Tag: resurrection

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Philippians 3:10c-11 – The Unthinkable

Photograph of Auguste Rodin's statue called "The Thinker." (Pixabay)

… becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Summary: Paul’s words about “attaining to the resurrection from the dead” lead us to consider how we get to the point where we can actually understand what he is talking about.   

For some reason, people don’t like to think about death. 

People have different reactions to the topic. Some of us obsess about death, some ignore it or make jokes about it. Human psychology has a variety of ways to deal with the unthinkable. 

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Philippians 3:10a – Life & Death

a picture of a wilderness scene at sunset. In the center of the image stands a doorframe by itself. The door is open and a bright white light beams out through the doorframe into the twilight. (Grok)

 I want to know Christ—

Summary: Paul has been talking about his relationship with Jesus. In this passage, he looks forward to something most people fear.   

These five words, “I want to know Christ —,“ are a stunning statement coming from a man who has actually MET the risen Lord Jesus (Acts 9). He was personally chosen by Jesus to be the Apostle to the Gentile world (Acts 9:15). Paul received his Gospel by direct revelation from Christ (Titus 1:3). Paul knows Christ rather well. 

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Luke 24: 1-3 – Three Days Dead

A picture of ancient Jerusalem in the morning light with the words "Happy Easter!"

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning… They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

Summary: This mediation is a bit longer than normal. It is a look back at Jesus’ time in the tomb. Many more details could be covered, but I thought it worthwhile to look back at what happened as we ponder the mystery of a God who became man and the Son of Man who became a sacrifice for our sin. 

Our modern calendar still counts Sunday as the “first day of the week,” but what has changed from Jesus’ day is how we count the start of the day. Genesis records the first “day” beginning in the evening (Genesis 1:5), so for Jews, their Sunday begins at sundown on Saturday. 

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Colossians 2:14b – Fixing a Boo-Boo

… which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 

Cross with small notes (representing sins) nailed to it.

Summary: The concept of having our sins nailed to the cross is hard to understand. Looked at through the lens of the Old Testament, it begins to make more sense. 

Paul is working very hard to explain Jesus to us. He begins with Jesus is the “fullness of the Deity … in bodily form” (v 9). Theologians have a lot of fancy words to describe what this means, but they know less than Paul did because Paul had actually met Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). 

Notice Paul’s careful wording: “For in Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives …” Jesus describes it this way: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). We are not supposed to understand how this works. Instead, we are expected to believe Jesus and Paul and take them at their word. 

So, God himself becomes man in the form of Jesus. What then? 

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