To Live Is Christ, And to Die is Gain
What She Said - Part 7
Barbaranne Kelly, Guest Writer
Today’s Treasure
Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation 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. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:18–21
What do you eagerly aspire to? I don’t need to think very long or hard to bring to mind several of my own hopes, dreams, and goals. We moved into a new home last year, and I hope that by good stewardship and daily maintenance I can rehabilitate the struggling and half-dead grass into a lovely green lawn this summer. It’s a dream of ours to enlarge the dining room, add another bedroom to the house, and renovate the backyard shed into a tiny guesthouse so that our children and grandchildren have room to comfortably come for a visit all at the same time. My husband and I are working toward this goal by planning, budgeting, and investing a lot of elbow grease into home projects.
Hopes, dreams, and goals. My list above details some very tangible and worthy aspirations. I’m sure you can think of similar lists of your own. This past year has taught me the value of family gathered together in person, and I’m looking forward to the day when all of our kids and grandkids will once again be seated around our dining room table. What a joy that will be.
And yet, these hopes, dreams, and goals are rather “earthbound.”
In Today’s Treasure, Paul is giving us a glimpse of his own hopes and dreams. Awaiting his trial before Caesar, he faces two potential outcomes: acquittal or execution. In this portion of his letter to the Philippians, he is asking for prayer. But rather than simply telling them what he wants them to pray for, he is giving his friends a ‘behind the curtain’ view of his decision-making process. Should he ask them to pray that he is acquitted and set free, or condemned and martyred?
Wait— What? What kind of question is that?!?
It’s the kind of question asked by one for whom “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Rather than hoping for the freedom to merely walk free from prison, Paul’s highest aspiration is to walk free from this mortal coil and join his beloved Savior in the realms of heavenly joy. If he were to be martyred, it would be the gateway to eternal bliss. His eyes would close in this world and open in the next to behold the face of Christ. With the Psalmist, to the marrow of his bones, Paul believes that:
…a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84:10
Because he views his own life through the lens of the mind of Christ, Paul’s hopes and dreams are anchored firmly in and through his Savior to Heaven. And yet, even Christ laid aside His will in submission to His Father’s will (Matt. 26:39). The Spirit of Christ, speaking through David in the Psalms, expressed the same delight in the Father’s will that animated Paul:
I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
Psalm 40:8–10
Though he longed for Heaven, Paul knew that if he were to be acquitted, he would continue his earthly mission to tell the glad news of deliverance from sin through the blood of Christ. He would be given further opportunities to speak of God’s faithfulness, salvation, and steadfast love. Secured in Christ by the God who began the good work in him (1:6), Paul can delay the gratification of his ultimate hope and faithfully resume his gospel work among the Gentiles, confident that Christ will be honored, knowing that this will bring joy to his friends and glory to his Lord (1:25–26).
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
As Paul reveals to us his inner tug-of-war, he is ever so gently discipling his readers to dream bigger, raise their hopes, and anchors their goals in eternal realities. He’s not writing to shame those of us who have earthbound goals, he’s writing to encourage us that there is something greater—the ocean of blessings believers will enjoy once we enter the presence of our Lord in Heaven. Paul wants us to embrace the joy and delight of submitting so entirely to God’s will that his hopes, dreams, and goals become our own. This is the meaning of “to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Paul needs the help of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of the saints for the full courage this requires, and so do we. The courage to raise our eyes from our earthbound dreams and take hold of eternal expectations is a day-to-day, even a minute-by-minute struggle for every believer. Jesus did not go to the cross for the sake of my home renovations, but to fill His heavenly home with His beloved people. I need the courage to release my hold on my earthbound hopes and make my Savior’s goals my own. Paul’s courage and ours must be anchored in our confidence in God, and so let us pray to that end.
When Paul writes that he eagerly expects and hopes that he will not be at all ashamed, he means that he knows that God will not disappoint him. Do you share this confidence? Beloved, the steadfast love and faithfulness of the God who has delivered us from our bondage to sin is the same steadfast love and faithfulness that will deliver us to our Bridegroom, presented to Him in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, . . . holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27). And that will be a reunion complete with a celebratory feast that we can eagerly anticipate even now:
Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.
Revelation 19:6–8
One day we will be gathered around the table with all of the family of Christ. What a joy that will be—Yes, and we will rejoice!
PRAYER
O Father, a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. Would You grant me the courage to raise my hopes beyond my earthly cares so that I too would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the house of my dreams here on earth? Fill me, O my God, with love for You and a desire for Your word so that I would always delight to do Your will, Amen.
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Sharon W. Betters is author of Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, co-author of Treasures of Faith. and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture. She is Director of Resource Development and co-founder of MARKINC.org, a non-profit organization that offers help and hope to hurting people. Sharon enjoys quality time with her husband, children, fourteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.