05/11/2011 - Important instructions

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That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death

Philippians 3:10

We find in the Scriptures all the necessary information for us to fulfil the duties given by the Lord to all men and, particularly, to each one of us. We also find in them the instructions on what we should do in order to have full knowledge of four facts of extreme importance: (1) Who our Lord is; (2) What the power of His resurrection is; (3) How to share in His sufferings and (4) why we should become like him in His death. Those who understand and experience each one of them will, undoubtedly, do the divine will in a manner that is pleasant to the Lord and as a result they will be successful.

We should heed this biblical statement and strive to live it to the fullest. According to the Apostle Paul each item means a goal and to achieve them it is necessary to deem irrelevant all other things. Just as it is important for a castaway to spot firm land and get to it, there is nothing more important for us than understanding what those blessings represent and taking possession of them.

Paul’s most intense desire was to get to know Christ. Well, Jesus is God. He was the Person of the divine Trinity who created all things. He is the divine Verb without which nothing could be made (John 1:1-4). The Lord is almighty and extremely intelligent. When we look at a picture from the outer space, with millions of bright small dots, we can feel how powerful He is because He created all things out of nothing and He keeps them in orbit by the Word of His power. So, faced with all the wonders created by God why is He so interested in the human race? And, most particularly, why is He so interested in you and me? We need to know and seek that Father who loves us so much.

Darkness could not deter Jesus when The Spirit of God revived Him. The power that operated in Him was – and it will always be – so intense that all demons had to fall onto the ground. Satan, their leader, saw the Lord taking from his hand the key of death and hell (Revelation 1:10-18). Christ resurrected. What authority! What majesty! That same power was the one that the Apostle Paul strove to get to know. How blessed we will be when we also obtain such understanding!

To Paul the fellowship with His sufferings was important. The Savior was oppressed so that we could be free. If we do not understand that truth, the enemy will tempt us, for instance, with forbidden passions which, in some cases, we may succumb to. On the other hand, once we have with that biblical understanding, we will live above temptations, diseases and other problems.

The Apostle Paul wanted to be conformed to His death, knowing that Jesus died for him as He paid the necessary price for those that believe in Him to be delivered from all oppression. In Christ’s death everything that we need to become successful is found. Those are great challenges for us! What will you do about it?

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares