Power in Weakness: Embracing Christ's Suffering and Triumph

In the Christian Life and we get that balanced diet as we read through the entire Bible uh as a whole and that leads us nicely into something else we we are going to encounter in the Bible as we read and we're actually going to encounter this together over the next 2 Days in the Navigator's Bible reading plan uh we're going to be reading together Philippians 3: 8-1 as we do it reminds me of a couple mistakes to avoid in the Christian Life specifically about our precious Savior Jesus Christ. [00:00:19]

Paul holds together both of these glorious realities of Christ's weakness and his power uh and then he braids them together into our experience of the Christian Life it's a remarkable example of theology in application uh as Paul wants us to experience Christ in the power of his resurrection as we share care in his sufferings becoming like him in his death uh in other words we experience his Victorious power not by Escaping The Suffering of this life but by enduring the suffering of this life. [00:01:09]

He tries to speak the gospel but was spurned by the leaders and the people in this Village so discouraged exhausted he goes to the edge of the village and lies down under a tree and sleeps when he wakes up the whole town was gathered to hear him and the headman of the village explained that they had come out while he was asleep to look at him and they saw his blistered feet and they concluded that he must be a holy man and that they had been wronged to reject him and they were sorry and and they wanted to hear the message that he was willing to suffer so much to bring them. [00:02:18]

From the beginning of Christianity in the ministry of Jesus to this very day people have failed to recognize what I would call and and you've pointed out now in Philippians what I would call the precious upside down logic of Salvation namely that power comes through weakness the power of Christ comes through our weakness and salvation comes through our suffering. [00:03:37]

It was precisely by refusing to save himself that Jesus Jesus was able to save others or to say it another way, Jesus was able to save others in spite of their sin because he refused to save himself in spite of his righteousness so as you said Tony this weaving together of weakness and power, suffering and salvation is carried right through the Bible and Christ suffered not to spare Us in this life our suffering but to show us how to suffer to give us power to suffer and in our suffering to experience the Triumph of his salvation both for ourselves and for others through suffering. [00:04:24]

Paul says that with this already salvation that he've tasted as being clothed with the righteousness of of God in Christ he says his aim is to know God or to know Christ in two ways and here they come first that I may know the power of his resurrection and second that I may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death in other words that I may they may know a share of his sufferings in my own life that by any means possible I might attain the resurrection of the dead. [00:06:00]

Paul put together these two great Christian aspirations I want to know his power the kind of power that raises the dead and I want to live and minister in that power and I want to embrace a life of sacrifice and suffering as God Wills in the service of his mission the salvation of Sinners the building up of the church and what confuses a lot of people people and creates the Prosperity Gospel is that the only conception we have many of us of resurrection power is that of course it will keep Paul from suffering that's what power is for right what else is resurrection power for except to protect us and keep us from suffering and the answer is no that's not the way that's it's upside down not in this life for Christians living for the Salvation of others. [00:06:30]

The power of Jesus was not used to escape the cross and in Paul's life and our lives the present power of the Resurrection gives life to other people through our sacrifices and then in the end Paul hopes through that to attain the resurrection from the dead so here's an illustration of how this worked in Paul's life this is 2 Corinthians 48 we are afflicted in every way but not crushed perplexed but not driven to despair persecuted but not forsaken struck down but not destroyed always carrying in the body of the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies so death is at work in us but life in you. [00:07:35]

Paul's suffering his carrying the death of Jesus in his scars is the way the power of the Resurrection brought life to other people death is working in us life is working in you through our suffering through our sacrifices the power of the Resurrection did not keep Paul from sacrifices it turned his sacrifices into manifestations of love lifegiving power in the salvation of Sinners and as he said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 Christ's power is made perfect in my weakness. [00:08:30]

People don't fall in love with the worth and beauty and greatness of Jesus because they look at Rich healthy comfortable Christians they don't if that's all they see why wouldn't they just conclude that we live for the same worldly things they do if that produces conversion it's not conversion to Jesus but to more money what wins people to the infinite Beauty and worth of Jesus is that they see people for whom Jesus is so precious that they are willing to endure suffering to follow him. [00:09:14]

Philippians 3:10 says I want to know him in the these two ways his power that gives life and his sufferings that cost life he wasn't confused he had been mastered and formed by Jesus who saved us with his omnipotent power through suffering and death yeah suffering missionaries are the only kind of missionaries that God uses um that power in weakness Dynamic is so so important and it's so clear in the Bible. [00:09:55]

Most of the time we talk about getting truth from our minds into our hearts right that's typically how we talk about it's not exactly a wrong way to speak of the process it's just not the whole story because also true is that the heart governs what the Mind focuses on. [00:11:08]