Experiencing Resurrection Power

UV 2197/10000 Experiencing the Resurrection Power
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before
Philippians 3 v 13

Paul never thought that he had attained his goal of knowing Christ, becoming like Him and making Him known. He was pressing towards that goal of the high calling he had received from Christ. In the past, he had zeal without true knowledge. It led him to put his entire faith in the works of the flesh, in Hebrew rituals and rites like circumcision. His zeal caused him to persecute and put to death the followers of Jesus. But, after he encountered Christ in a vision and heard His voice, his perspective on life and his life goals, his priorities completely changed. He then began to experience the miraculous , tremendous and supernatural power of the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection power which is at work in all believers puts to death our faith in the works of the flesh, in mere rituals and traditions. The guilt and pride of our past is left behind and we are called to strive to attain our hope in Christ of eternal life and the abundant life. There is no room in our hearts or minds for complacency or misplaced confidence. The result would be that just as there is a clear divide in history between BC and AD in terms of human progress in all aspects, so also our BC and AD days would be completely distinct. While death will be at work in our flesh and its works, the resurrection power of Jesus is at work in our spirits. Our memories of the past will fade while our hope in eternity and our joy in the present moment will be revived.

The single-mindedness of the apostle Paul is the trait that manger leaders and managers should imbibe and imitate. We need to forget the achievements and failures of our BC or before Christ days, the bitterness and frustration as well as the things that were a source of pride and belief in our past. All our activities, our subsidiary aims and goals should be subordinated to our chief goal of being like Jesus and glorifying His name. This kind of single-mindedness or dedication enabled Paul to have the greatest impact on the early church and early believers. He was willing to pay any price to attain his supreme goal.

Unlike Lot’s wife, we should not look back at what we left behind us in following Jesus. Our focus like Paul should be on Jesus, the author who began our life of faith with God and on Jesus, the one who set His eyes like flint on the cross, on Jesus who is resurrected and glorified at the right hand of the Father. We need to run patiently our race of faith. We need to press on despite the naysayers, the criticisms, the persecution, the opposition, the hostility, the sufferings. We need to lean on the Lord for strength and guidance and not on our own limited strength. We need to believe that the Lord who has brought us this far would take us the entire distance and thereafter, take us to His right side.

Prateep V Philip