To Live is Christ
Today is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
What a wonderful way to approach each day in our lives. But what if our days are challenging? What if we are facing hardship and danger? Wouldn’t we rather skip those days and simply rejoice in the good days? As far as we can ascertain, Paul is writing this epistle during the time of his imprisonment in Rome. He has made his appeal to Caeser, and if it goes well, he will be released. However, if his appeal goes badly, Paul will die!
This is the context for what we hear Paul say today.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes. Philippians 1:21-24
He begins with the greatest statement of faith any Christian can make, For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. In this one statement Paul has laid out our life here in this world and our life in the next.
To live life here, as part of God’s created world, we live with a calling He has placed on our lives. While most people in the world are living for themselves, as the redeemed people of God we are called to live for Christ. This means that we set aside our wants, our desires, even our comforts to live in a way which reflects Jesus in the world. The real question is this, how do we do this? What does it mean to live for Christ?
The simplest way to understand how this is done is to seek to put the words of Jesus into practice. When Jesus was asked the question, Which is the greatest commandment He responded with this; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) The truth is that the death and resurrection of Jesus and the working of faith by the Spirit of God has made this action possible on our part. Apart from faith we cannot love God fully or our neighbor selflessly.
To live as Christ is to love God so much in response to the blessing of His love for us which has provided forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus, that we totally devote our lives to loving and serving Him. In the Old Testament the idea of serving God was wrongfully limited to making sacrifices and offerings in the temple. What Jesus is seeking to explain correctly is that true love for God is lived out by sharing the love you have received from Him with others!
It was Martin Luther, the great reformer, who said, “God does not need our good works. They do not benefit us in our relationship with Him. Therefore, we are free to give our good works away to our neighbor who does need them.” That is precisely the point Jesus is making! We are to love God and express our love for God by loving others so they can begin to understand God’s unconditional love in Jesus.
For Paul, to live is Christ! He will live his life loving others in the name of Jesus. But then Paul declares, “To die is gain!” This great statement of faith pours forth from the heart of Paul as he contemplates his own mortality and his possible death. Paul’s assurance should encourage us that when the day comes and our lives in this world draw to a close, we shall dwell in the presence of our God and experience His love in a greater and never ending way. Eternal life is real, and it is assured by the resurrection of Jesus and the victory He won for us.
Paul goes on to express the conflict he is struggling with in his own heart. He has labored for years in this world proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in many challenging and difficult circumstances. He has experienced rejection and heartache. He has suffered physically through beatings and imprisonments, all culminating in this journey to Rome. He has given more than forty years of service to the Gospel ministry by the time he pens this letter. I have no doubt he is tired and ready to receive the rewards of glory with Jesus. But where is his heart at? What does he truly desire? But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes.
Paul loves the people of God! He has committed his life to serving them with every ounce of his being! This is truly the reflection of Christ and what it means to live for Christ as God’s child in this world. While he is ready and always living with the confidence of his own salvation, Paul knows there is still much work to do. So, if it is God’s will, he will live and serve the kingdom for many years to come.
The challenge Paul is facing is still the challenge we face in the Church today. Preaching the Gospel for the salvation of people in this world is our primary calling, but when faith is born our work is not done. Look at the world around us? What is the Church of Jesus Christ which is in this world truly like? If we are honest, the Church is weak, uneducated, misguided, and impotent! False teachers have infiltrated the ranks of the clergy who serve for selfish gain, and they have abused the people of God and destroyed the Gospel ministry in many places. They are Satan’s puppets who are unwittingly doing his bidding.
Paul was already dealing with this in his life, and he understood the need to remain and do all he could to continually direct, encourage, and protect the people of God. This is our two pronged purpose for life in this world. This is what it means to live as Christ! We are to proclaim the love of God in Christ and the forgiveness He has accomplished for us! It is in the very words of the Gospel that the Spirit of God is present to create faith and cause a child of God to be born. This having been done, there is a great need to continually proclaim the truth of the Gospel in the face of so many who would pervert it and lead God’s people astray. The only way this will happen is if the people in the pew are willing to stand up and be heard whenever anything contrary to the Word of God is spoken. God’s Word is true, and all its teachings are correct. May we ever be found faithful in our love for God and our love for our neighbor, because true love can never abide with a lie.
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
What a wonderful way to approach each day in our lives. But what if our days are challenging? What if we are facing hardship and danger? Wouldn’t we rather skip those days and simply rejoice in the good days? As far as we can ascertain, Paul is writing this epistle during the time of his imprisonment in Rome. He has made his appeal to Caeser, and if it goes well, he will be released. However, if his appeal goes badly, Paul will die!
This is the context for what we hear Paul say today.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes. Philippians 1:21-24
He begins with the greatest statement of faith any Christian can make, For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. In this one statement Paul has laid out our life here in this world and our life in the next.
To live life here, as part of God’s created world, we live with a calling He has placed on our lives. While most people in the world are living for themselves, as the redeemed people of God we are called to live for Christ. This means that we set aside our wants, our desires, even our comforts to live in a way which reflects Jesus in the world. The real question is this, how do we do this? What does it mean to live for Christ?
The simplest way to understand how this is done is to seek to put the words of Jesus into practice. When Jesus was asked the question, Which is the greatest commandment He responded with this; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) The truth is that the death and resurrection of Jesus and the working of faith by the Spirit of God has made this action possible on our part. Apart from faith we cannot love God fully or our neighbor selflessly.
To live as Christ is to love God so much in response to the blessing of His love for us which has provided forgiveness, life, and salvation in Jesus, that we totally devote our lives to loving and serving Him. In the Old Testament the idea of serving God was wrongfully limited to making sacrifices and offerings in the temple. What Jesus is seeking to explain correctly is that true love for God is lived out by sharing the love you have received from Him with others!
It was Martin Luther, the great reformer, who said, “God does not need our good works. They do not benefit us in our relationship with Him. Therefore, we are free to give our good works away to our neighbor who does need them.” That is precisely the point Jesus is making! We are to love God and express our love for God by loving others so they can begin to understand God’s unconditional love in Jesus.
For Paul, to live is Christ! He will live his life loving others in the name of Jesus. But then Paul declares, “To die is gain!” This great statement of faith pours forth from the heart of Paul as he contemplates his own mortality and his possible death. Paul’s assurance should encourage us that when the day comes and our lives in this world draw to a close, we shall dwell in the presence of our God and experience His love in a greater and never ending way. Eternal life is real, and it is assured by the resurrection of Jesus and the victory He won for us.
Paul goes on to express the conflict he is struggling with in his own heart. He has labored for years in this world proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in many challenging and difficult circumstances. He has experienced rejection and heartache. He has suffered physically through beatings and imprisonments, all culminating in this journey to Rome. He has given more than forty years of service to the Gospel ministry by the time he pens this letter. I have no doubt he is tired and ready to receive the rewards of glory with Jesus. But where is his heart at? What does he truly desire? But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes.
Paul loves the people of God! He has committed his life to serving them with every ounce of his being! This is truly the reflection of Christ and what it means to live for Christ as God’s child in this world. While he is ready and always living with the confidence of his own salvation, Paul knows there is still much work to do. So, if it is God’s will, he will live and serve the kingdom for many years to come.
The challenge Paul is facing is still the challenge we face in the Church today. Preaching the Gospel for the salvation of people in this world is our primary calling, but when faith is born our work is not done. Look at the world around us? What is the Church of Jesus Christ which is in this world truly like? If we are honest, the Church is weak, uneducated, misguided, and impotent! False teachers have infiltrated the ranks of the clergy who serve for selfish gain, and they have abused the people of God and destroyed the Gospel ministry in many places. They are Satan’s puppets who are unwittingly doing his bidding.
Paul was already dealing with this in his life, and he understood the need to remain and do all he could to continually direct, encourage, and protect the people of God. This is our two pronged purpose for life in this world. This is what it means to live as Christ! We are to proclaim the love of God in Christ and the forgiveness He has accomplished for us! It is in the very words of the Gospel that the Spirit of God is present to create faith and cause a child of God to be born. This having been done, there is a great need to continually proclaim the truth of the Gospel in the face of so many who would pervert it and lead God’s people astray. The only way this will happen is if the people in the pew are willing to stand up and be heard whenever anything contrary to the Word of God is spoken. God’s Word is true, and all its teachings are correct. May we ever be found faithful in our love for God and our love for our neighbor, because true love can never abide with a lie.
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
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1 Comment
Thanks, for this message, I was just at the point I wanted to give up, after reading what Paul went thru and still continued to give the message. As a result I looked at myself and and said I was put here for purpose and I just need to do it with out feeling sorry for my self. Again Thanks