Monday, June 2, 2008

THAT I MAY KNOW HIM...

PERSONALLY KNOWING THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION

Phil 3:10

10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
KJV

All of this raises a couple of questions: Where is the power of God among Christians today? And what are we doing wrong that we have missed it?

To answer these questions, we must understand that Christians can have three different kinds of “knowledge”: Firstly, we can have head knowledge of the Scriptures which is good and great, but it really doesn’t help much with real life, unless that knowledge is coupled with God’s power to perform His will in our lives. Secondly, we have experiential knowledge of the power of God. And, again, that’s good and great, but without an understanding of what God’s will is as stated in His Word; there is no way to know if what we are doing is right. [Matthew 6:10 and Luke 11:2 are the two passages in Scripture that tells us what God’s will is]
Matt 6:10

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
KJV

Luke 11:2

2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
KJV

That explains why we are admonished in Matt. 6:33 to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…..

And thirdly, we can have both knowledge of God’s will and experiential knowledge of His power to perform that will in our lives which is the ultimate goal and God’s purpose for us. Be reminded that His purpose given in Gen. 1:26, 28 is to have dominion (in His kingdom).

We must not only intimately know Christ, but also know the power of His resurrection. This is the power to cancel our past, the power to conquer our present problems and the power to change our future. Then, we’ll be able to overcome the world, the flesh, and the evil one, proclaim the message of Christ and have the assurance of a place in the future kingdom.

The resurrection power of God is a steady flow of energy that is not dependent upon our own understanding, our own emotions or our circumstances, but simply upon our choice to believe God’s Word and, then, trust Him to implement that Word in our lives.

The answer to the above questions then – Where is the power of God among Christians these days? And, what are we doing wrong that we are missing it? – Just like God’s love, His resurrection power is quenched among many Christians today because they have chosen to hang on to their own sin and self, rather than confess and repent of it and lay it at the Cross. There are others who have been stuck in the rut of their traditions (thinking they understand the Word, when in fact, they miss what God is saying). God’s dunamis power is still in their hearts, but like God’s love, it’s unable to come forth in their lives because that is what Satan really wants. Once we come to a mature knowledge of the Word all this will change.

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