I May Know Him: Resurrection Power and Suffering

Devotional

Day 1: The Lifelong Education of Knowing Christ

Like a couple growing through decades of shared life, knowing Christ requires intentional time and curiosity. This relationship isn’t built in a single moment but through daily conversations, listening, and walking through seasons of joy and trial together. Just as spouses learn each other’s dreams and wounds, believers must pursue Christ’s heart through Scripture and prayer. To settle for surface knowledge is to miss the depth of communion He offers. True knowing reshapes priorities, habits, and desires. [36:19]

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8, ESV)

Reflection: What practical step could you take this week to move beyond “knowing about” Jesus to truly knowing Him? How might your schedule or priorities shift to make space for this?

Day 2: Resurrected Power Over Zombie Habits

The resurrection isn’t just a historical event but a present reality breaking sin’s paralysis. Like cold blood warming in a revived body, Christ’s power jumpstarts deadened hearts to live differently. This power isn’t about spectacle but the quiet miracle of choosing holiness over familiar compromises. When old patterns tempt you to play dead, resurrection life says, “You’re no longer enslaved—walk!” [56:27]

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5, ESV)

Reflection: What “zombie habit” have you been tolerating as normal? How might embracing your resurrected identity change your next response to this struggle?

Day 3: Suffering’s Unexpected Intimacy

Shared suffering deepens relationships—a truth as real in marriage as in walking with Christ. Trials strip away self-reliance, creating space to discover God’s nearness in new ways. Like a couple clinging together during loss, hardship can become holy ground where faith moves from theory to raw dependence. Suffering doesn’t earn salvation but schools us in Christ’s heart. [01:09:15]

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12–13, ESV)

Reflection: When has a past trial unexpectedly drawn you closer to Christ? How might your current challenges become a doorway to deeper fellowship with Him?

Day 4: Becoming Through Breaking

A shattered vase can’t reassemble itself, but in Christ’s hands, brokenness becomes reshaping. Suffering sanctifies not by pain itself but by how it cracks open our pride, making room for Christ’s character. Like a husband learning patience through marital strain, believers discover grace’s texture when life fractures their illusions of control. [01:10:51]

“And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:17, ESV)

Reflection: What area of your life feels “broken” right now? How might God be using this fracture to mold you into Christ’s image rather than simply “fixing” your circumstances?

Day 5: The Glory Beyond the Grind

Married couples endure mundane chores and hard conversations for the prize of decades-deep love. Similarly, present sufferings gain meaning when viewed through resurrection’s lens. Each obedient “no” to sin, each tearful prayer, each costly yes to Christ stocks eternal glory’s treasury. The grind isn’t the end—it’s the road home. [01:13:17]

“That by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:11–12, ESV)

Reflection: What daily obedience feels wearisome? How might remembering your future resurrection reframe this struggle as preparation for eternal joy?

Sermon Summary

Paul sets one clear aim in Philippians 3:10–11: “that I may know him.” The earlier gains of verses 4–9 stand as loss beside the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. A marriage picture helps carry the point: a covenant does not end at the ceremony; a lifetime of shared life deepens the bond. So also, Paul refuses to treat conversion as an end point. Salvation opens a relationship that must grow into personal, experiential, and complete knowledge of Jesus. Scripture frames this as the very reason humans exist. Jeremiah calls boasting to rest in “understands and knows me,” and God says he desires “the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” David’s thirst for God names the ache of a soul made to know him.

That pursuit has a plain path. Conversation builds relationship. God speaks by the written word and by the Spirit; believers speak in prayer. Time is the difference between skimming facts and real communion. If a husband’s calling is to be a learner of his wife, a Christian’s calling is to be a learner of Christ. Excuses about busyness expose desire. Where there is love, time is made.

Paul then names the engine of change: “the power of his resurrection.” He is not dwelling on stones rolling or guards trembling. He is tracing what happened to people who met the risen Jesus and were filled with the Spirit. The apostles moved from hiding to boldness. More, union with the risen Lord reverses spiritual death. “Even when dead… he made us alive together with Christ.” “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above.” Romans 6 ties it tight: united with him in death and in a resurrection like his, believers are no longer enslaved to sin but alive to God. Knowing resurrection power means living under a new dominion.

Then Paul asks for the intimacy of “sharing his sufferings.” He does not mean adding to Christ’s atonement. He means koinonia with Christ in the kinds of trials that come from belonging to him. That can look like opposition for loyalty to Jesus, sacrificial obedience that chooses faithfulness over comfort, fellowship with Christ that sweetens in hard seasons, and a sanctifying conformity, “becoming like him in his death.” Suffering humbles, purifies, and presses dependence until Christ’s likeness takes shape.

Verse 11 lifts the eyes to the end: “that… I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” The pattern matches Christ’s own story: suffering, death, then glory. Present fellowship and future hope belong together. If resurrection glory awaits, then knowing Christ now is worth every cost, and the church should make time to know him this week like a faithful spouse never stops learning the beloved.

Key Takeaways

1. Knowing Jesus is the main aim [35:59] Knowing about Christ and doing things for Christ cannot replace knowing Christ. Paul treats conversion as the doorway into a lifelong relationship that moves from facts to fellowship. Scripture, prayer, and time cultivate the kind of knowledge that satisfies the soul because it partakes of the living God. [35:59]
2. Resurrection power changes daily life [55:25] Union with the risen Christ breaks sin’s dominion and raises a person into newness of life. Boldness before the world and holiness before God flow from being made alive together with him. Sanctification is not self-improvement; it is resurrection power at work in the ordinary grind. [55:25]
3. Fellowship grows through shared suffering [01:00:56] Koinonia with Christ includes tasting what loyalty to him costs. Opposition, costly obedience, and trials can either harden the heart or deepen communion; Paul chooses deeper communion. Suffering received in faith becomes a meeting place where Christ’s presence is known and character is formed. [60:56]
4. Future resurrection steadies present obedience [01:11:17] Paul endures now with the end in view, seeking to “attain the resurrection from the dead.” Glory ahead reframes loss, makes sacrifice sane, and keeps the church from living only for comfort. The pattern is Christ’s own: cross first, crown after, and that promise gives ballast to every hard yes. [71:17]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[29:57] - How couples know each other
[34:14] - From works to knowing Christ
[35:59] - “That I may know him”
[38:06] - Knowing Christ is eternal life
[41:23] - Invitation to know Jesus by faith
[48:24] - Word, Spirit, and prayer
[50:27] - The power of His resurrection
[55:25] - United with Christ, new life
[60:56] - Sharing in His sufferings
[63:01] - What sharing sufferings looks like
[68:30] - Suffering that deepens fellowship
[70:08] - Becoming like Him through trials
[71:17] - Hope of the final resurrection
[74:19] - Make knowing Christ the pursuit

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Philippians 3:10–11 (ESV)
10 …that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Observation questions

What four specific desires does Paul express in Philippians 3:10–11 for his relationship with Christ?
How does the sermon compare growing in marriage to growing in knowledge of Christ? (See [31:50])
According to the sermon, what practical tools does God provide for believers to know Him better? (See [48:24])
What two key effects of Christ’s resurrection power are highlighted in the sermon? (See [55:25])

Interpretation questions

Why might Paul connect “knowing Christ” with “sharing his sufferings” in the same sentence (v. 10)? How do these ideas reinforce one another?
The sermon argues that resurrection power is not just about boldness but about breaking sin’s dominion. How does Romans 6:4–5 (referenced in [57:18]) support this?
How does the analogy of marriage ([34:14]) help explain the difference between knowing about Christ and truly knowing Him?
In what ways does future resurrection hope (v. 11) shape how believers endure present hardships, according to the sermon?

Application questions

“Knowing Christ is eternal life” (John 17:3). What practical step could you take this week to prioritize relational knowledge of Jesus over merely accumulating facts about Him? (See [45:56])
The sermon warns that busyness often exposes misplaced desires ([49:22]). Where do you need to make time for Christ this week, and what might that require saying “no” to?
Resurrection power breaks sin’s control. What area of your life (e.g., habits, attitudes, relationships) most needs this power to bring “newness of life” (Romans 6:4)?
Suffering can either push us toward or away from Christ ([08:53]). Share a trial you’ve faced recently. How did it affect your dependence on God, and what might “sharing in Christ’s sufferings” look like in that situation?
The sermon challenges believers to view daily obedience as preparation for future resurrection glory ([13:17]). What mundane or difficult choice this week could you reframe as an investment in eternal joy?

Sermon Clips

41s

“``So as we come to the end of this passage, the question is not simply, do you know about Jesus? The question I've asked all the way through this is, do you know him? Paul had a lot of religious credentials that he could want, yet he counted them as loss as he discovered something infinitely greater, and that was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So let me ask you, is knowing Christ truly the pursuit of your life?”

29s

“Knowing Jesus is the only thing that matters. See, everything in life at some point will disappoint you. Even even we talk about our spouse. At some point, our spouses will disappoint us, but Jesus will never disappoint us. He's the only one. And so the question I ask, if you're here today and you don't know Christ, I'm a ask you, to to get to know Jesus. Do you have this desire to know him?”

37s

“Knowing Jesus and knowing, and him knowing you should be of utmost importance in your life. It should be what you what drives you in everything you do. Your eternity rests on that. And so, church family, I wanna ask you this question, and this is what I wanna dive into today, and this is what I want you to think about. Do you know Jesus? Now I'm not just talking about this this moment that you had of salvation. What I'm asking you is this, is do you have a relationship with your savior?”

31s

“And what rises to top is knowing God. In fact, God has created us to be in a relationship with him. Do you understand that? When God made Adam and Eve, he made Adam and Eve with this incredible desire to know more about God and to have a relationship with God. In fact, that is what it means part of what it means when it says we're made in the image of God. We're made relationally to know God, and that's what we're created for.”

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