The Fellowship Of His Sufferings

…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
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21

What is the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings? If we are going to attempt to arrive at an answer, we are going to have to come to some conclusions about His sufferings. What were Christ’s sufferings? We may cite a number of things that qualify. Christ suffered desertion by His friends. He suffered treatment as a criminal, in spite of His innocence. He suffered abuse because of His message. He suffered ridicule because of His claims. He suffered misunderstanding, some from ignorance and others from willfulness. Paul remarked that he wanted to know Christ ‘and the fellowship of His sufferings.’ What does that mean? It meant he would endure similar treatment. By this treatment, he would come to know, understand and identify with Christ. By these experiences, he would grow to be like Christ. This would extend even to dying as Christ had, as an innocent person, executed by an indifferent ruler. Thus, Paul understood the whole of what it means to say, ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’ Few things cause our flesh to shrink back as much as this does. Yet it is the way of Christ and of all who follow Him.

Our Good and Gracious God,
we rejoice that You have set Christ before us
as our ultimate example.
We praise You that, as we follow Him,
we grow to be like Him.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning