I am
teaching an online class on Philippians (and you will hear me talk more about
it). In preparing for this week, I spent time meditating on 1:21. “ For to me, to live is Christ and to die
is gain.” In the class we will closely examine the context, but whatever the
context, certain things are true.
William
Barclay has this list:
For
Paul, Christ was…
·
The
beginning of life – the new life that started at baptism
·
The
continuation of life – Jesus with him every day
·
The
end of life – his purpose, his destiny
·
The
inspiration for life – gave vision and encouragement
·
The
strength for life – a power greater than his
·
The
reward of life – a life of eternal love
We put
it this way in our book on Philippians published 20 years ago:
To
live is Christ. That summed it up. Christ was his life.
·
He had
a relationship with God because of Christ.
·
He had
purpose in his world because of Christ.
·
He had
an example to follow because of Christ.
·
He
knew how to love others because of Christ.
·
He had
a destiny that was secure and unshakable because of Christ.
Because,
for Paul, to live is Christ, he looked at everything through that lens. And
what a difference that view makes.
Yes! This is what being a Christian is about. 38 and 1/2 years ago, my life began when, because I believed that Jesus was God's one and only son, my Saviour and Lord, I was baptized into Christ. He is the reason that this former atheist became a theist and his follower for life. Thank you Jesus!
ReplyDeleteAll that matters is the Cross, without it mankind is useless and anything and everything we do is pointless. To live is Christ! There is nothing else!
ReplyDeleteI needed to think on this tonight! Thank you!
ReplyDelete