Easter—and I’m not fussy about calling it that—is one of my favorite holy days. It is still one of the least commercialized holidays, and it features what is of first importance: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

The resurrection of Christ—the historical fact of it and the biblical doctrine coming from it—is the most important truth in Christianity. Without the bodily resurrection of Jesus our faith is in vain, we are still in our sins, those who have died have truly perished, and we are to be pitied for our false enthusiasm and peace. We are even found to be misrepresenting God. Since it’s true, nothing should be so valuable to us by comparison. Death and resurrection is also integrated into everything; it is one of God’s favorite tales to tell. Winter to spring, seed to fruit, and daily dying by disciples to bring life to others.

Christ’s resurrection and life is our resurrection and life. Can we say that? Are we able to see that nothing we are or have accomplished comes close to the value of life in Christ? Are we willing to put everything from the “pro” column into the “con” column for Christ’s sake? If we can answer the comparative test, do we see Christ’s dying and resurrection integrated into our decisions and evaluations? Are we oriented around a cross and an empty tomb?

These are questions for Christians. Paul wrote about these resurrection categories to the church of believers in Philippi. At the start of chapter 3 he told them that he was going to remind them. The reminders were about the comparative nothingness of religious assets next to the gift of acceptance with God, and he used his own testimony to make the point. The reminders were about the power of resurrection and how we know Christ as we share in suffering. These reminders are summarized in verse 7. “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” The rest of the paragraph, verses 8-11, are one sentence in Greek, and give a reinforced explanation of verse 7. Even the way verse 8 starts should be more than “Indeed” (ESV), but something more like “But even more so also…I count all things to be loss.” Then Paul describes four parts of counting on the resurrection.

The resurrection changes what we value. There is nothing more excellent that can be known than to know Christ Jesus.

Paul does the math and nothing ever adds up to more than Jesus. I count all things to be loss for the sake of the surpassing worth, the “raised-up-above-and-beyonding, highest-over-all-excellingness” of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (verse 8). The surpassing worth is a verb made into a noun; this is the all-other-things-that-could-be-known-eclipsing knowledge. This is much more than mental awareness knowing, this is relational intimate knowing. This is Old Testament type knowing and being known. The relationship is with Christ Jesus my Lord , a specific and personal phrase used only here in the New Testament.

This is Christ Jesus, the one who was/is God, who took on flesh, who became a servant, who humbled Himself to humiliating death on a cross, to whom the Father gave the name above every other name (2:6-11). Paul knew Him. We know Him. And Paul said, for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things . Calvin comments: “It is a similitude taken from [sailors], who, when urged on by danger of shipwreck, throw everything overboard, that, the ship being lightened, they may reach the harbour in safety.” Nothing matters if we can get to Him.

Even the things we might want to have honored are “feces” compared to Jesus, and count them as rubbish . Rubbish (ESV, NAS) is not coarse enough, neither is “garbage” (NIV). Skubalon is the equivalent of our four-letter vulgar words for excrement: “dung” (KJV), bull, muck, crap. Skubalon happens. It’s the best the flesh do.

What kinds of things are crap compared to Jesus? Our liturgy and the symbols (i.e., circumcision), our family and worship community (i.e., of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews), our morality (like the strictest Pharisee), our commitment level (zealous even to punishing heretics to death), and we could add our education, our best Easter outfits, our organic ingredients, our Bible reading plans. Count up all of these and they are millstones that drown us. Invest them all into the project of your life and the final outcome is loss. Every Christian comes to the point when he realizes it (so the past tense “counted” in verse 7), but it is an ongoing evaluation (two present tense “count”s in verse 8). They are all good to be flushed for the sake of knowing the resurrected Christ.

The resurrection changes how we are accepted. We are given righteousness in Christ Jesus which we receive by faith alone.

The mind cannot bite down on any knowledge more fantastic and beautiful, the heart cannot be bound to any person more magnificent than Jesus. Our longings for greatness are satisfied in Jesus. So are our questions about being accepted by God.

All things are counted loss in order to gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but having righteousness through faith in Christ, righteousness from God by faith .

Gain ties back to verse 7. The true profit is Christ, and being found in Him means we are united with Him. In Him is one of Paul’s favorite ways to express the bond between each Christian and Christ. We are in Him in that the Father receives us and relates to us as in His own Son.

We didn’t earn this status by following the law, it can’t come from the law any more than breathing comes from a medical dictionary. His rules are great, but we can’t achieve acceptance by them.

We are accepted by faith. God gives us righteousness as a gift, it is from God . Our status is divinely imputed, not merited; God Himself is the ground of our welcome with Him. Being justified by faith alone means that we must give up counting on all our self-considered strengths. Being found in Christ is worth being lost to the world.

The resurrection changes our objectives. Knowing Christ progresses according to our experience with Him.

The first part of verse 10 returns to the knowing idea in verse 8. It fleshes out how we gain Him and what kind of practice is normative in Him, not just our position in Him. If verse 9 talks about our justification, here is our sanctification (with verse 11 referring to our glorification). Here is where Christ not only surpasses everything else in our life by comparison, here is where Christ is known as integrated with everything else in our life.

We count all things as loss to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings .

To know Him is to know about Him and to be untied to Him. If things to know were on a scale, this is the best of the knowledge (verse 8). Knowing Him is also where our righteous standing with God comes from (verse 9). There are no other avenues to acceptance with God.

We’ve been to court and seen Him work as our Advocate. We’ve been to school and learned from Him as our Teacher. We’ve been to His table and eaten the food of His flesh. But do we know Him?

What does such knowledge look like? How do we experience it? How is that knowledge integrated into our days? Is it possible to grow in that knowledge?

Yes, we can progress in our knowing Him, and what we come to know in experience is His power and His fellowship. The progression works in the reverse of the order in verse 10.

Sufferings refers to that which has to be endured and is almost always plural. It covers persecution, privation, weakness, sickness, burden and distress, pain—physical and mental, all types of tragedy. It will happen; God gives faith in Christ and opportunities to suffer for Christ’s sake (Philippians 1:29). Suffering brings us into knowledge of His sufferings. This includes His sufferings on Friday to death, but it includes every difficulty and pain that lead to Friday. He hurt. He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. They mocked Him and accused Him and slandered Him. When we suffer, we are sharing with Him. When we lose reputation, health, sleep, jobs, ease, we are knowing Him more. This is what His life was like, He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We will be acquainted with Him more as we are more acquainted with grief.

Our sharing of suffering cannot be separated from the first part of verse 10; maybe that is why Paul puts sufferings second so we won’t forget the resurrection(s). In the older Greek manuscripts there is one article that governs both nouns (the of Him power and of Him fellowship). We are those who fellowship in His pain and in His power, not only power to escape, but power to come alive. This is divine power, an overcoming power. The power that overcame death keeps overcoming all our dying.

More suffering pulls us closer to the center of fellowship with Him. The more we share with Him the more we experience resurrection like Him. The more resurrection power we know the more we know Him. So to be dying is gain.

Easter will not let us forget the pattern of growth. What a necessary and glorious reminder. It only works in a context of everything else being loss by comparison. Gaining Christ means embracing dying for the sake of experiencing resurrection power. When you don’t believe you can go on, is His risen from the dead? When the pain overwhelms you, when it seems like it won’t quit, when your time is demanded and you’re already in days of debt, you can know His resurrection. This is our objective, to experience Easter every day, to have multiple mini-Easters throughout each day.

The resurrection changes our expectation. Hope in Christ puts death in its place.

The final phrase in verse 10, finished in verse 11, is about the process and final goal of our union with Christ. The suffering is part of being conformed to His death . Paul regularly talked about dying, not once and done physical martyrdom, but as an ongoing, frequent reality. The nature of the Christian life is taking on a dying shape. The verb is passive, meaning that you don’t have to put this on your todo list, God will take care of it.

Think of 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 where he talks about carrying the death of Jesus in his body so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in his mortal body.

always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:10–12 ESV)

To be killed, which was always a possibility for Paul, could only happen once. A clay pot can only be shattered once. But it can gradually be worn out day by day. Carrying death is continuous, not complete, and “the life of Jesus…manifested in our mortal flesh” is a dying and rising daily.

He expected that it would lead in the future to his physical death and his physical resurrection from the dead. The dying would eventually lead to death, or the Lord’s coming, and he would attain the resurrection from the dead . This is the last piece of the transformation, the first piece of glorification. He shared the suffering, he began to know more and more resurrection power even while being “moulded into the pattern of his death” (Knox), and he fully expected bodily resurrection “out from among the dead ones.”

This hope puts death in its place. “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:29). Dying is gain in knowing Christ, death is gain out of the pain of dying to be with Christ. Easter changes our own dying, and it changes how we evaluate death. My sister put her faith in Christ last Easter, and how thankful we are now that she’s with Christ today. Our Christian brothers and sisters who are being bombed and killed in other parts of the world are gaining.

Conclusion

The next paragraph talks about pursuing the prize, the upward call (verses 12-16). It is a heavenly call, yes, but everything is upward from the grave.

What else could we want than what we gain in Christ? In Him we have truth, forgiveness, wisdom, righteousness, power, hope, joy, and life.

To know Him more, God brings us to share more of Christ’s image, and that includes practicing Good Friday sort of love, laying down our lives for others, every day.

It all changes when we know Christ. Charles Spurgeon said,

I cannot describe the difference between my spirit, water-logged, worm-eaten, ready to sink to the bottom without Christ, and that same spirit, like a strong stanch ship, with sails full, with favorable wind, speeding into harbor, with a golden freight. (“Do You Know Him”)

From “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”:

Soar we now where Christ has led
Following our exalted Head
Made like Him like Him we rise
Ours the cross the grave the skies

On resurrection Sunday, we remember the “choice consolation” of resurrection power. It raised Jesus from the dead almost 2,000 years ago, and it also enables us to give up all things and endure all things and believe all things. We are a company of sufferers, a fraternity of those who die and also keep standing back up for another round. We are lifted by the same power that raised Christ from the dead. All this belongs to all who belong to and know Christ. There is no knowledge more beautiful and no other Savior to behold.