“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” Philippians 3:10

Leonard Ravenhill said, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the standard of power in the New Testament.”

Think about it!  What does it mean to crave the power of the resurrection in your life?  The apostle Paul was in prison, but he didn’t express a craving for freedom from his bonds.  He was separated from his brethren, but he doesn’t indicate that his most pressing passion was to be back home with his friends.  He let’s us know earlier that he had a thorn in his flesh, but he was able to let go of his desire for deliverance from that pain.  However, he unashamedly made it clear that he would never stop craving resurrection power in his life.

Well, what does it mean to “know Christ in the power of his resurrection?”   I believe it means that we start looking at every set back, every disappointment, every challenge and every heartache as an opportunity to know Christ and make him known to others.  You are going to have sorrows, you can waste them or you can go deep with God.  The bible says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”  We can wallow in the curse of Calvary or exult in the blessing of the ascension.  Five hundred saw Christ ascend, how many see you ascend?   You can make every denial of holy desire an opportunity to experience vicariously the victory of the empty tomb.  Believe me, people who see in you a formerly occupied, but now empty sepulcher will be impressed.

Vicarious means “in the place of.”   Christ didn’t go to the cross. he went through the cross.  He didn’t just do this in my place; he also opened up the way for me to vicariously role-play his enactment of victory over pain in my every day life.   The next time you hit the wall, hit your knees and pray till the power of the resurrection triumphs over the power of depression and self-pity.  The next time you feel alone and defeated go find other members of the church to lift you up; after all, your fellow church members are the body of Christ and the body of Christ is alive!

Notice with me that to the Apostle Paul, the suffering, the death and the resurrection was one package.  Today, some reject positive thinking and others reject suffering.  Paul actually starts with the positive and I think his order is intentional.  Once you know you are raised with Christ,  you can deal with anything.  Life is going to kick you in the teeth sometimes, friends are going to walk away, finances are going to be strained, your health will sometimes be a challenge and society will be godless, but your home page is the victorious triumph of Christ and the empty tomb.  Your starting point is always power!  If you are God’s child, God will always empty your tomb.  Our tombs will be occupied from time to time but, over and over again the stone will be rolled away and in our daily experience we will live the resurrection of God’s son.

“To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.”   John 1:12