The Struggle for Life
Notes
Transcript
Intro
When I was in high school, almost everybody had the same kind of shirt. It had all sorts of variations, but they all said something like “Baseball is life,” or “Dance is life.” For many of my friends, some activity or some area of involvement was life - it was the base of their identity and personality. While not every aspect of their life was directly tied to baseball or dance, or whatever, enough of who they were and what they did revolved around that one thing. It was, for them, life.
This morning, we struggle in a search for life. True life. Not just baseball or dance, nor mere existence either. We want the bona fide, life to the fullest kind of life. Stand with me as we read from the book of Philippians this morning. Our text is Philippians 1:19-30, but I want you to focus on just one verse: verse 21.
This is the Word of God, and if you will let it, it will change your life.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Pray
What could drive a man like Paul to pin this short, powerful statement? How could someone simple declare that all of life boils down solely to Jesus Christ, and even more that death could be a gain rather than loss?
Paul has just expressed his rejoicing that Christ is preached. The resiliency of the gospel is working in God’s power through Paul’s imprisonment and in spite of Paul’s opposition to be victorious in every way. Paul doesn’t mind the wrong motives of other preachers; so long as the Son of Man is lifted up, he does not mind being brought low.
This rejoicing produces confidence in Paul that his deliverance is near:
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
The prayers of the Philippians would be the vehicle through which the Spirit of Jesus would bring about Paul’s “salvation.” That salvation - that deliverance - produces in Paul an earnest desire for boldness in his gospel mission. Paul’s most palpable desire is that he would not be ashamed in even the smallest amount, but that he would honor Christ in either life or death.
After making the statement in verse 21, Paul weighs the alternatives of life and death.
22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
Living here on earth in the flesh provides Paul opportunities to bear more fruit in his gospel mission. He can plant more churches, help Christians deepen their walk with God, and provide godly counsel to younger ministers and churches with difficult circumstances.
But death, death is a sweet enticement. It is “far better” to die and be with Christ than to continue this fleshly life. But then again, the church at Philippi needs Paul around.
Paul realizes through his considerations what must happen:
25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
Since he realizes that God is not done with him, Paul knows he will stay on earth and continue his mission - a mission for the advance not only of the gospel of Christ but also of the body of Christ. God isn’t done with Paul yet, so Paul will stay on a little longer.
I believe that we can now consider what Paul means in verse 21. Look at it again:
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Without too much detail over the grammar, let me point out just two words: live and die. Both are verbs; in fact both are infinitives. They speak of the action as though the action is itself a noun. That’s why the sentence doesn’t say “Christ is life, and gain is death.” The verb phrase “to live” is a subject, as is “to die.”
But there’s something else going on here. The action of living is ongoing, but the action of death is past. One translator says it this way: “to be living is Christ, and to have died is gain.”
Paul talks about the Christian life in other places:
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Whenever Paul speaks of death, it almost always has a past tense - the death happened before but does not repeat or continue. I believe that Paul is not only comparing life and death, but relating them. Paul has found in Christ, both his own death (spiritual death to himself) and his own life (new life in and through Christ). Paul recognized the truth in Jesus’ own words:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It’s not just that we find life in Christ. Christ is life, and living is Christ! When we live as Christians, we are embodying Christ. When we die, we profit all the more as we gain so much more of Christ that we ever could have in the flesh. It doesn’t matter whether we live on earth or whether we “shuffle off this mortal coil.” Either way we experience more of Christ, and that is Paul’s deepest desire.
So what? This Christ-life is so valuable to Paul, but what does it matter to me? Well, Paul describes the impact that the Christ-life should have on the Philippians and to us:
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
The Greek text here indicates our heavenly citizenship. We should live like citizens of heaven. Just as being a Roman citizen would have certain advantages and responsibilities for Paul and for many in the Philippian church, so being a citizen of God’s Kingdom carries certain privileges and requirements on us. We must live in such a way so as to please our true King. How do we do that? Paul names a couple of ways:
Stand Together in One Spirit - that’s the idea of koinonia: we are partners together in the gospel through the Holy Spirit.
Strive Together in One Mind - we are not only to stand together but also to “fight the good fight” together, having one singular, over-riding purpose.
Struggle Together in One Salvation - we cannot be driven by fear of opposition, for “greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world.” God will work out our salvation through our struggles.
29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.