Anchor Scripture: Phil 3:1-10; 2Tim 2:1-5; Heb. 5:8
“that I may know him and the power of His resurrection and that fellowship of his suffering; being made conformable unto His death.” “Though he was a Son, yet learnt he obedience by the things which he suffered.”
Suffering could be defined as a feeling of pain, stress, distress, agony, adversity, affliction, anguish, rejection, hardship, misery, misfortune etc
It’s only Sons that can learn obedience. Are you are son or a daughter? If you are not, then you cannot know Him. Because He is a son, he knows he father, therefore any suffering he was passing through was not seen as wickedness. He was a son at the same time he was also a God, but He didn’t equate himself when it got to the time of learning obedience through suffering. So the first point of call is knowing Him and until you have known Him you are not qualified to be called a son. The Holy writ say, they that know their God shall be strong…….Do you know God? Do you want to be a son or a daughter? Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needed not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Until you know God you cannot be known. Same applies to business and life generally, until you have known something about the business venture you cannot be known by people. Never neglect training and development. God’s chastisement of us is a confirmation that we are His Children.
The power of His resurrection. Many have not known Him and they want to experience the power. Sorry it will be a mirage forever. The power, we are talking about here is the power that torpedo the walls of the grave open, the whims and caprices of the grave couldn’t contend with this power. How then can you possibly experience this power? This power is the power of Love, Sacrifice, Compassion, Humility; it is the power to get wealth also. It cannot be released unto you until you have sufficiently known him to the point of been called a Son. Power in the hand of an unknown person is like a loaded, cocked AK47 rifle in the hands of a 3yr old boy. He is playing with it like a toy and will sooner or later pull the trigger. He never usurps this power because of what he knew.
Many people today got into power and didn’t know anything, the best way to show it is to misuse it for victimization, vendetta and deformation of people character and pirate people’s work. When power finds its way in the wrong hands, abuse is surely the way out. The power of His resurrection will cause you to crave for other people’s welfare. It will make you realize that there is nothing that you have received that was not given to you by God. But I celebrate with you if you are a Son, because you have known him and that’s why the Holy Writ says, But, as many as received Him, to them He gave them power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. If you know Him, you have received Him and that is when it becomes impossible for you to abuse the power because it wasn’t yours in the first place. With this you can fellowship properly and correctly with His suffering.
The fellowship of His suffering. It’s not possible to know Him, experience the power of His resurrection and not fellowship in His suffering. That is incomplete understanding. Many at times when God is trying to prune you, you deliberately chicken out and severe yourself from the plan of God. Who are you to be made conformable unto His death you must have passed through and keep passing through these 3 stages? As long as we must live Godly we must learn to suffer persecution. Many people today also are quick to announce to people don’t you know “I am a Christian” or “I am a child of God”. Sorry as long as your life doesn’t produces the desired fruit which must be evident and you need to announce to the world, then you don’t even know Him, you had better go back to square one. By their fruits you shall know them. A mango doesn’t need to announce to the passerby, hey come here I am Mango or Cashew or Coconut; mere seeing you can identify the fruit. As will commemorate Easter this season, where do you stand? Do you know Him? Have you experience the power of His resurrection? Are you fellow-shipping in His suffering? Some of us because of status symbol feel we cannot be involved in some kind of assignments. Excuse me, Jesus, washed his disciples’ feet. Can you do that to your subordinates? You can’t accord ordinary respect to your fellow human being because you are not broken. You equate everything with money, status, achievement etc. Sorry until you are broken, you will not experience the level of breakthrough you are expecting. May I shock you, God will never answer your requests, because if He did for Jesus, He would have allowed the cup pass over him and you and I would have been wallowing in cataclysmic upheaval today. Yet He was a Son….. a son will keep on learning, at every stage of learning that you pass through successfully, it affirms your Son-ship. Hear this: there is a level of obedience that its only through suffering that you can learn it. Jesus our perfect example did it and if we will do greater work than He did like he said, it’s only divinely logical to suffer more than Him
Emmanuel Idenyi-Shaibu Esq. 