Westside Baptist Church 220102 Josiah Sansone

Live Christ; Philippians 1:21-26; WBC 1.2.2022

Proposition: Believers must live Christ.

Introduction: Getting caught up with where we are in the passage, Paul has just explained to the Philippians that he finds joy when the gospel is preached, even if the motivations behind preaching it are incorrect. He explained that he has hope — an expectant confidence — that Christ will boldly be magnified in His body, whether He lives or dies. Paul’s life is incredibly Christo-centric, and so is the book of Philippians: 50% of the verses we have looked at so far mention Christ in some way. Verses 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, and now 21 all point to Christ, whether in preaching or life’s worth. Really, verse 21 is the springboard for the whole theme of Philippians: Joy in Identification with Christ. I think this verse summarizes the whole first chapter of speaking of the life believers have in Christ. Read v. 21-26

As we walk into this new year, it’s a great time to reevaluate motivations, actions, and resolutions. I’m an “existential crisis” type of person, so I have a love-hate relationship with the new year. I get excited about the new possibilities and like to remember events and moments from the year before; however, I also get shocked and flabbergasted at the quickness which is the construct of time. Like — I’ve been around the sun 25 times already. That’s crazy! I’m going to die soon (compared to eternity) and what do I have to show for it?! New years are great times for a renewed focus and mission. We’re familiar with missions statements.

Westside Baptist Church’s mission statement is “Excellence in His Word, worship, and witness.” Journey teen’s mission statement is “Journey teens exists for the purpose of advancing the church of Christ. This is accomplished through understanding Scripture, following the teaching given in it, providing aid to parents, and creating disciples.” A key piece of advice given in many leadership circles today is to have a purpose — a personal mission statement. The Apostle Paul was ahead of the game, I suppose, when it comes to mission statements. In fact, in many of his epistles he lists a few different Christ centered mission statements like “Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This passage depicts another one of Paul’s mission statements in life, and provides an excellent example for how we should strive to live every aspect of our lives. Paul says that living, for him, means Christ. Similarly, all believers must live Christ.

● Believers must live Christ by identifying with Him (v. 21).

Explain: I find it interesting that Paul points out his motivation and his identity in stark contrast to the people in the passage before — those who preached from selfish ambition and strife. The word “for” could indicate an inclusion of this thought with the previous verse: “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death. . . for to me, to live is Chrsit and to die is gain.” Paul knew Christ would be magnified no matter what because it was his whole life.

If we are going to identify with something, we need to know what we’re identifying with; so, we’re going to do a little Christology.

Jesus is God. John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:16 show Christ as pre-existent and Creator. Philippians 2:5-11 depicts Christ’s “kenosis” or “humbling” so to speak, as He went from God Almighty and took on the form of man. Many ascribe deity to Jesus Christ, like John (John 1:1-3), Thomas (John 20:28), and Paul (Colossians 2:9). Many skeptics will claim today that Christ never explicitly claimed deity on Himself, and that it was instead something that was added to Him later as legend; John clearly refutes this in John 10:30-33, where the Scribes and Pharisees attempt to kill Jesus because “thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” Jesus also makes 7 “I AM” statements, relating back to the name of God in the Old Testament, specifically Exodus 3:14.

Not only is Christ God but Christ is perfect — or impeccable. Jesus Christ was incapable of sinning because of His unchanging nature (Hebrews 13:8) and His deity (James 1:13). He was tempted (Matthew 4, Luke 4) yet never sinned, making Him the perfect High Priest for us to come to God (Hebrews 4:14-15). Jesus fulfilled every part of the Law (Matthew 5:17) and became sin even though He never committed it Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22-24; 1 John 3:5).

Finally, Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day! Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of man (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19) and rose again the third day (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21; Acts :1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and ascended to the right hand of God (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-10); He will return likewise (Acts 1:11; Revelation 19). Christ, the God-man, suffered in your place for your salvation; though, that’s not all. He rose from the dead and lives — and Because He Lives, you can face your struggles and serve Him — no matter what pain you’ve felt, you can face it because of Jesus. This is the Christ Paul identifies with; it ought to be the Christ we identify with as well.

Identifying with Christ allows Paul to partake in the benefits of Christ — namely, hope in death. Throughout this passage we’ll see the dichotomy Paul is struck with — living for Christ, or physically dying and being with Him. This sounds a little dark; however, understanding the opposite is even darker. If you do not identify with Christ in salvation, then when you die you will never be “with Christ.”

Illustrate: Putting on this Philadelphia Eagles jersey identifies me with my team. Does it make me a player? No, not in the slightest. If I played football I’d die as soon as one of my cleats touched the field. I’d probably not even make it out of the locker room. Yeah, I’m tall but I’m a wimp when it comes diving head first into other people diving head first. However, it does identify me with the team and it makes me act like it; when I put on this jersey I get a little more blue-collar, a little meaner, and a little grittier. I want to box (Rocky), run up stairs, and I crave cheesesteak (a philly classic). That’s what happens when I identify myself as a Philidelphian; as an Eagle — and we’ll see, that’s what happens when you identify with Christ as well.

Apply: How do we identify with Christ? The first thing that comes to my head is Baptism. It’s putting on Christ’s jersey. Baptism, for believers, is the first step in obedience for following and living Christ. It identifies you with the Christ of death, burial, and resurrection.

Before you can identify with Christ in baptism, however, you must identify with Him in faith.

Third, identify with Christ in your witness.

● Believers must live Christ by fruitful labor (v. 22-24).

Explain: Paul understands his purpose for living — fruitful labor for Christ. Paul knows that he’s not just here to suffer for the sake of suffering. That’s kinda the point of this whole passage together — he’s here to suffer for Christ, to live for Him. Specifically, that looks like working and striving for Christ and producing a product for Him.

This is vital to the way we live for Christ as well. We tend to stop reading at verse 21 because of the weight of the statement but Paul continues to expound. I think that we would all give a hearty “amen” to Philippians 1:21. We’d even write it down in the flyleaf of our Bibles and make it our life verse. We’d put on the jersey of Baptism and say that we identify with Christ as much as we can; yet, this whole “live Christ” thing feels nebulous and ambiguous— kind of mystical. It feels impractical — like orthodoxy with no orthopraxy (teaching with no practice).

This is not so for Paul. Paul knows what “live Christ” means — it means bearing fruit. Paul speaks of bearing fruit when talking about Philippians 1:11; these fruits are the “fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ.” The fruit Paul talks about here is fruit from his ministry — that means converts and strong disciples. Paul makes a similar statement about desiring fruit from ministry in Romans 1:13. Paul wants fruit from his labor — he wants people to believe in Christ and grow.

Understanding his point of living doesn’t make his predicament any easier — he still had the struggle of a desire to live and bring fruit or die and be with Christ. The end of verse 22 and beginning of verse 23 refute the idea of following Christ making your life physically “better.” If Paul’s physical life was so much “better” why would he want to depart and be with Christ? Think about it — Paul went from being a Pharisee and being in charge of killing other people — with other people doing whatever he said — to preaching the gospel he persecuted, suffering beatings and shipwrecks, multiple imprisonments, and people that had hard feelings toward him! Of course going and living with Christ would be much better.

“Nevertheless,” Paul says, it’s more important that he lives for the fruit of God’s people. Truly, the fruit of Paul’s labor was people. In the face of favoring life or death, the thing that keeps Paul going in his life for Christ is the need of the people he serves! What a slap in the face right? How many of us would say that our reason for suffering in life would be for the benefit of someone else? When I think about wanting to stay alive it’s so I can get my MDiv, see my boy play sports, see Karen get old, fix up my Dodge, and the list goes on. Paul’s identity of living Christ pushed him to care for the progress and development of the Philippians’ faith.

And I think that’s exactly the point; believers must live Christ by laboring — spreading His message — in the face of pain.

Illustrate:

Apply: We are hurting as believers; so much more are the unbelievers among us hurting.

● Believers must live Christ by caring for the spiritual needs of others (v. 25-26).

Explain: Paul continues, saying that he’s confident of his mission and that gives him confidence that he will escape his present circumstance to continue on that mission. He sharpens his arrow even more as he delineates the object of his work: first, the Philippians’ progress — their discipleship. Paul desired to see the Philippians grow in knowledge and faith. We’ve already seen his heart in this in his prayer in Philippians 1:9-11. However, he understands that this is a process, something they will make progress on, not something that’s done automatically. Paul’s reason for living was their progress.

Paul also desired their joy and rejoicing. Paul was sure that his coming to the Philippians would result in joy in Christ; Paul was not hyping himself up or saying they would have joy in him — everything he did pointed people back to Jesus Christ. This certainly fits the theme of Philippians, no? Despite everything that has happened to Paul, to the Philippians, there’s still hope and joy — there’s still joy available in Christ.

Illustrate: Have you ever played video games that have a story to them? Or a campaign? You’re working for a singular goal but there are things you can do on the side to earn extra points or rewards. The game that comes to my head is a game on Nintendo Gamecube based on Pacman that my dad and I used to play together all the time. Essentially, some bad guy stole the fruit and the goal was to go collect all the fruit; however, as you went, you could do extra missions in games like collecting extra dots, bouncing on buttons and stuff. I think in Chrisitianity we get confused with what our mission is versus what the side quests are. Following Christ is our mission, and that mission rests in caring for the spiritual needs of others — it’s not a sidequest, it’s the point.

Apply: If you’re going to help the progress of other’s faith, you need to know the Word. So, get in it.

Parents, this is where I really feel the application of this passage lies on you. What’s your point for living Christ? The teen God’s given you to disciple and show to the joy of Christ.

Teens: Develop an outward focus for the witness and discipleship of others.

Conclusion: This whole passage essentially boils down to the question: “What is your purpose?” When we get caught up in the cares of this world — school, sports, games, friends, and relationships — we forget why we do what we do. We forget who we actually are. We are not simply students, athletes, gamers, friends and boyfriend and girlfriends — we are followers of Christ. It’s crucial for us to live Christ in our lives: through identifying with Him in salvation, baptizing, and witness; through actively bearing fruit for Him; and through discipling new believers and fellowshiping with joy. Believers, stop living yourself and start living Christ in 2022!