Daily Devotional

Through the years I have often quoted Philippians 3:10, agreeing with the Apostle Paul that I want to know the Lord on a deeper level.  Suffering and a full understanding of Christ’s death on our behalf is necessary for me to know Christ in the fullest way.  These spiritual concepts are important for me to understand.  Paul came to know that to have a full experiential knowledge of the Lord would also mean experiencing suffering.  What was the suffering Paul wanted to experience?  This suffering was not Christ’s substitutionary suffering on the cross.  Paul knew that could not be shared.  His desire was to participate with Christ, in suffering for the sake of righteousness.  Paul suffered much for the cause of Christ and even told Timothy not to be fearful or ashamed of his suffering. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8) Paul’s desire was to be so close to the Lord that the things that hurt Christ, would also hurt him. Today, this world is not going to help us grow close to Christ.  There is so much unrighteousness and evil.  We need to stand up for what is true, good, just, moral and holy.  As a result we will experience suffering as we walk in obedience to Christ.
 
Paul continues in the verse to talk about being conformed to Christ’s death. The word “conformed” in this verse means “being conformed inwardly in one’s experience to Christ’s death.”  Paul is talking about the relationship we have to Christ’s death.  Scripture tells us that the Lord’s death has been applied to our life in the following ways…

• The Christian has died to sin through Christ’s death.  (Romans 6:2, 6-7)
• The Christian is daily being set apart from sin.  (Romans 6:1-4, 11-14)
• The Christian is living a new life by means of Christ’s resurrection power.  (Romans 6:4)

As Christ died for sin, so the believer has died to sin.  No longer is sin to have control over us.
The death of Jesus Christ made possible the end of our old life of sin and self-pleasing.  Jesus took the sin of the world upon himself.  He had no sin nor self-pleasing in His life.  At the cross He was made to be all that we are.  He became sin for us.  Christ put an end to it.  Judgment was passed and through faith we accept it.  We are to refuse to let the sinful nature live any longer in our experience.  As we accept this as being true we are set free from our old life of sin and self-pleasing.  We are free to be men and women who are no longer concerned about what happens to us but are concerned about what glorifies Christ.

The life that the Lord wants us to live is a new quality of life.  It is a newness of life that is the result of Christ’s resurrection.  This resurrection life lives in us and will enable us to live victoriously for the Lord.  (Romans 6:4, “…that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”)

Prayer:  Lord, help me enter more deeply into my relationship with You. May I see the world from Your eyes and not be complacient about sin and the wrong I so often see.  I want to walk in the newness of life I have in You.  Amen

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