want us to be “born again”. There is so much more that could be said here, but let this suffice for what I wish to say now.
To KNOW the Power (of His Resurrection): The price Jesus paid that we could enter into the power of His resurrection is beyond our ability to understand. Jesus doesn’t just want us to know Him through the gift of faith that “saved” us. He wants us to come to a full realization of the “power” that relationship affords us in EVERY situation! That means every trial, test, storm, etc. This will, and must, become a life-long pursuit. It cannot be learned in a moment, a day or a year. It is a life-long commitment to continually enter into the power of that relationship beyond just being saved. It is the part of that relationship which enables us to do what Jesus said we could do if we would enter into the “power” part of our relationship with Him (“these things began Jesus both to do and teach”). The power enables us to “do the works” that Jesus did – and this is a power beyond salvation power. Saving power is only the open door to the rest of what Jesus died and rose again to give us. He invites us – and it is a standing invitation – to open to this power that triumphs over sickness and disease, and every obstacle and ministry opportunity that presents itself along your path as you follow Him. Every Christian knows the power of salvation to challenge, change and deliver us from a past when we were dead in our sins. But how many Christians have really entered into knowing the power of the resurrection that equips and works signs, wonders and mighty deeds?!! I’m afraid the answer is “not enough”.
We have entered into a time in the life of church when God is calling us to use everything He has made at our disposal – in other words, everything He has made available to us through the power of His resurrection! It is time to pursue like never before, the full manifestation of God’s power to meet every work of hell we are facing in this world today! For nothing else can or will be able to accomplish this. Triumph and victory is synonymous with the name of Jesus! He paid the price and won the war already. If only more of the body of Christ recognized this at a personal level.
This Easter season, let us rejoice in the God who loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for our sins and rose again to triumph over death, hell and the grave. And let us never forget it! We are here “for such a time as this” to CHANGE the world and to prepare it for Christ’s return. Have a glorious Easter everyone!
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Heartgate International Ministries 