That I may know… the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:10).
As we learned in our previous study, it has not only been granted to us to believe in Jesus but also to suffer for His sake (Philippians 1:29). This fellowship we have with Christ’s sufferings is for the purpose of conforming us to the death of Jesus. What does it mean to be conformed to Christ’s death?
Galatians 2:20 reads “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”. To be conformed to Christ’s death is to be crucified with Him1. This means to put to death the deeds of the flesh2 [look up the list in Galatians 5:19-210] by the power of the Holy Spirit so that you can have true life (Romans 8:13). Being crucified with Christ, and thus being conformed to His death, also mean that you no longer live (Galatians 2:20). You lose your right to live as you please and allow Jesus to do His living through you. How do we practically do this? By choosing to live your life in the body by faith (Galatians 2:20). This is what the sufferings of Christ accomplish in us. They purify our faith 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). This brings us to a place of maturity, where we become complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-3).
It was humility that led Jesus to His death, even death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). Even so, for us to be conformed to Jesus’ death will require that we walk in humility. There is not a chance to walk with God without humility because God actually sets Himself against those who lack humility (James 4:6). But when you humble yourself, you are ranked among the greatest in the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:4), just as Jesus after humbling Himself and dying on the cross was resurrected with power, highly exalted and given a name that is above every name (Philippians 2:8-11; Ephesians 1:19-23). Jesus, before He went to the cross also uttered these words, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). This teaches that a complete surrendering of our will to God is required in order to walk in our calling of conforming to the image of Christ. It’s the same lesson Jesus gave when He said “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24).
To be continued…
1Pulpit Commentary; 2Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
© September 11, 2017.