What is Christianity?

I was reminded of a verse when I read it in Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It is Philippians 3:10. "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."

Chan mentions that he's always wanted to stop after the word 'resurrection,' but if he were to do so, he wouldn't be truly following Christ. He would, essentially, not be a Christian.

A few months ago, I read a book called What Are You Waiting For? by Dannah Gresh. This book is for teenage girls and up that explains the importance of waiting until marriage. Well, she gives the Hebrew and the Greek word for 'sex.' Since this verse is of the NT, I'll only focus on the Greek word. That word is 'ginosko.' It means: to know, to be known, to be deeply respected. This, of course, is basically what sex is. However, think of it on a deeper level. For example, look over Phil. 3:10 once more.

"I want to 'ginosko' Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."

Ginosko: to know, to be known, to be deeply respected.

I want to KNOW Christ. I want to BE KNOWN by Christ. I want to DEEPLY RESPECT Christ. I want TO BE DEEPLY RESPECTED by Christ.

I also want to do the same with His resurrection. Not only did Christ die for us all, He rose for us all. He paid the ultimate sacrifice to ultimately conquer death. I want to KNOW that power. I want to BE KNOWN by that power. I want to BE DEEPLY RESPECTED by that power.

I want to KNOW the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. Think about this one. Fellowship. Fellowship is a time to spend time with friends and sharing thoughts, memories, or things of the sort with one another. God places us in certain situations to bring Him glory. After all, He did create galaxies upon galaxies and every single one of us. Shouldn't we bring Him glory? So. I want to KNOW the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. I want to BE KNOWN by the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. I want to BE DEEPLY RESPECTED in the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings.

Finally, I want to become like Christ in His death. Christ was exalted by God. Why? Because He fulfilled God's plan for Him. If He can do it, and if we can do all things through Him, then we can also fulfill God's plan. We, too, can be exalted by God.

This verse is Christianity in a nutshell. There is no way around it. We cannot simply stop after the word 'resurrection.' There is more to it. There is more to Christ. Which is why we should KNOW Him, BE KNOWN by Him, and BE DEEPLY RESPECTED by Him. 

 

"But the man who loves God is KNOWN by God" (1 Cor. 8:3).