GodSprings - March 19, 2016

For Me to Live Is __________ ?

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 (NIV)

If we were asked to fill in the blank for me, to live is_____? What would we fill the blank with? Now how we answer this question will determine more than our outlook on life. I believe our answer will determine how we live out your life. Few of you might have thought: to live is money, or to live is sports. And for some, to live is happiness, family, or love. Now, nothing is wrong with any of the above, but none of those “lives” are the ultimate purpose for which we were created. If we want to live a fulfilling and fruitful life, a life that has meaning in the here and now but also extends into eternity, then we must live for something higher, something holier, and something heavenly.

Paul believed that to live is Christ! Charles Spurgeon in one of his sermons on this passage said of Paul that, “he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life.”

For Paul, to live is Christ meant that he had faith in Christ for his salvation, he had fellowship with Christ intimately, he followed Christ practically, he forsook all for Christ personally, and he was filled with the joy of Christ daily. All of this enabled Paul to rise above his circumstances and continue to serve the Lord faithfully and fruitfully.

Because Paul believed that to live is Christ, he also believed that to die is gain. Paul understood that the death of a Christian carried certain advantages, as life ends here on earth and eternal life in heaven begins.

Life in heaven means freedom from sin, Satan, and suffering. Life in heaven means freedom to worship God perfectly and exclusively. Life in heaven means reunions with loved ones in Christ who have gone before us. But above all the advantages that eternity in heaven provides a believer, the highest and finest reason that death is gain for the Christian is because through death comes immediate conformity into Christ’s image and eternal communion with Christ.

No matter how you look at what living means to you, life is what you make it, and for every Christian, we are to make it all about Christ. The Christian life means we are living for Christ, not living for money, love, power, or any other lesser substitute. Christ, and Christ alone, must be the focus of our every thought and the expression of our every action. When you live for Christ today and trust Christ for tomorrow, you always will be able to say, as Paul did, for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.