That I may know… the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10).
So far we have been dealing with the steps laid out for us to fulfill our call to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. These are repenting from our sins and coming to God through faith in Jesus Christ, developing intimacy with Jesus and walking in the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:7-10). Next, we are to know the fellowship of His (Jesus’) sufferings (Philippians 3:10). We learn in Philippians 1:29 that “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”. Again we read, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). This same truth is also stressed in 2 Corinthians 1:5, “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ”, i.e we experience the comfort of God because the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance.
Now, this suffering of Christ is not a suffering of sickness or poverty since God speaks of His desire concerning us in the following way: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 1:2). God’s will and desire is that you walk in health and prosperity. Therefore, to dwell in sickness and poverty is not to suffer for Christ. It is actually to live contrary to God’s desire for you, which requires that you repent. For Jesus already “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed”. In God’s eyes, healing has already been purchased for you through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Therefore claim the healing that is already yours and tolerate no sickness. Again the Scriptures teach that “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). To prosper is not to be greedy. It is to have all your needs supplied according to God’s riches in Christ Jesus and to lack no good thing (see Philippians 4:9; Psalm 84:11). This is God’s will for His children.
So then, if according to the Scriptures, poverty and sickness do not constitute suffering for Christ, what does? Jesus said in John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you”. Jesus again emphasized that “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20) and “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you”. In this dark and perverse age, where rebellion towards God is the order of the day, sticking out your neck to live godly will make you a target of the world. You will be slandered, ridiculed and have people plotting against you because like Jesus, your light will testify to the world that it deeds are evil (cf. John 7:7). But “blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me [Jesus]. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).
There is also an adversary of our soul, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). But thanks be to God who has given us authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure/harm us (Luke 10:19). With the authority that Christ has given us we are to resist the devil, standing firm in our faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by fellow Christians throughout the world (1 Peter 5:9).
If we are going to conform to the image of Christ then we will share in His sufferings also. Even so, these sufferings are not meant to harm us. Rather they develop in us patience/ perseverance, by which we become perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-3). Therefore, we are admonished to count it all joy when these trials come our way. By these trials, the genuineness of our faith is also tested, so that our faith which is of greater worth than gold will result in praise, glory and honour for us at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7).
To be continued…
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
© September 4, 2017.