Philippians 3:9-11

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

(v9-11, NIV)

Being found in him is our identity. Found in him is our salvation. When we are found in things other than Jesus, we are putting confidence in fleshly things. However, these things will not save us. If we are found in him, we receive his imputed righteousness. Being found in him is his righteousness for us.

Paul continues to speak about knowing. This type of knowing is not like academic studying. He doesn't want to know Jesus the same way we know how to add and subtract in math or how we know the periodic table. This is an experiential kind of knowing. He wants to experience Christ and through his experience know Christ.

What are the things that Paul wants to know? Well first, Paul wants to know the power of his resurrection. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He conquered death, and his resurrection gives me victory over sin. He bore our sins on the cross. We are found in him. We are dead to sin, dead to our old self. Turning to Christ is a repentance and turning from our flesh. We can have victory over sin through tough times. Look to Jesus. When you fall, get back up. This is the process of sanctification.

Paul also wants to share in his sufferings. Jesus suffered and died for us. He was beaten and stripped naked. With a crown of thorns on his head, he carried the cross and was nailed to it. He experienced a painful death and painful betrayals. At the end, the father turned his head from the son, and Jesus experienced the full wrath of our sins which should have been rightly brought upon us. Jesus in my place. Sharing in his sufferings results in fellowship like no other. There is a bonding in knowing what Christ went through and experiencing hardship of our own. Of course, this is referring to related hardship; I'm not talking about punishment as a direct result of sin in our lives. We may suffer when we stand for Jesus. And when we suffer for him, we share in his sufferings.

Paul wanted to become like Jesus in his death. There are a few people who we may aspire to be like in their death. For example, some people may wish to die in battle or at war. So, some may aspire to certain people who have previously died when fighting in a war. Some people live "good" lives, and are remembered because of their status when they died. However, that is more focused on how they live, now how they died. So how did Jesus die? He was crucified and accused of blasphemy. Crucifixion is the equivalent of a person on death row given a lethal injection or death by electric chair. This was state punishment for the worst criminals. Other older examples would be guillotine or death by hanging. I doubt many people wish to aspire to be like a death row inmate in their death. Crucifixion was much worse than our tame methods of public execution. The person was usually beaten and stricken naked. Jesus was forced to carry the cross to the place of execution. The cross he carried was the same cross that he was nailed to. So he was then nailed to it and left to die. The death would happen by suffocation. Being nailed on the cross in that way would require you to push up with your legs every time to take a breath. However, after a long time and the loss of blood, you will get exhausted. This method of execution wasn't meant to be quick and painless, but painful and humiliating.

There is another important way in which people aspire to die. When a person sacrifices their life for another, which is a noble and worthy death. Jesus' death was for everyone. He died for you and me, bearing our sin. The sin we committed was placed upon Jesus, and he paid the penalty for it all.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:6-8, NIV)

Some people may consider it a worthy cause to die for a "good" person. However, it would be almost unthinkable to die for a "bad" person. However, Jesus died for us filthy sinners. We are not "good" people; our clothes are but filthy rags. And Jesus loved us and laid down his life for us. We should be like Christ in his death. We should aspire to lay our lives down for another. We are merely servants, not seeking to put confidence in our own flesh. We put confidence in Christ who himself became a servant to all.