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SPIRITUAL GOALS (II)
LORD’S DAY, MAY 28
Philippians 3:10-11

1 Peter 4:1-11

 

“…and the fellowship

of his sufferings…”

 

SPIRITUAL GOALS (II)
 
To know the fellowship of His sufferings: Next, Paul spoke of his desire to have a partnership and sharing of Christ’s suffering. This is the believer’s experience when one is found in Christ, for Paul warned in 2 Timothy 3:12: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” As we live this Christian life and experience the trials and sufferings because of the cause of Christ, what happens is that we conform more and more to His death. Every time we experience a measure of suffering, we have a taste (albeit still very faintly and paling in comparison to what Christ went through) of what Christ Himself experienced as He went to the cross. In so doing, we will be able to better appreciate all that Christ has done for us, grow in our love and regard for Him, and mature in our sanctification, “for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin” (1 Pet 4:1).
 
To attain unto the resurrection of the dead: Here what Paul sought to attain, what he was looking forward to, was the fruition of salvation: the resurrection from the dead. The word for “attain” here carries the idea of arriving at a place, with the emphasis on the destination. He was seeking for the events surrounding the Second Coming of Christ (of the resurrection whereby all the dead in Christ shall receive the glorified body), that was the destination he was yearning for.
 
This is not to say that Paul did not have confidence in the hope of the resurrection, or that he was working to attain salvation. What he meant was that this hope was the goal and chief aim of his life. He was willing to put his whole heart and soul towards reaching it. Now that he had learned of the Gospel and of Christ’s completed work on the cross, he knew it was no longer his own righteousness that would bring him to heaven, but the knowledge of Christ, the power of God, and the sacrifice of Christ. He yearned so strongly for eternity with God, that in his present life, all that he did in seeking to know more of Him was done in anticipation of that final day where he would be with God in his glorified body for eternity.
 
THOUGHT: What sufferings have I experienced for Christ?
PRAYER: May I seek to understand more of the great sacrifice of Christ each day.

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