If Ye then be Risen with Christ - I may Know Him, and the Power of His Resurrection

• I may Know Him - To “… know him…” (or experience) has everything to do with salvation, as Luke 1:77 states. To know God is to be known of Him, or to be saved, as we find in Gal 4:9. Paul’s (representing all believers) desire was to “know” (or experience) God in the most intimate way possible. Of course, such a desire is the direct result of God working both to will and to do of his good pleasure in our life, as Php 2:13 says. This desire to know God  is not merely an emotional response, but it is the true Christian’s fervent desire and willingness to obey the Bible implicitly, according to 1 John 2:3. The greatest and most perfect example of this is the Lord Jesus Himself, who testified in Heb 10:7, "...I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God”.

Php 3:10-11 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." 

Luke 1:77 “To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins.” 

Gal 4:9 “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God…” 

Psa 42:1  “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” 

Psa 73:25  “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” 

Isa 26:9a  “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early…” 

Php 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” 

1 John 2:3: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” 

Heb 10:7 “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.”

• I may Know The Power of His Resurrection - To know (or experience) “… the power of his resurrection…” has to do with the greatest display of God’s power as He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, even as He raises His elect from the dead spiritually. In 1 Pet 1:3, the phrase “… begotten us again unto a lively [living] hope…” is referring to being “born again”, or “born from above”. This is also referred to as "first resurrection" for a believer. This is a result of spiritually “hearing” the Gospel, as Rom 10:17 indicates. In fact, the Lord Jesus is intimately identified with the resurrection, as John 11:25 teaches.

Php 3:10-11 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."

Rom 6:5 “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

1 Cor 15:20-24  “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”

1 Pet 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively [living] hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

John 11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”

Rev 20:6 "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

Rom 10:17 “So then faith [or salvation] cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Rom 1:16  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power [dunamis] of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

• I may Know the Fellowship of His Sufferings - The Greek word for “fellowship” (koinonia:G2842) is found throughout the New Testament and relates to the salvation that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit establish for each of God’s elect children. All three Persons of the Holy Trinity are intimately involved in an individual’s redemption as 2 Cor 13:14 states. In Php 1:4-6 we also learn that our fellowship is “in the gospel”, or in the Word of God – the Bible. We discover another aspect of fellowship, or salvation, in 1 John 1:6-7. Here God highlights a vital facet of the Christian life as walking (or living) in “the light” as opposed to walking in “darkness”, which was our spiritual status prior to salvation. To identify with the “… fellowship of his sufferings…” is a prerequisite of the Christian life, as Rom 8:17 reminds us and is an Important Part of a Christian’s Life.  God uses adversity as a means for the child of God to “grow in grace”. Naturally, this process is by no means easy, as Heb 12:11 underscores. Yet, Rom 8:18 gives us much hope: It is noteworthy that even the Lord Jesus had to suffer both physically and, more importantly, spiritually as He endured the equivalent of eternal damnation in Hell for His people, as Heb 2:10 reminds us. 2 Cor 1:5-7 also reveals that God uses our own hardships to encourage others, who will one day face similar trials.

Php 3:10-11 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." 

Rom 8:17 “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” 

1 John 1:3 “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 

Php 1:4-6 “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he [God] which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” 

1 John 1:6-7 “If we say that we have fellowship  with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 

Heb 12:11 “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” 

Rom 8:18  “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” 

1 Pet 4:13 “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 

Heb 2:10 “For it became him [Lord Jesus], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” 

2 Cor 1:5-7 “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.” 

2 Cor 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ [God the Son], and the love of God [the Father], and the communion [fellowship - koinonia:G2842] of the Holy Ghost [God the Holy Spirit], be with you all. Amen.”