The Power of His Resurrection

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection Phil. 3:10
Pauls passion was to deepen his knowledge of Christ. He was not re-
ferring to his intellectual knowledge of Christ. He was speaking of a
spiritual knowledge of ChristOf experiencing Christ in a greater way.
Paul met the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus 30 years ear-
lier. He already experienced the power of His resurrection when he was
saved (Eph. 1:19-20). However, Paul longed to know the POWER of
Christs resurrection in his daily experience.
The power of His resurrection is...
I. EXPLAINED in the Scriptures
A. CERTAIN in its evidential power. Christ showed Himself alive
by many infallible proofs!

It is the foundation upon which all Christianity stands. It is

the cornerstone of our faith! Paul wrote, If Christ be not
raised, then is our preaching vain... your faith is vain: ye are
yet in your sins.
A teacher gave her class an assignment to write an essay on the
world's greatest living man. Some wrote about the president or
about members of Congress. Others wrote about entertainers or
an athlete. One boy wrote about Jesus Christ. When the teacher
received his paper she said, "Billy, you misunderstood the as-
signment. You were to write on the world's greatest living man."
Billy answered, "But teacher, Jesus is alive!"
B. COMPLETE in its justifying power. Romans 4:25 says Christ
was delivered up for our offenses [cross or ChristPaid for our
sin], and was raised again for our justification [conquering of
Christsecured our justification]. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of Gods elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that
condemneth? Christ died, yea rather, is risen again! (Rom.
8:33-34).
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C. CONVINCING in its quickening power. We are raised up to-
gether to walk in newness of life. (Eph. 2:1).
D. COMFORTING in its certifying power. Acts 17:3 [God] hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead. What greater proof could there be that Christs pay-
ment for sin on the cross is accepted? ...That Satan is defeated?
...That the power of death is broken? ...That Christ is truly sinless
the Son of God? Romans 1:4 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ
our Lord And declared to be the Son of God with power by
the resurrection from the dead.
E. CREDIBLE it its demonstrative power. Jesus said, Destroy this
temple and in three days I will raise it up. Jesus said it, and His
resurrection demonstrates it!
II. EXHIBITED in Christ.
A. In His victory over SELF.
1. Jesus never lived for Himself. He lived to please the Father
and do His will. He said, I do always those things that please
him. Paul testified, For even Christ pleased not himself; but,
as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee
fell on me. Jesus never sought to do His own will, and
prayed, not my will, but thine, be done.
2. He denied Himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross.
3. The empty grave attests to His complete victory over self.
B. In His victory over SIN.

If Jesus had sinned one time, He would still be in the grave

along with everyone else who has sinned. But, because Christ
was sinless, as Peter put it, God hath raised up, having loosed
the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should
be holden of it (Acts 2:24).
C. In His victory over SATAN.
A. Satan sought to stop Christ from the time God prophesied his
defeat in the Garden of Eden until Christs death on Calvary.
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B. Satan tried to kill Him as a babe in Bethlehem !He tried to
tempt Him to sin in the wilderness !He sought to have a
mob throw Him off a cliff !He sought to hold Him in the
grave since he held the power of death (Heb. 2:14).
C. Jesus arose triumphant from the tomb! He came out with the
keys of death and hell that He had wrenched from Satans
clutches (Rev. 1:18).
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph ore His foes
III. EXPERIENCED in the believer.

How many of you believe in the RESURRECTION of Christ?

But how does Christs resurrection IMPACT our lives? What DIF-
FERENCE does it make?
!The power of Christs resurrection is...
A. Power to silence atheism. They cannot explain the empty tomb.
B. Power to raise Christianity above all other religions.

All other religions record the death of their leader and they are
all still dead. Buddha claimed to have the answers to eternal
death. But where is Buddha. Six feet under. No power there.
Mohammed claimed to have the way to eternal life, but where
is Mohammed, dead and buried. No resurrection power there.

Only Christianity records the resurrection of its founder.

Without the resurrection, Christianity would be as weak as any
other religion.
C. Power to remove the fear of deathYou cant scare me with
heaven.
D. Power to dismiss the sorrow of departed loved ones. 1 Thess.
4:13, 14 I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, con-
cerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as oth-
ers which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring
with him.
E. Power to raise a sinner from spiritual death (Eph. 1:18-23).
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F. Power to give victory over sin. The power that enabled Jesus to
overcome death is the same power that gives us victory over sin.
A Frenchman decided to become an English citizen. Someone
asked him why. He said, "Well, among other things, I find that
now, instead of losing the Battle of Waterloo, I've won it."
The power of the resurrection makes us winners! We do not
have to live a defeated life, enslaved to sin. Just as Jesus de-
feated sin and Satan, by His resurrection power we can overcome
the world, the flesh, and the devil.
IV. ELEVATING at the second coming.

The context of Phil. 3:10 is the Christians resurrection (vs. 11,

20, 21). The power of his resurrection will be culminated at
Christs return! "And God both raised up the Lord and will also
raise us up by His power" (1 Cor. 6:14).
A. It is a SUBDUING power (3:21b). This subduing power is in opera-
tion today by subduing evil tempers unruly tongues enslav-
ing habits lust pride fear jealousy and inordinate affec-
tions.
B. It is a TRANSFORMING power (3:21). Just as He will change our
vile bodies to be fashioned like His glorified body, His resurrec-
tion power can change us into His likeness now.
SUMMATION: Go over to light switch. Here is a source of power. When I
turn on this switch power in the form of electricity flows through the
switch and into the lightbulb, thus giving us light.
Now in the case of this power notice four things:
1. The light switch is NECESSARY to make the light work. If I ignore
this switch the light will not come on.
!The power of the resurrection is also necessary to get us to do the
work God has for us. Just as without power the light will not light,
with out the power of the resurrection we will cannot hope to do the
things of God.
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2. The switch is what TRANSFERS the power to the lightbulb. The
electricity must go through the switch in order for the light to work.
!It is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ that power is trans-
ferred to us.
3. I have FAITH that the switch will indeed work. I have faith that
power will reach the light when I turn this switch.
!Just as we are confident when we turn on that switch at home we
know that the light will come, we need to be confident in the power
of the resurrection. Know that you have the power at work in you to
do all things.
4. This power is USELESS if I do not use it. I would sit here in the
dark if I did not use this switch to bring power to that lightbulb.
!If we do not use the power in us what good is it. It is useless. Just
as if we do not turn on the switch and use the power in our homes
we will sit in darkness. If we do not use the power in us, not only
will we sit in darkness, but others will sit in darkness as well.
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