Pursuing Christ toward the Goal to Attain to the Out-Resurrection from the Dead

The result of being conformed to Christ’s death is that we attain to the out-resurrection from the dead, which means that our entire being is gradually and continually resurrected (Phil. 3:10-11).

The apostle Paul was our pattern in the Lord; his desire was to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith.

Deep within Paul was an aspiration that his whole being would be saturated with Christ so that he would be found in Christ. He wanted to be found in Christ in the condition of not having his own righteousness but the righteousness of God, that is, by taking Christ as his subjective, lived-out righteousness.

This was so that he would know Christ in an experiential way; he wanted to experience Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, and to attain to the out-resurrection from the death.

On one hand we need to have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ and, on the other, we need to have the experiential knowledge of Him. This means that we don’t only need to know Christ but also gain Christ, that is, pay the price to experience, enjoy, and take possession of all His unsearchable riches by paying a price.

We all need to know Christ by experiencing Him, enjoying Him, being one with Him, and having Him live within us; in this way we will know Him by both revelation and experience.

Our aspiration should be like Paul’s, to know the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.

The Spirit has Christ and His resurrection compounded in Him, and this Spirit is mingled with our spirit. So if today we put ourselves aside and remain under the death of the cross, we will experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, and this will be for the building up of the Body.

First we experience the power of Christ’s resurrection, and by this power we are then enabled to participate in His sufferings; these sufferings are mainly for Christ’s Body, the church.

Christ’s death is the mold into which we are put, and being conformed to Christ’s death is the base to the experience of Christ.

Actually, when we’re conformed to the death of Christ, we experience Christ in His death for the release, impartation, and multiplication of life, and the Father is glorified.

Our entire being is Gradually Resurrected until we Attain to the Out-Resurrection from the Dead

The result of us being conformed to the death of Christ is that we attain to the out-resurrection from the dead, which will be a prize to the overcomers (Phil. 3:11).

What is this “out-resurrection from the dead”? It is an outstanding resurrection, an extra-resurrection, which will be a prize to the overcoming saints.

When the Lord returns, all believers who are dead in Christ will participate in the resurrection from the dead (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52); however, the overcoming saints will enjoy an extra, an outstanding portion of that resurrection.

This is the “better resurrection” mentioned in Heb. 11:35, which is not only “the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:4-6) or the “resurrection of life” (John 5:28-29), but also the out-resurrection, the resurrection in which the Lord’s overcomers will receive the reward of the kingdom, which the apostle Paul sought after.

How can we arrive to this out-resurrection from the dead? It is by having our entire being gradually and continually resurrected.

First, in regeneration, God resurrects our deadened spirit (Eph. 2:5-6), and then from our spirit He proceeds to resurrect our soul (Rom. 8:6) and even our mortal body (Rom. 8:11).

We are going through a gradual and continual process of resurrection until our entire being – spirit, soul. and body – is fully resurrected out of our old being by His life and with His life. We all need to be in this process and we all need to run this race until we arrive at the out-resurrection from the dead as the prize.

This out-resurrection therefore should be the goal and destination of our Christian life. We can reach this goal by being conformed to the death of Christ, by living a crucified life; in the death of Christ we are processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new.

The out-resurrection is actually Christ Himself as the One who passed through death and entered into resurrection. The out-resurrection is a resurrection out of the old creation into the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15).

Paul longed for this; he was hoping for this and he was pursuing this, for he wanted his whole being to be brought into resurrection. We need to bring this matter to the Lord and ask Him to gradually and continually resurrect our entire being until we arrive to the out-resurrection from the dead.

We don’t know where we are, but He knows; we need to open our whole being to Him to be brought to the out-resurrection from the dead. Sooner or later we will be brought into resurrection; if it is sooner, we will be in the wedding feast and in the kingdom; but if it is later, we will need 1000 years of make-up time.

We want to choose to cooperate with the Lord’s inner operation today, choose to live a crucified life so that our whole being would be brought into resurrection until we attain to the out-resurrection from the dead!

Lord Jesus, bring our whole being out of the old creation into the new creation, and out of any natural into the resurrection until we attain to the out-resurrection from the dead! Amen, Lord, may our being be gradually and continually resurrected until we attain to the out-resurrection from the dead! We are open to the experiences that we need so that we may be brought fully into resurrection sooner rather than later! Lord, may every day we would live a crucified life so that we would be brought more in resurrection!

Pursuing Christ Himself and Pursuing toward the Goal for the Prize, the Gaining of Christ!

Like Paul, we as believers in Christ need to pursue Christ and “pursue toward the goal for the prize” (Phil. 3:12, 14).

What is the goal, and what is the prize? Christ is both the goal and the prize. The goal is the fullest enjoyment and gaining of Christ, and the prize is the uttermost enjoyment of Christ in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the victorious runners of the New Testament race.

Paul exercised himself to both know Christ and experience Him, and also to forget the things which were behind and stretch forward to the things which are before.

For us to reach the goal for the prize, we need to exercise to forget the things behind and stretch forward to the things which are before.

For us to have the out-resurrection from the dead – the extra portion of resurrection – we must pursue Christ, we must run the race, and we must finish our course triumphantly. Amen!

Paul was such a one; even toward the end of his life, when he was already a matured believer and a qualified apostle, he considered that he did not arrive yet but rather, he was not perfected but he pursued Christ!

We are those who have not yet obtained and who have not yet been perfected, but we pursue Christ! We have been regenerated, but we are not yet perfected or matured in life.

Rather, we do not consider ourselves to have gained or arrived but one thing we do: we forget the things which are behind and we stretch forward to the things which are before! Amen!

We pursue Christ, we want to gain Christ, and we pursue toward the goal for the prize, the fullest gaining of Christ! This verb “pursue” in Greek has the same root word as “persecute”.

Before Paul was saved, he persecuted Christ in a negative way, but after he was saved, he pursued Christ, that is, he persecuted Christ in a positive way. To persecuted someone is to trouble him and to refuse to let him go.

Our whole being with all of our strength has to be consumed in pursuing Christ. We need to rise up and pursue Christ Himself – nothing else and no one else but Christ – and we need to be stirred up to seek Him even in a persecuting way.

We shouldn’t allow Christ to “get away from us” but rather, seek Him, pursue Him, and persecute Him in such a positive way. Christ has laid hold of us, and now we lay hold of Him; He has gained us, now we want to gain Him.

May we be those who pursue Christ Himself, those who pursue toward the goal for the prize, so that we may be counted worthy to attain to the out-resurrection from the dead!

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to pursue You and gain You to the uttermost. Stir us up, Lord, so that we may seek You in a persecuting way in our daily life. May we not be satisfied with mere Bible knowledge about Christ and God’s purpose, but may we pursue toward the goal for the prize, the fullest gaining and enjoyment of Christ. Amen, Lord, we forget the things which are behind and we stretch forward to the things which are before so that we may pursue Christ to gain Him to the uttermost! Oh Lord, may we have such a heart, such a pursuit, and such an experience, so that we may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead!

Read this article in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol și în limba română la următorul link, Să-L urmărim pe Cristos înspre țel pentru a ajunge la extra-învierea dintre morți.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1978, vol. 1, “The Experience of Christ,” chs. 9, 19, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Experience of Christ (2019 Memorial Day Conference), week 6, Being Found in Christ, Knowing Christ, and Pursuing Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # With strong purpose I now wrestle, / And I run toward the goal; / I pursue the prize, God’s highest to obtain; / Pressing forward toward the mark, / I run forgetting all behind, / Thus the Holy City gain. (Song on, When I’ve run the race before me)
  # We need to work out our own salvation / By obeying the inner operating God. / We need to be conformed to the mold of Christ’s death / By the power of His resurrection that we may attain / To the out resurrection from the dead. (Song on, The Christian life is a life)
  # Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; / But one thing— / Forgetting the things which are behind / And stretching forward to what is before, / I pursue toward the goal / For the prize of the high calling / The high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Scripture Song)