Philippians 3:10 – “oh, that I might know Christ, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death - notice this - if by any means I might attain to the resurrection from the dead”.
So he's saying: I'm doing these things - IF I might get to here. When there's always a word 'if', you know there's a possibility that you may not get there. You will catch the bus - 'if' you're on time. If you're not on time - you don't catch the bus.
He's saying: I do these things - I seek to know Him; I seek to discover the power of His resurrection. I seek to walk in the fellowship and friendship, connecting with Him over the rejection that often comes for being a Christian – “being conformed to His death, if by any means I might attain to the resurrection from the dead” - and the word resurrection here is a word used no other place in the Bible.
It's the word ‘Anastasis’ - resurrection is Anastasis, meaning ‘out from resurrection’ - the resurrection that causes people to stand up, stand out from everyone else that is dead. He's talking about the first resurrection; and notice what he goes on to say, in Philippians 3:13:
“Brethren. I press on, I do not count myself to apprehend, one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, reaching forward to the things which are ahead, I press to the goal for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let any of us who be mature, having that same mind, and if you're thinking differently, God will reveal it to you.”
Notice what he's saying: My whole life is motivated because of what I see is coming in the future. There is a day when there will be a first resurrection. I want to be in that resurrection. I want to be with Christ. I want to be part of that great resurrection.
Can you imagine what it'd be like to be living on the earth for a thousand years? You can never die, never suffer, never be put to death, never be corruptible; and you can now fulfil a mission for God - bringing the earth into the order that He intended it to be brought into.
What this is called is: the Hope of the Believer. This is called: the High Calling of God, in Jesus Christ.
Paul writes in Colossians 1:27 - “It's Christ in you, the hope one day you'll be filled with the glory of God” - your body will be resurrected, and you will walk this earth representing Him, just as He did after He was raised from the dead. What an amazing thing!
Notice what he says in Philippians’ 3:20 – “Our citizenship is in heaven, from where we eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus who will transform our lowly body, that it might be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working whereby He can subdue everything”.
It is not too difficult for God to do this thing. It is very clear, in that first resurrection, not all will rise, but there will be some who have died, who will rise from the dead; there will be some who are alive, who will be changed; and Christ will be seen in His people. What an amazing motivation for you and me to serve Him passionately, and to come into such a wonderful destiny that He has for us.
The Bible tells us that this resurrection life has already begun in you. Romans 8:11 says this: The same spirit, the Holy Spirit, who resurrected Jesus Christ, changed His body, joined Him back together, raised Him from the dead; when you became a Christian, that same spirit of God was put in you, that same Holy Ghost is in you.
Notice what he says: the same spirit, that was able to raise Jesus from the dead, can: quicken, energise, activate, and restore your mortal body. You can be filled with the life of God, because He's put His Holy Spirit in you. It's a resurrection spirit!