That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the
—Philippians 3:10
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
We may think that suffering should come first, then death, and finally resurrection, but that is not the order presented here for our experience. Our view is that we are on earth trying to reach the heavens. According to Ephesians 2:6, however, we are already in the heavenly places with Christ! God’s view is that we begin our Christian life in the heavenly places and grow to maturity by learning to be with the Lord in our situations on earth, becoming conformed to His death in our living.
From Philippians: That I May Gain Christ by Titus Chu, p. 195