RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

Making Disciples – 3
Sammy Tippit: We’re talking about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus. A great part of that is growing into his image, becoming more like him. That’s the goal of being a disciple. It’s to become more like Jesus. Probably the greatest Christian who has ever lived is the apostle Paul. He made a statement that was very interesting.
He said, “…that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…” I want to talk about, Corey, a little bit of what it means to grow into the image of Christ, and let’s start with Paul and those words that Paul said. “…that I might know him…” Now he met Christ. He had already met Christ on the road to Damascus. He had been persecuting Christians. His name had been Saul at that time.
Jesus revealed himself to him. He was converted. His life changed. One of the great proofs and evidences of Christ is the conversion of Paul. Then he became this incredible Christian, sharing the gospel all over the world. But he says, “…that I might know him…” Didn’t he already know him? What does that mean? What was he saying there? What’s the difference between what happened at Damascus and what he’s saying there?
Corey Webb: I think, Sammy, this really follows what we’ve been saying all along. The humility of Paul is his recognizing that there’s more to this intimate relationship. There was a longing for the presence of Christ in his life.
Sammy: Okay. Now he said it in a couple of ways. “…and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings…” Let’s talk about that. How do we get to know Christ and, first, the power of his resurrection, and, second, the fellowship of his sufferings? What does that mean?
Corey: Well, one way to look at it is that his saying, “…and the power of his resurrection…” is recognizing that the same power that was at work in Christ and raised him up from the grave is the same power at work in each one of us. Paul is now seeing how that power is at work in him and longing for that power to continue to be worked out in his life.
Sammy: One of the great discoveries and thoughts of the Christian life is that the Spirit of God, the Creator of the universe, is dwelling inside of this body.
Corey: Right!
Sammy: The very power… Now we can get hung up on power. We were talking about pride earlier. Power can be a pride deal, but the power of God inside of us is not something that makes us egotistical, but it’s something that should humble us.
Corey: Absolutely.
Sammy: To say, “I can’t live the Christian life…” I talked about my jealousy. “I can’t overcome jealousy, but God, you can. The power of Christ is in me.” Is that what you’re thinking we’re talking about when we talk about getting to know him? That sounds more intimate. I knew him when I first came to Christ. That power was already there, but I have to grow in my knowledge of that power. Is that what it’s talking about?
Corey: Right. The Bible says, “…greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world.” As that power manifests itself inside of you as you continue to walk in the spirit of Christ, it flows through your daily life, your actions, your mannerisms, and things you don’t even realize are taking place.
It happens as we long, as we commune, as we commune with him. The Bible says, “Pray without ceasing.” What does that mean? Do we walk around with our heads bowed all the time? No. It’s that communion, that constant communion with our Creator in everyday life.
Sammy: Okay. We face situations. A mother has a child who’s having a breakdown. When we get into these situations, what do we do? We get tense. We get uptight. So then we come and say, “God, I need your power. I need your grace. I need your fullness. Take control of my life.” We get to know him. Every day, we’re going to face situations.
Corey: You bet.
Sammy: As we face those situations, we depend on him. We depend on his power. The second part said, “…and the fellowship of his sufferings…” Now I know most people probably want to get to know Christ in the power of his resurrection, but not too many want to get to know him in the fellowship of his sufferings. So what does it mean to know him in the fellowship of his sufferings?
Corey: Well, I think that when Paul was talking about that, by that time he had already seen other disciples who had been persecuted, who had suffered for the sake of knowing Christ. He had been on the other end where he had been the one causing the suffering of people, and now he was recognizing, “Wow. I need to make myself available to partner with Jesus in this. Whatever it takes to advance his kingdom, I’m willing to suffer with him.”
Sammy: I read a book once. I don’t know if you’ve read it. It’s by Paul Billheimer, and it’s called Don’t Waste Your Sorrows. Kind of the premise of the book is that sorrows and suffering come into the lives of everybody. I don’t care who you are. It’s a part of life. Suffering is going to come into your life.
It can come in and just go through and mean nothing, but when suffering happens, to embrace that suffering and let it make you more like Jesus… That was kind of the premise of the book. Has there been a time in your life (you don’t have to be specific if you don’t want to) when you have gone through something that that’s tough, hard? Have you felt like, “Why is this happening?” and then embraced it and come out of it more like Jesus?
Corey: Well, absolutely, Sammy. This last year, as you know, I took a year off of work. I just believed a year ago last summer that the Lord said, “Step aside from this church you have started and helped grow for 13 years.” A lot of people thought we were crazy, but Bonnie and I prayed. We knew that when God spoke, the only answer was, “Yes, Lord.” We stepped aside, and we believe it was because God wanted to do a deeper work in us.
Well, I had a running injury surface a few months after that, and it caused a lot of pain. I had to go through all of these crazy tests and everything, and the whole time I was thinking, “How can this be fellowship in those sufferings with Jesus?” Then I began to recognize the bigger picture was that God was teaching me some very important life lessons through that whole process.
Sammy: I think probably the greatest time of learning… We started off this whole thing with the idea of being a learner, but my greatest times of learning have been when I have been hurting. Somehow God gets my ear when I’m hurting. I get to know Christ, and I learn of Christ in my suffering. I was diagnosed with cancer a number of years ago, and when I went in for the diagnosis, I told my wife, “I know it’s cancer,” when we were getting the results back.
I said, “I believe it’s from God.” People would look at me, saying, “You believe cancer was from God?” I would say, “Yeah.” They would ask, “Why?” It was because I knew I was going to meet Christ in a way I had never met him before. Whether I lived or died, I was going to encounter Christ and get to know him at a depth I had never gotten to know him. It’s true. It happened in my heart. It happened in my life.
I came out of that, and I can tell you, Corey, that knowing Christ in that time, getting to know him during that time, was perhaps the greatest moment of growth in my own life. Let me change something because we’re going to head toward the end of this part of this. Colossians 2:6-7 says, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith…” We receive Christ by faith. How important is faith in all of this, in our personal growth?
Corey: Well, we know that in Hebrews 11:1, the Bible says faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you can’t see. We have to come to a place where we know there are some things we’re not going to physically see happening, but we need to trust that God is guiding us through our journey and leading us to these things we believe in him are going to take place.
Sammy: When we do that, we’re conformed into his image.
Corey: Absolutely.
Sammy: We’re conformed into this death, which was the last part of what Paul said there. The great goal of all of this is to become like Jesus, to grow in his grace. I want to encourage everyone to look to Jesus, to allow Jesus to be all he wants to be in you, and to grow. You’ll never arrive until you die.
Corey: That’s right.
Sammy: You keep growing in Christ.