Knowing Christ (Part 3)

First, we must examine the sentence structure of Philippians 3:10 in order to resolve a few issues. In doing so, I will lean heavily on New Testament scholar Gordon Fee's analysis of this text because of his thorough examination. Fee notes "one cannot be certain how 'the power of his resurrection and the participation in his sufferings,' are related to the verb 'know' and its object 'him.' " Fee says that one possibility is to translate the text as the NIV translators did, noting three objects: "him," "the power of his resurrection," "the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings," since the last two are connected with the first by the double και ("and").⁴⁴ The NIV reads: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings." However, Fee argues, "But more likely Paul intends the first και to be epexegetic, so that the phrases explain, or give content to, what 'knowing Christ' means."  Fee suggests with this in mind, the text could read one of two ways: "so that I may know him, both the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings" or, "so that I may know him, that is, the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings."

Fee says the latter "option is preferable since it coordinates the elements that are truly coordinate and makes better sense of how these two items from elsewhere in the letter function in the present narrative. Indeed, these are the surprising matters in this final clause, since we are so poorly prepared for them here; but in light of the whole letter, they are scarcely surprising, since concern for the Philippians' remaining steadfast (with a keen eye to the future) in the midst of present suffering is a primary reason for the letter."⁴⁵

Knowing Christ in Resurrection Power

In making a comparison between the love and power of God in the salvific events, F. F. Bruce says, "If the love of God is supremely demonstrated in the death of Christ ['but God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us'⁴⁶], his power is supremely demonstrated in the resurrection of Christ, and those who are united by faith with the risen Christ have this power imparted to them." It is this power, says Bruce, that "enables the believer to ignore the dictates or enticements of sin and to lead a life of holiness which pleases God."⁴⁷ New Testament interpreter Marvin Vincent could not have agreed more: "The resurrection is viewed, not only as something which Paul hopes to experience after death, nor as a historical experience of Christ which is a subject of grateful and inspiring remembrance, but as a present, continuously active force in his Christian development."⁴⁸

When Paul says he wants to know Christ in the "power of his resurrection," he does not have in mind eternal life as it pertains to new life in Christ—the life every regenerated Christian experiences in the new birth (this quality of resurrection life Paul spoke of in Romans 6:4-11). He has in view that spiritual dynamic that strengthens the follower of Christ to accomplish God's purposes in and through him. Paul desires to experience this power in a larger measure. It is the power to conquer, for the one who himself has been conquered by Calvary's love. Speaking pastorally to this subject, the late long-time pastor of Westminster Chapel, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, asks rhetorically, "But what about the man or woman who comes to me and says, 'Here am I in my weakness, conscious of sin within me, temptation always around and about me, the whole world organised on the side of sin and Satan and evil. It is difficult enough to keep straight and moral at all in a world like this, and you are asking me to live the kind of life that Jesus of Nazareth lived on this earth—it is impossible.' " Lloyd-Jones says the answer to this question lies in the truth contained in this text: "The answer to such a person is, 'the power of His resurrection.' He is risen, he has given a manifestation of His power, and that power is being offered to us. That is the power that can become ours, however weak we are; it can lift us and raise us up in newness of life, and enable us to walk with him."⁴⁹

Knowing Christ in the Fellowship of His Sufferings

Paul aspired not only to know the power of Christ's resurrection; he also (strangely enough) wanted to share in "the fellowship of his sufferings."⁵⁰ The apostle to the Gentiles and the first century Christians knew a great deal about suffering. In the Corinthian Church there was an element of believers who questioned the legitimacy of Paul's apostolic calling. These believers had accepted the teaching of a "different gospel" from these false apostles who claimed to be superior in both their doctrine and labors in comparison to Paul's. In defending his calling and ministry to the church he founded, Paul details some of the sufferings he had experienced in Jesus name: 

²³Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. ²⁴Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.⁵¹ 

To the Colossian believers, Paul wrote that he "rejoiced" in the sufferings he had undergone in ministering among them. The fact was, Paul said, "in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is his church."⁵² Paul reminded Timothy of the "sufferings" he underwent while ministering in the regions of Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra.⁵³ To the Corinthian Christians Paul said he shared "abundantly in Christ's sufferings."⁵⁴ However, when the apostle reviews all the sufferings he had undergone for the Lord Jesus, he wrote the Romans, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."⁵⁵

Having suffered for Christ so much, what does Paul mean by wanting to know Christ "in the fellowship of his sufferings"?

The Greek word Paul uses for "fellowship" (koionia) is a term he has used several times in his letters. He told the Corinthians in his first letter to them they "were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord"; in his second letter he prayed that the "fellow-ship of the Holy Spirit" would be with them.⁵⁶ Writing to the Galatians, he recalled the gracious reception he received from James, Cephas, and John some time following his conversion: "they gave me the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me."⁵⁷ Paul also uses the same word in Philippians 1:5, with three major versions rendering the word as "partnership" (ESV, NIV) and "partici-pation" (NASB). In Philippians 2:1, the translators of three major versions render the Greek word as "participation" (ESV) and "fellowship" (NASB, NIV).

When koionia is used of human relationships, it means essentially a "close association involving mutual interests and sharing, association, communion, fellowship, close relationship"; as such, it is an attitude of "good will that manifests an interest in a close relationship, generosity, fellow-feeling, altruism." Generically, it means "participation, sharing."⁵⁸ When Paul writes in Philippians 3:10 that he wants to know Christ "in the fellowship of his sufferings," he is saying that he desires to actually participate in the same deep emotional and spiritual pain that Christ himself experienced (and experiences?) in his sufferings during his life, ministry, and death on the ignominious cross for mankind's salvation. This expression—"in the fellowship of his sufferings"—according to Fee means "that Paul participates in the same reality as exemplified in Christ's sufferings; the connection between the two is that Paul's sufferings reflect Christ's inasmuch as they have the same goal. Christ's sufferings, which culminated in his death, were 'for our sakes'; Paul's . . . are for 'the sake of the gospel.' "⁵⁹ In Bruce's view, "In Paul's eyes, the sufferings he endured for Christ's sake in the course of his apostolic service represented his share in the sufferings of Christ, and to accept them as such transfigured and glorified them."⁶⁰

These sufferings of Christ which Paul desires to participate in are not merely mystical in nature, as Vincent believes—"Faith makes the believer one with a suffering Christ."⁶¹—but actual suffering. As we have noted above, Paul suffered greatly in his service of the Lord Jesus. But he is not content (could it be because he had previously persecuted the church severely?) with the degree to which he has already suffered for Christ. Is this a psychologically deranged masochist writing? Hardly. This man knows Christ, loves Christ, enjoys fellowship with Christ, but intuitively realizes there is a depth of fellowship to be intimately experienced with Christ that does not come apart from suffering for Jesus' name in the service of the Lord. While many Christians flee from and try to avoid suffering that comes from bearing one's cross, Paul welcomed it. Again, not because he derived pleasure from physical and emotional pain, but because suffering in Jesus' name drew him closer to Christ. 

Suffering for Jesus

When thinking in practical terms about entering into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, I think of Richard and Sabrina Wurmbrand, two devout Romanian Christians who suffered greatly at the hands of the communists when Romania was under the rule of tyrannical despots. Wurmbrand, a Lutheran pastor and his wife Sabrina, courageously opposed atheistic communism while ministering to the underground church in their country. He eventually was arrested and imprisoned, serving fourteen years in a concentration camp; Sabrina was incarcerated for eleven years. They both experienced unimaginable abuse under the communists during those years. But, interestingly enough, they had asked God for it!

Before their sufferings came, Wurmbrand writes, "My life as a pastor, until this time, had been full of satisfaction. I had all I needed for my family. I had the trust and love of my parishioners. But I was not at peace. Why was I allowed to live as usual, while a cruel dictatorship was destroying everything which was dear to me, and while others were suffering for their faith?" Then he says something that the Western church world knows very little about (including me): "On many nights, Sabrina and I prayed together, asking God to let us bear a cross."⁶²

God heard their prayers and lay heavy crosses upon these valiant souls to faithfully carry for many years.  In the words of Karl Barth, "The way in which the power of Christ's resurrection works powerfully in the apostle is, that he is clothed with the shame of the Cross."⁶³ Glorious "shame" at that! And, wonder of wonders, Paul is asking for more, just as the Wurmbrands did.

The phrase "becoming like him in his death" ("being conformed to His death," NASB) is an expansion of Paul's thought when he speaks of entering into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. As Fee notes, it is a participle which is "gram-matically dependent on the verb 'to know.' " Paul amplifies the participation in Christ's sufferings he just made reference to, and "reaches beyond that to the whole of the present life in Christ, which is to be marked by the death of Christ above all else."⁶⁴ It could be that Paul was actually hoping that his life would end (and probably did) as a martyr for the Lord Jesus Christ.⁶⁵

Paul looks forward with hope that such an aspiration—Christ's powerful resurrection presence, the experiential reality of his sufferings, the conformity to Christ's death—is to culminate in the eventual resurrection of his body: "that by any means I may attain the resurrection of the dead."⁶⁶ 

Conclusion

While Paul did not use the precise language of "cultivating and expressing a passionate love for Christ," he certainly projected through his life, ministry, and letters the very essence contained in those words. We have noted in this section that to follow the Lord Jesus is to become more intimately acquainted with him. We have discovered that Christ can be both known personally and experientially. We have seen that Christ can also be known increasingly by every sincere seeker after him. Paul aspired to know Christ and know him in a fuller measure, as expressed by his written aspiration in Philippians 3:10. He wanted to know the resurrection power of Christ—the power that enables the disciple of Jesus to live in conformity to his will; he wanted to know the fellowship of Christ's sufferings—to identify with his Lord's own sufferings in a deeper way by suffering more for Jesus' sake.

Is not such a door of knowledge open to many more of Christ's followers than they realize? As he witnessed the last days of the imprisonment of Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer just before his execution at the hands of the German Nazis, an English military officer later wrote, "Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive. . . . He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near."⁶⁷

Could it be that I would love Christ more if I knew Christ better? Could it be that Christ would be more real and near to me if I suffered for him more? Do I actually desire to know Christ more intimately—enough to pray that he would allow me to more closely experience the fellowship of his sufferings, being made like him in his death?

Augustine prayed, "Let me know you, my known; let me know Thee even as I am known."⁶⁸ Do we want to know Christ like that? Or are we content to merely have a passing, cursory acquaintance?

May the words of song writer Steve Green reflect our deepest desires:

Oh, I want to know You more!
Deep within my soul I want to know You,
Oh, I want to know You.⁶⁹

- Soli Deo Gloria -

Unless otherwise noted, the Bible version used in this article is the English Standard Version.

 43. Philippians 3:10.
44. Gordon D. Fee, Paul's Letter to the Philippians, pp. 327-328.
45. Ibid, 328.
46. Romans 5:8.
47. F. F. Bruce, Philippians, p. 115.
48. Marvin R. Vincent, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Philippians and to Philemon, p. 104.
49. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Life of Joy and Peace: An Exposition of Philippians, p. 308.
50. NASB translation.
51. 2 Corinthians 11:23-27.
52. Colossians 1:24.
53. 2 Timothy 3:11.
54. 2 Corinthians 1:5.
55. Romans 8:18.
56. 2 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 13:14.
57. Galatians 2:9.
58. Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 552.
59. Fee, Philippians, pp. 332-333.
60. Bruce, Philippians, p. 116.
61. Vincent, 3:448.
62. Richard Wurmbrand, In God's Underground, p. 25.
63. Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Philippians, p. 103.
64. Fee, Philippians, p. 333.
65. Adam Clarke, Clarke's Commentaries, 6:502.66. Philippians 3:11.
67. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 13.
68. Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions of St. Augustine, p. 210.
69. Steve Green, Oh I Want to Know You More.