To Live is Christ

Intro: What the problem is; our contemporary culutral context: Here’s what we face

How do we find meaning and purpose in our lives, one that allows us to get out of bed with expectation, and go to bed, ready to embrace a new day?

How do we see death as not something to be feared, but see as gain?

Early points: What the Bible says; the original readers’ cultural context: Here’s what we must do

Paul is at the height of his career as a teacher, God is using him to change the roman empire - in little ways by this

his life has found it’s ultimate purpose in bringing honour to Jesus, through the proclmation of the gospel

His life is wrapped up in Jesus.

Paul is in prison, writting a joy-filled letter to Christians, - who are suffering, because Paul is suffering

They may be thinking “How could God allow this evil happen to Paul”

Paul is saying, brothers and sisters’ I’m rejoicing - because I’m seeing God work in the evil

Some people have a really struggle believing in God because of evil

Some Christians have a real hard-time trusting God, because they have experienced evil

A few things on this point,

If we say, I won’t believe in God, because there is evil, we have a hard time at this point, because, we can no longer say there is evil

We can say I don’t like this, but, we are left with the survival of the fittest

We’ll say, it’s just the lion eating the gazell, it isn’t evil, it’s just life. It’s the strong enforcing their will.

As Christians we say there is a problem - there is evil. Once you remove God, there is no problem, this is all there is.

For Paul, he knows there is a God, it’s the God who is revealed in Jesus, it is the God who endured the evil of the cross, and passed through death, coming again

so he says

Okay, if the God who Jesus proclaimed is God, then that changes how I think, how I live, it changes eveything

the first thing it does, is it makes me rejoice.

v. 18 - I will rejoice

v. 19 - through prayers, Jesus will deliver him from prison

v. 20 - he expests and hope that Christ will be honour by how Paul lives and how Paul dies

v. 21 - Paul knows that to live is Christ

Life is from Jesus

Life is shaped and formed by Jesus

Life is lived for Jesus

Death is gain, because he is with Jesus

v. 22 - If life continues, he lives for that goal

v. 23 - he sees death as better, he is with Christ

v. 24 - has a sense that he’ll live for longer, as he believes Christ wants to use him more

v. 25 - he wants to work for their progress and joy

v. 26 - so you can honour Jesus, if I come

v. 27 - live in a manner worthy o fthe gospel

Middle points: What prevents us; current listeners’ culutral context: Why we can’t do it

We are called to have an outlook of life of an optimism shaped by the gospel

but either we are pessimistic, or we are optimistic with based on something other than the gospel

Pessismstic, because of evil, everything seems to be going wrong, what I want is not happening, why would God allow this!

This is not a mindset shapped by the gospel - there is rejoicing in the pessimist

What is great, if you are in this pessismstic place, there is great hope, to be transformed by the gospel

The is the journey from Good Friday to Easter Sunder - how could this happen, to resurrection hope.

the repentence of the pessismist, is seeing that in the catastrophy of the cross, it was not the final word, but a life shapped by the resurrection

The pessismist will stay a pessismst, until the resurrection has sunk deep in your heart.

If you are a pessismst, it is because deep down, the resurrection of Jesus, is not believed.

It’s interesting reading things from the 70-80s, Marxism was such a huge topic then

The idea of a utopia through marxism, and communism

the idea of flattening out the heirachies, working together for the same goal

but the mindset that we workign towards utopia, become hell on earth.

Desire for utopia I think has made a return in the past 10 years, but in various forms,

There is an optimism, about the future, that if we sort out soceity in the right way

If we get the right politians in, with the right policies, if we clamp down on people who oppose us

if we get the right tax structure, then we will see society flourish.

But much like the utopians of the 20th century, the 21st century utopians, are often absent of God

But if they are not, they are not shaped by the crucifixion

The flip side of the coin of the resurrection is the crucifixion

the sin of this world is so messed up, that we need a dying saviour

Deep down, I am so corrupt and broken, while there are problems in society, it isn’t society preventing utopia, but sinful people

This is why Christianity makes so much sense, there is a positive sense of the future, with a negative view of humanity

crucifixion and resurrection, are the two strands that make sense of this life

understanding the world through these two things,

allows Paul to endure hardship and rejoice - the gospel gave him the reason to life, it gave him a WHY

“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.” ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Late points: How Jesus fulfills the biblical theme and solves the heart issue: How Jesus did it.

Paul actually believes the gospel

If Jesus really deid rose from the dead - that changes everything -

Paul cannot think about life apart from Christ - Eshetu Abate

Look I love how Tim Keller put this, Paul says to live is Christ and die is gain

I came and lived this life, and died this death, and rose again - for you!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his son, for you.

Paul got this, and it turned his life upside down

How faith in Jesus you should live now

There is nothing you could do to Paul that would rob him of his joy.

Paul is living, labouring, so that the people of Philipi would be joyful and holy

do you know why?

But Christians need to be people who pursue joy

Paul was written to them, for their progress and their joy

The Christian life, is a pursuit of joy -

joy in life, that we may of use to God and his gospel

joy in death, that we may be with him

What you need to do is revolve your life around christ

when you think about him, when you mediate on the cross, with you think about the resurrection

when you set you mind on the things above, you begin to be transformed

Paul made his life about Jesus, because Jesus made his life about us

We are to make our lives about him.

To see life, as an opportunity to serve him

To see our death, as the opportunity, to be with him

Prayer: Father change our ways of thinking, that everything in our life, would take second place to living for Christ