Dinner: Living & Dying

By Hillary Mortensen

Philippians 1:21-26

21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Many people believe that the theme of the entire book of Philippians can be summed up in this one line: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Paul’s purpose was very clear: For him, to live is Christ.

What about you? What is your purpose in life? How would you finish this sentence?:

“For to me, to live is ________.”

For me, I often feel like living is just working on dwindling down the to-do list. Recently, it has also felt like getting a friend elected to office on this campaign I’m currently managing. For you, is it winning the big case? Closing the deal? Children? Sports? Finishing school?

Truly, however, we should share Paul’s outlook, which F. B. Meyer interprets as Christ being “the essence of our life … the model of our life … the aim of our life … the solace of our life … the reward of our life.” We become utterly consumed by Him. Paul, having experienced this type of presence of Christ in his life, realized, “Life here is good…but it’s only going to get better.” This is why dying a physical death is gain. Paul knew well that he would move from living to serve Christ to enjoying being with Him.

Let’s press on with this in mind: If we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we have much to look forward to here on Earth---we get to experience Him in our lives, we have fruitful labor to perform, and we can help others grow spiritually---yet we also have uninterrupted, undivided communion with God in heaven to look forward to when we die. It’s a win-win situation!

I will finish with more thoughts from the Joyful Living sermon series at Keep Believing Ministries. We have a simple application:

1. Do what God gives you to do today.

2. Trust God with tomorrow.

3. Death when it comes will be a great gain for you.

When all is said and done, there are only two philosophies of life. You can say with the Apostle Paul “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain” or you can say with the world “To me to live is self and to die is loss.”

Which will it be for you?

Praise be to God that Adam has been living for Christ and, even now, is helping us progress and find joy in our faith!