That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; [11] If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11 KJV
The idea of suffering seemed to be something the early disciples of the lamb embraced with great Joy to the point that Paul prayed to be a joint participator of the sufferings of Christ. Paul was not alone in this, Peter and John went home rejoicing after taking a beating for Christ, Acts 5:40-41. They felt privileged that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ. It was as though these disciples wore this as a badge of honour and rightfully so. Not a lot of Christians today share the same enthusiasm to pray to suffer discomfort, talk more of praying to suffer for Christ. To be fair, no suffering is fun to a normal human being. There must have been something beyond human recognition or comprehension that persuaded the disciples to rejoice when afflicted, Matthew 5:11-12. It must have been the same thing that made Moses turn down his right to the throne in the biggest empire in his days to suffer affliction with the people of God, Hebrews 11:24-27.
Before we explore this, we’d need to state what the sufferings of Christ is NOT. If a person committed a crime against the law, doing something outside of God’s will and is being punished, they are suffering for themselves and not Christ, 1 Peter 2:20. Also, There are basic provisions that are available to all believers in Christ. If a believer is hungry for bread and does not have the basic necessity for life due to severe poverty, they need to pray and claim what is rightfully theirs, Matthew 6:8, Psalm 37:35, Exodus 23:25. This is an affliction. Part of the covenant is that the Lord will supply our needs, not necessarily wants. Sickness is also not suffering for Christ. Christ came to deal with sicknesses and to ensure our health, Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24. There was never a person recorded who came to him sick and he sent away, Acts 10:38, Luke 4:40, Matthew 4:24. He healed ALL who were oppressed of diseases. While sickness is as a result of the fall, Christ died that we live in health and it is not fair or right for His children to suffer again when He shed his blood for their healing. Sickness is also an affliction and health is our right in the covenant.
Now that this is clear, what is the suffering of Christ and why would apostle Paul pray to partake of it?
Jesus said ‘ Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. [Whoever has no love for, no concern for, no regard for his life here on earth, but despises it, preserves his life forever and ever]. If anyone serves Me, he must continue to follow Me [to cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying] and wherever I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:25-26 AMPC. He also said that if a person is reviled and suffers for his name sake, their reward is great in heaven, Mathew 5:11-12. It is like the principle of giving to receive. The more of your life you give up for the Kingdom sake, the more you will receive, pressed down, shaken together and running over in rewards. Hence, Paul said every of his achievement was dung!, Phillippians 3:7-8. This doesn’t always translate to dying physically, but actually having little to no regard for ones life here on earth. The persecution is a plus.
That said, God does have certain criteria for rewarding, because He is fair. You cannot just put yourself in harms way and claim suffering for Christ. It must be done in and because of love, if not it is a huge waste, 1 corinthians 13:3. Imagine someone giving his life up so that people will praise them, only to have no reward before God because it was not done in love!, Matthew 6:2. You also do not need to go looking for it, God will faithfully bring these incidences for our purification. The Joy though is going through this suffering in koinonia or fellowship with Him. The three Hebrew boys knew what this meant, when they met the fourth man in the fire, Daniel 3. Paul in 2 corinthians 4:7-12 said he was hard pressed but not destroyed, why? Because in his trial, there was an immediate reward as well as the one to come, the life of God being made manifest in his body. Stephen saw this just before being killed, Acts 7:54-60, John saw this on the Isle of Patmos. This is part of the promise, that there is a unique level of intimacy and an awareness in suffering with Christ that is a reward on its own, a unique revelation of His person, Isaiah 43:1-2.
Yet in all this, suffering in itself to a normal man who has not known Christ or the power of His resurrection is far from a delight. Jesus was able to endure the cross simply because He knew the God He served and the glory and the reward set before Him, Hebrews 12:2. Whether we like it or not, hard times will come, times that will try our faith, Jesus promised it in John 16:33. However, there is a unique koinonia that can be experienced in these times for all who hope in His salvation. There are unique stories of martyrs of old who ran to lions in the arena, saints who made statements like “I will not go to my Lord looking like a mourner” and stood head high in the midst of a crowd cheering for their death, saints who preached the gospel to their persecutors while hanging on a cross. No normal human can do this, unless they’ve known the depth of intimacy and fellowship that comes when they disregarded their live completely and had the God of the universe walk with them in the fire.
Prayer for today: Holy Spirit, God of peace and comfort. Thank you for always comforting me in my afflictions. Thank you because the light afflictions I may face today are nothing to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in me at Your appearing. Lord, I want to know You and the Power of Your resurrection and the deep and sweet fellowship that comes when I partake of Your suffering, that I may be made conformable to Your death and lay hold of what I was apprehended for. I will be of good cheer, because You overcame and I will too in You! Amen.
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