Know The Power Of Resurrection!

Let us continue our worship by learning from God’s Word given through the Apostle Paul and addressed to a church in Philippi about 2000 years ago. God’s Word is eternal, inerrant and life changing and so the Letter to the Philippians are for our church today as well! I suppose we can say that it is a Letter not only to Philippians but also to Filipinos! Please open your Bibles to Philippians Chapter 3…. Our emphasis today will be on v10-11 and v20-21! Read along with me Philippians 3:7-21….

The Apostle Paul was Hebrew Scholar Saul before Jesus Christ confronted him. Saul was a Bible Scholar, a church person all his life and was destined to be one of the best teachers of God’s Law. Saul was a very religious person! Saul did everything the Jewish Law called him to do to try and be right with God; but then he realized the truth that he himself alone could not do everything right with God! We know from Saul/Paul’s life story, he had an ego problem!

v7-10: Saul realized that righteousness comes only through faith (belief, trust, confidence, fidelity) in Jesus Christ, the only one perfect, righteous, and holy! Saul who became the Apostle Paul states in Romans 3:23 “All (including himself) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”; no matter how hard a person tries to do good and be in church all your life; one little sin, a little lie, a little evil thought will separate a person from a Holy God! And so, to be found in Christ is to be righteous, because Jesus is the only righteous One!

v10-11: Paul knew the power Jesus Christ had and He desired it for he knew his sins will bring death to his body! Paul witnessed the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ (rising from the dead)! Paul understood that Jesus is God who became flesh to take on the sins of all people, therefore Jesus had to die; but Paul also personally met the RISEN Christ!

Now, even though his Creator God and Savior Jesus Christ personally taught Paul, he did not see himself done with his holding on to Jesus Christ because he was still living on earth! Paul was still trying to understand the fullness of the love of Christ!

v12: Paul while still alive on earth, pursues to take hold of Jesus Christ, as Christ loved him!

v13-14: Paul’s focus on life is no longer the old worldy life but a life with Christ!

v15-19: states Believers are to continue to follow Christ and not go against Him with worldly things!

v20: although still living on earth, Believers of Jesus Christ are citizens of heaven and await His return to bring them home forever!

v21: in the meantime, while Christians are still on earth, Jesus has everything under His control and is at work in perfecting every Believer of Jesus Christ!

Let us summarize what we are to remember from our Creator God; especially as we believe in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1. Do we truly have faith (belief, trust, confidence, fidelity) in Jesus Christ or am I trusting my own works or something else to be right with God? We cannot be right with god on our own works! Jesus is the only way back to God! Am I really in Christ right now and the rest of my life?

2. Do we truly believe in the power of resurrection (although dead but to become perfected for heaven)?

Jesus Christ did it and we too will be perfected body and soul

forever as we trust Him alone! We are to look forward to that day in our lives and the lives of our loved ones who also believes in Christ but have gone before us when we all rise from the dead; our loved ones are just sleeping right now.

3. While we wait for Jesus Christ to come for us and resurrect us, as well as our loved ones who also know Jesus Christ, let us fight the good fight of faith and say yes to Jesus and say no to sins! Yield to God the Holy Spirit within you!